Sustainable business strategy
In the face of rapidly escalating challenges to global health, climate, and social and economic wellbeing, there’s an urgent need to develop sustainable business strategies that can build belief, commitment and activate the change you need.
It’s time to challenge the dominance of short-term thinking and the ‘semi-detached’ approach to sustainability. More and more business leaders are recognising the strategic value of purpose-driven, sustainable business strategies in anticipating and preparing for challenging future scenarios. And recent evidence suggests that purpose-driven organisations with long-term, agile and integrated sustainability strategies are outperforming their peers, and are more resilient in the face of volatility and uncertainty.
If you’re rethinking your strategic priorities, or your strategy needs a refresh to make it future-proof, our ability to craft a compelling business case, bring your strategic narrative to life, and shape transformational programmes can help facilitate and support your process.
Strategy development
Many companies tell us that they need a shift in their organisations – either to create strategies that are fit-for-purpose, or to convert an existing strategy into meaningful progress. They don’t think they’re acting with consistency and purpose, or see lack of belief, engagement and accountability as a challenge. Or they might be looking for strategies that: ignite or reignite the ambition of the business; make it easier to draw people in to participate; and provide a foundation for activation.
The core requirement is often for a future-proof sustainability strategy that creates a compelling business case for action. Such effective, long-term strategies are informed by:
- A materiality review of business impacts and opportunities to inform the development of a sustainability framework
- A context and best-practice review to benchmark scope and ambition
- Stakeholder engagement to understand priorities and identify shared goals
- Shaping a framework of sustainability priorities aligned to business objectives, initiatives and actions
- Developing appropriate, relevant goals and a strategic journey plan
- Defining ownership, governance and ongoing engagement principles.
We value working collaboratively with your teams to help plan and support this development process, using workshops and sprint tools to interpret insights, create frameworks and shape your sustainable business journey plan.
Materiality and context reviews
Identify the key issues that are material to your organisation, to help prioritise your programmes and actions.
Strategic consultancy
Provide strategic consultancy support on sustainable business strategy development and sustainability communications.
Sustainability frameworks
Create behaviour-led frameworks connecting long-term, sustainable and resilient goals to day-to-day actions.
Strategic narratives
To make a sustainable business strategy compelling, it must present a story that can win both hearts and minds. We think of a narrative as a stakeholder-focused expression of your story. One which draws together all the elements – context, challenges and opportunities, purpose, vision, values and strategic priorities – to act as a touchstone for framing wider communications and creating engagement initiatives.
Benefits include:
- A clear and compelling sustainable business narrative understood by all stakeholders
- The ability to recall strategy and align daily actions to long-term priorities
- A clear connecting thread to bring business direction to life and guide decision-making
- The ability to influence what stakeholders think, feel, believe and do
- The creation and activation of inclusive innovation strategies and business plans
- Better informed stakeholders with enhanced engagement and trust.
Your organisational vision and authentic character are vital ingredients of your story, so we value co-creation as an integral part of bringing your framework and strategic narrative to life. This ownership also helps to infuse your communication strategies and plans with real momentum.
Creating compelling narratives
Create powerful sustainable business narratives that capture your personality and character.
Create and embed your strategic narrative through sustainable branding and communications.
Transformation and innovation
“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place,” said Alice in Wonderland’s Red Queen. “If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” She was right.
Achieving long-term, sustainable success is increasingly challenging; with a global pandemic, uncertain economy, political unrest, technological advances and climate change, leaders need to move much more quickly. And, as the World Economic Forum global risks report annually reveals, these risks are accelerating.
In this context, do you want to keep doing what you’ve always done and hope to stay one step ahead? Or are you ready to run at least twice as fast towards your preferred future? Assuming you are, then there are two major strategies that will underpin your success: embracing transformational change, and creating a culture of innovation. We can help you with both, to give your sustainable business journey a boost, and bring your purpose to life faster.
Transformational programmes
Bring your sustainable business priorities to life with initiatives and programmes designed to change what people think, feel, believe and do.
Innovative cultures
Develop programmes to help open up and create innovative cultures that are practical and inclusive.
Want to discuss a sustainable business strategy project?
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