ESG transformation / Sustainability

ESG and sustain­ability are the new game-changers of our times. The expectations of society and policy­makers are growing. The capital market demands the ability to deliver on all ESG criteria and the pressure to transform is on the increase. Business needs to reposition and re-legitimise itself.
 

We assist companies in developing a sustain­ability profile with a clear stance and making it easily identifiable. We enable companies to enter into discourse in major sustain­ability debates in society so that they can credibly communicate their trans­formation to all stake­holders and address conflicting goals, all while being a part of the solution and making a clear contribution to over­coming major future challenges.
 

ESG transformation as an existential challenge for the reputation of corporations

Sustain­ability and ESG performance are critical to the success of a company’s overall reputation. In the absence of discernible progress in ESG performance, the risks for corporate activity rise. Social acceptance and the (social) licence to operate are jeopardised, the goodwill of policy­makers towards corporate goals fades, and so does the company’s attractive­ness as an invest­ment in capital markets. Last but not least, the employer brand and employee engage­ment are also at stake.

The disruptive power of ESG trans­formation is just as great as that of digitali­sation. Business models are being put under scrutiny, gover­nance structures and processes need to be radically trans­formed and corporate culture must be called into question. Much more so than with digitali­sation, however, the resulting strategic (re-)alignment must also be able to meet the high expectations of a critical public.

As part of a holistic approach, we develop content and concepts for effective ESG communications aimed at the critical public, policy­makers, the capital market, as well as managers and employees.
 

Companies have to address key questions in order to effectively communicate ESG trans­formation and sustain­ability

• What are the opportunities and risks in balancing perceptions of ESG performance and material deliver­ability?
• What does a robust ESG narrative look like that links the trans­formation of the business model and processes, as well as the company’s strengths and stance, to solutions to major challenges of the future?
• How might a constructive discourse on conflicting goals and areas of tension linked to the necessary ESG-driven trans­formation be organised and moderated?
• How should the relation­ship with policy­makers be rethought and translated into communi­cations that position companies in the dialogue as part of the solution and partners of policy-makers?
• How can the company’s contribution be clearly and un­ambiguously communicated to the capital market and prominently displayed with regard to ESG criteria, assess­ments and goals?
• How can a common under­standing be fostered among employees and managers regarding the company’s external aspirations and ESG goals? And how might integration and ex­change be organised for this purpose?
• How can employees be motivated and empowered to convey the company’s commit­ment to sustain­ability to the public as authentic ambassadors?

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