MovePlan are the experts in managing change
6th May 2022
MovePlan’s Regional Director EMEA Siobhan Byrnes spoke to City A.M. to discuss rethinking ESG as working policies are being rewired.
As ESG becomes integral in any business strategy, Siobhan said it has become a way of securing investment and attracting talent.
City A.M. said ESG is now a deal-breaker not just for investors but also for those considering new roles.
It recently reported how businesses with poor ESG credentials are struggling to attract talent, while the rise in hybrid or flexible working has made existing ESG policies outdated.
City A.M. asked the question: should businesses draft policies around a physical space, or the office, when all their staff are at home or elsewhere consuming separate energy?
While most of the larger conglomerates have set targets to reach net-zero by a certain date, do we now need to rethink these policies to extend beyond the office for the new era of the workplace?
“ESG has been of great concern to businesses for a number of years. Not only for their own conscious but also as a way of securing investment and attracting talent,” said Siobhan Byrnes, workplace specialist at MovePlan.
Siobhan told City A.M.: “To begin with, many organisations focused on making changes around the office space such as how the buildings they operated in were disposing of waste or consuming water.
“This worked when we were all in the office five days a week but now that we’re working in a hybrid manner these policies no longer go far enough.”
Siobhan believes ESG is going to continue to remain front of mind for business leaders, as they rethink their sustainability policies to be inclusive of new ways of working.
According to City A.M., pre-pandemic much of the focus on achieving ESG goals was centred around the office. Moving forwards, it said there will be a bigger emphasis on cultivating sustainable workstyles in the hybrid world.
“Employers need to empower their staff to make sustainable choices for themselves"
— Siobhan Byrnes, MovePlan's Regional Director EMEA
For this, business leaders are going to be critical in the transition.
Siobhan argued that employees should be encouraged to think twice about their travel plans, calling on workers to question whether or not they need to attend events in person, particularly when overseas, if there is the option to attend virtually instead.
She also suggested business leaders encourage their workforce to take public transport to client meetings, where appropriate, rather than driving or taking a taxi.
However, she warned that communication is vital and needs to be done carefully.
“Often employees are presented with complex data in corporate jargon which they don’t respond well to. It’s far more impactful to translate this into easily understandable examples,” she added.
“So rather than listing out the carbon costs of taking a private taxi to a meeting, employers could explain what could be run on this extra energy should their employees take public transport instead.”
“As well as making helpful suggestions, they should also communicate on these issues in language that is easily digestible. This way employers can ensure that efforts towards sustainability are communicated effectively and celebrated by their employees, rather than being seen as a chore,” Siobhan continued.
With employees now choosing to work from where they feel most productive, City A.M. said sustainability efforts clearly need to be reconsidered.
Siobhan added: “As organisations navigate the post-pandemic reappraisal around ways of working, it is the perfect moment to build ESG into their cultures, giving equal weight and importance to ESG targets as commercial ones.”
“Building a sustainable business is a lot of work. It requires significant investment and resources, and will need to be prioritised.”
But ultimately, “it is what will define their tenures in leadership roles, and their work will be measured against the commitment and the positive impact they make not only on the business but on the society-at-large,” she concluded.
Read the full article in City A.M. here.
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