ESG: CREATing Sustainable Brand Value
ESG sustainability and reputation are inextricably linked. They increasingly dictate your freedom to operate.
The new era of ESG (managing and reporting environmental, social and governance issues within business operations) has elevated the importance of reputation management, bringing it firmly to the heart of business strategy. Increasingly, organisations will need to view their ESG decisions through the lens of reputation, aligning it to their stakeholders’ needs and demands.
All organisations require social legitimacy in order to survive. The new expectation that organisations play a proactive and valuable role in society has led to a renewed focus on ‘doing good’. Doing good for people and society is not only good for business, but will drive its future sustainability. ESG highlights risks and opportunities that impact your ability to create sustainable long-term value for your organisation. ESG issues matter very much to consumers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders alike. Because the list of issues is so broad - ranging from climate change and packaging to human rights, diversity and inclusion, product quality and safety, data security, employee wellbeing, to executive compensation – it is important to secure the direct involvement of the Board. The Board is the ultimate holder of an organisation’s strategy and articulation of purpose, and it should be ultimately responsible for its reputation too.
Corporate/public affairs professionals are an essential part of the mix because they manage reputation at an operational level; they work with stakeholders, bringing an external perspective in to strategic decision making whilst simultaneously helping the organisation’s own values and perspectives be better understood outside. They are also responsible for communications.
ESG is prompting organisations to build strategy, policies and positions based on a clear articulation of purpose and values. It requires you to look hard at every aspect of your operations. There is an obvious risk that failure to meet the expectations of society or your own targets will lead to reputational damage or even regulatory fines. In extreme cases, it could even lead to crisis.
ESG is already transforming the way that companies do business and its overarching principles will affect the way that other organisations operate too. Marland Sykes has extensive experience with the social and governance aspects of ESG and can help you with all aspects your strategy and planning.
Related Services
Strategy and planning
Policy development
Articulation of purpose and values
Stakeholder engagement programmes
Reputation management
““Firms with strong positive reputations attract better people. They are perceived as providing more value, which often allows them to charge a premium. Their customers are more loyal and buy broader ranges of products and services. Because the market believes that such companies will deliver sustained earnings and future growth, they have higher price-earnings multiples and market values and lower costs of capital.”
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