By Jeremy Nelson / 19 Jul 2024 / Topics: Device lifecycle Culture & careers Consulting services Sustainability
Modern companies are recognizing the importance of sustainability, not just for the longevity of their business — but also for how sustainability efforts can influence reputation in the marketplace.
According to the Insight-commissioned annual Foundry survey, 87% of IT leaders reported that environmental, social and governmental (ESG) concerns have an impact on IT investment decisions. In the same survey, 42% of respondents rank the impact of ESG as significant and 45% as moderate to their operations.
The demand is here, but where does the path to corporate sustainability begin?
At base level, sustainability is a journey of continuous improvement, impacting both the environment and the people who represent our community. This spans areas from corporate citizenship, to manufacturing policies, recyclability, power consumption, carbon footprint and more.
One of the more common terms we often hear associated with sustainability is the acronym “ESG”, representing three pillars: environmental, social and governance. These pillars are the corporate criteria for evaluating an organization’s ability to manage sustainability successfully.
The environmental pillar covers overarching principles like climate change and air pollution, affecting a global ecosystem of people — this area often takes the focus of many sustainability conversations.
Yet arguably, the social and governance pillars have a more direct effect at the corporate level. These pillars urge the ethical management of organizations and advise leaders not to sacrifice environmental and social aspects of sustainability for profit.
Still, how can businesses continue to drive profitable organizations that allow sustainability and social impact while building and maintaining a healthy corporate ecosystem?
Webcast: Sustainability is a Journey
Tune in to hear our experts share how leaders can balance their efforts to increase the bottom line, with participating in corporate governance and citizenship.
Leaders don’t need to choose between increasing revenue and upholding social responsibility. Sustainability initiatives can enhance or even accelerate an organization’s profitability and growth initiatives.
Here’s how we’d recommend launching your sustainability initiative.
Then, set a goal to focus on identified areas of growth, starting once more with where you can have the most impact with the least amount of investment. Creating this cycle of result-tracking and improvement will, over time, reveal your influence in your chosen sustainability niche.
Not yet ready to launch a sustainability initiative? Sometimes, kicking off your sustainability journey is a matter of simply getting started with what you have.
How can sustainability practices be woven into your everyday processes and procedures? As an example, if you are a frequent business traveler, you can use the carbon emissions data provided by airlines, transportation, and hotel providers to select travel accommodations with the smallest environmental impact. Think about the initiatives your organization is prioritizing today, and how sustainability can be featured in your decision-making process from the get-go.
Sustainability, like any lasting project, cannot be accomplished overnight. Prioritizing ESG is a long-time commitment to collecting data and setting realistic goals to improve your sustainability position. Here’s the good news: Once you start paying attention to sustainability, improving your corporation’s position becomes all the more possible.
North America CISO, Insight
Jeremy Nelson is a multidisciplined solutions architect with extensive experience in networking technologies, including projects in network design and implementation for international enterprises. He leverages his experience in cross-discipline technology fields to ensure Insight services and solutions deliver effective, efficient results for our clients and drive value for the business.
