I’m wondering if the way in which we think about resourcing for sustainability is problematic.
I see more adverts for sustainability professionals in my feed and from a quick look at what companies are asking for it seems that they don’t really understand what these professionals do.
These roles are transformational ones, dealing with the complete overhaul of existing systems with mixed levels of internal support, and varying degrees of external hostility or support depending on where they are located.
And we ask them to do too much.
They’re expected to wrestle with the details of data collection across multiple subsidiaries, countries and suppliers.
They need to pull this together for regular reporting and management information.
They have to engage with a range of stakeholders across their organisation, getting them aligned on strategy.
They need to provide decision makers with recommendations and the backing information required to understand and evaluate options.
And they need to take action, making projects happen – everything from new solar panels to making sure contracts are renewable.
Have I missed anything?
Are there people out there that can do all of these things?
I listened to a talk recently with a large accountancy firm and solutions provider where they said that finding people with tenure in doing this work was like looking for unicorns.
I think firms need to think hard about what they really need to put together a team that works.
Here’s what I’d recommend after a decade of working on this.
The in-house team’s highest priority is engagement and decision making support.
They’ve got to engage with everyone else – legal, procurement, IT, operations – the list goes on, to build support and champions.
They need time with the CEO, CFO and the rest of the leadership team to educate, engage and involve them in assessing choices and deciding what to do.
Data management should be outsourced to a team that is willing to deal with the complexities of your specific situation.
This is a task often given to interns – but that’s problematic. Do you really want your most junior staff doing work that needs to be signed off by the CFO?
Who’s going to check and guarantee the work.
I’d suggest following Jack Welch’s advice – if you can’t put your best people on this, find someone else and get them to put their best people on it.
When it comes to reporting, choose a platform. There are many out there, or you can use BI tools to put something in place until you’re clear what you want.
Finally, you’re going to work with construction partners to get projects away.
If you’re in charge of resourcing, it’s not about hiring one individual and overloading them until they break and leave.
It’s about giving them the resources and support they need to get the job done.
Handcrafted insight 