Greening from the inside out

Corporate sustainability involves driving changes through to every level of the organisation, says Donna Young, GM of BT's climate change development programme.

When setting the initial vision for sustainability at global telecommunications provider BT, Young stresses it was a collaborative business strategy, built in a way that suited its business goals and future.

“It was a business case in business language, instead of approaching it from an environmental perspective,” she explains. “When talking in business language, one can speak in terms of 'these are the benefits to the company', and 'these are the benefits for the environment and society'.”

According to Young, it's about explaining how business can be created for a company by doing the right thing. “It's very challenging, but top-level management bought into the vision.”

She believes companies still consider sustainability as a few bolt-on solutions, rather than an overarching strategy that underpins the business. “People are getting it, but they're not looking at things from a holistic point of view. Many still think sustainability is just about climate change, for example, and they change one thing instead of looking at every single process.

“All activities have energy around them, and have an energy footprint. So when considering how to make the business more sustainable, you have to look at every solution and how you can make it better, more energy-efficient, more affordable, more accessible, and how you can bridge the digital divide.”

Making the business case walk its talk, however, requires effort, says Young. “The only way to do it is by making people at a very senior level in the organisation understand what it means for the business and to get them to drive it through.”

This could require setting up a sustainable leadership team of a senior executives nominated by CEOs, so changes are powered by people who can make a difference, she explains.

Then, changes also have to be embedded into the organisation's processes. “If you're designing a new product you have to make sure the designers plan it with efficiency in mind, that the producers create it with efficiency in mind, and so on. Every aspect of the value chain has to be managed to drive out energy inefficiency,” says Young.

“In every organisation there are low-hanging fruit, and it's easy to save lots of money by doing simple things,” notes Young. “Companies who haven't really been monitoring energy are often surprised how they've been wasting money all these years. This galvanises companies into changing systems, switching to outsourcing, developing new products and so forth.”

Embedding change into a business is often complex, she adds, so breaking it down into levels such as people, structures and training can be helpful. Getting the support of employees is also crucial. “If you want to have a sustainable business, you have to make it part of the DNA of the organisation and engage and listen to employees. This is a critical success factor to whether the company embeds sustainability.”

Young also notes that collaboration between organisations has to happen in earnest. “Collaboration with local authorities regarding infrastructure and transport needs to take place on a broader front.”

Regarding collaboration between companies, Young says: “The problem is often that people want to have a leadership position, but it's about finding common ground. She adds that companies also have to consider suppliers, which are often supplying the competition, or are the competition.

In addition, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues, and becoming more choosy, according to Young. “Over the next five to 10 years sustainability is going to become much more of a differentiator. If it's not a given in a product or service, the company will lose business.”