Organisational sustainability and ESG
ORGANISATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ESG
Sustainability is now a mainstream focus for finance functions. Organisational performance is no longer being judged purely on short-term financial returns to shareholders. Groups (such as customers, workforce, society, governments, and investors) are all demanding greater organisational transparency beyond the traditional financial metrics.
Based on our interviews and roundtable research, this brief explores what finance functions are already doing to tell their organisations’ sustainability value stories. It shares the challenges finance functions are facing and how they are transforming to address the complexity in telling ESG stories.
Sustainability is broadening the finance function’s mandate, changing how it analyses new data sets for insight, and expanding the range of stakeholders it must interact with. In turn, this is shifting the finance professional’s skills and competencies. Dealing with the sustainability issues organisations are facing requires enhanced analytical skills, judgement, and critical thinking. This brief explores the changing competencies focus and how organisations can identify and fill the skills gaps.
Finance functions, as the most trusted sources of information, are fast becoming the stewards of sustainable value creation and preservation. The sustainability agenda also addresses the multi-capital view and the multi-stakeholder interactions. Finance can participate in not just telling the value creation story, but also to actively engage in the co-creation of intangible value, as well as its measurement and management. Not only is the lens of sustainability building trust with stakeholders, it also provides an important opportunity to build resilient organisations for the long term.
Lecturer, Education & Professional Training, Africa
Senior leader, Manufacturing, North America