Embedding Sustainability into the Business Core

So far, the journey has taken us from a clear statement of purpose to a concise set of relevant materialities, with further elaborations on the role of partnerships and circular economy models in accelerating innovation. In the previous chapter, we proposed four pillars (direction, diversity, experimentation and a collaboration culture) to increase the effectiveness of sustainability teams. The journey into effective sustainability implementation is now approaching its final destination, namely ensuring that the great strides made improving a firm’s positive impact on society and the environment become sustainable. Discussing the sustainability of sustainability programs is the ultimate crowning moment of the journey, as it ensures sustainability’s legacy for future generations of managers and stakeholders to enjoy. Conceptually, it is time to embed sustainability deeply into the business, so it can get safely and effectively transmitted and robust to outside forces. In this chapter, we discuss how to make sustainability an integral part of the business and ensure its perennity. The vectoring approach promoted throughout the book to develop and execute sustainability strategies not only improves communication with stakeholders but also facilitates the effective and efficient reporting of sustainability performance. A limited set of relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) tightly connected to the company’s core business helps focus sustainability activities and makes for more consistent communication.