The Making of a Sustainable Company: Time to Review ESG Sustainability Principles

Sustainability reporting is the “new” big thing in the corporate world because it allows companies to rethink their operations and draw opportunities for growth. For managers and investors, sustainability creates a new focus, a better way to approach operations such that environmental, social, and governance impacts are positive. However, some organizations have reported that sustainability reporting is not an easy thing because it is a lengthy process and comes with challenges for data collection.

A closer look at the challenges reported by these firms show that something was amiss. For example, most of them expected the results too fast, while others had poor conceptualization of the discipline of ESG sustainability reporting. To ensure that the new or already established firm is on course to becoming more sustainable, you need to understand the underlying principles. Keep reading to learn more about these principles, and the importance of working with sustainability management software

Sustainability Reporting Principles and their Application

The main importance of the principles of ESG sustainability reporting is that they help companies to take a similar approach to sustainability. Here are some of the main principles that you need to know about

• Transparency and Accountability

Since sustainability reporting is not mandatory, it is not uncommon to get some companies picking figures here and there and using them as the basis for their reports. However, such efforts will not work because they are based on half-truths or incomplete data. For your sustainability to work, you cannot take your eyes off transparency and accountability. This means that the objectives you set to achieve are clear and every achievement documented.

Where negative impacts are noted, they should also be highlighted for stakeholders to see. For example, if the company’s profit dipped significantly because of the new equipment, make sure to capture that data. Transparency makes stakeholders to embrace your products and feel part of the brand. This is the best route to success at all levels.

• Timeliness

The main goal of using ESG reporting is to ensure that it becomes part of the organization, not an external component that can be done away with. Therefore, you need to ingrain ESG sustainability reporting into every part of your organization and track the results. Aligning timelines to the business cycles further means that they can be reviewed alongside other common agendas for corporate success.

• Stakeholder’s Responsiveness

The primary reason for creating sustainability reports is to allow stakeholders to have freedom in making decisions. Therefore, try to make sure that the data and reports are clear and easy to understand. Here, it is important to think about different stakeholders’ requirements. For example, investors want to be associated with companies that are focused on making a positive impact on the society. So, can you make this impact?

If your organization of still new, there is no need to worry about having years of positive impacts. Just report correctly about your sustainability efforts and demonstrate progress. For example, your new system might be more efficient than what other companies are offering. So, tell the stakeholders about it.

As you can see, the most important thing for sustainability reporting efforts to bear results is to understand the core principles. Another crucial component that can simplify the process and make it effective is working with appropriate sustainability management software. These apps allow you to approach sustainability reporting objectively through automation. For example, Diginex Solutions allows you to automate data gathering because teams or departmental leaders are allowed to add or edit data to enhance accuracy. You can never go wrong with the right app.