On 7th March we hosted a round table event on "Leading the Future of ESG in Scotland". The event was well attended with companies including Nucleus Financial, Booth Welsh, ACS, Dear Green Coffee Roasters, EGG lighting, Edrington, Ashton McGill, Muckle Media, Social Bite, and George Leslie.
We came together to discuss what we all believe to be the secret to a sustainable business – people. Taking care of your people leads to the great workplace cultures our round table participants can see, and fosters good business that’s sustainable socially, environmentally and economically in the long run.
Why host a roundtable?
To press pause on ‘business as usual’ and give our partner organisations a chance to focus on the bigger picture with like-minded leaders. An the opportunity to listen, learn, share, discuss and connect, and become inspired by others’ stories to inspire transformation change in their own. .
What issues did we discuss?
Topics were wide-ranging, but here’s the gold
- How do you balance a big mission and purpose against commercial viability?
- The business case for sustainability
- How do you deal with clients who are not aligned ethically with your business?
- How to manage fears of being called out for greenwashing or culture-washing.
- How to cope when a lack of resources halts your ability to focus on longer-term sustainability initiatives.
- Should you work on ESG initiatives before clients are demanding it?
- How to educate upward and involve your board and investors.
- How to level up your supply chain.
What have been the benefits of ESG action?
From customer loyalty and resilience to becoming an employer of choice, the attendees of our roundtable told us plenty of ways that taking ESG action, ore than returns on its investment . They told stories of higher staff engagement, better productivity and work satisfaction scores; of the awards and recognition that have driven growth,, and the amazing case studies that they have compiled. Ultimately, as a group, we concluded that the benefits far outweigh the cost of action.
What can we all do to move the needle?
The goal of the roundtable was to inspire each business to take further action, within and outwith their businesses. We discussed how we can educate people and raise awareness with other businesses, investors, clients and customers. There is a need when it comes to ESG strategies to appeal to people’s hearts as well as their heads when trying to inspire action, and we talked about ways that we can celebrate people who are making great strides with ESG.
The round table was so successful, that we have agreed to continue meeting as a group to share, discuss and support one another in our collective action as people focussed businesses.
If you’d like to be part of one of our next roundtables, email curious@connectthree.co.uk. We can’t wait to hear from you.