In this office, we say sustainability quite a lot. We know it can mean different things to different people, but we kind of like that.

It’s easier to start by saying what sustainability is not. Sustainability is not a short-term marketing strategy with little commitment to make a real change to the way you do business.

That’s greenwashing. 

Instead, to us, sustainability asks four key questions:

How do you treat your people?

If you are wanting to embrace change within your organisation, you cannot do it alone. You also cannot force it upon your people. It takes openness and honest talks with your staff and partners about your motivations for change, before you can actually change. And it also requires you to listen to what your people have to say about it. 

It is easier than ever to have your reputation tarnished by bad reviews and social media commentary, but your focus shouldn’t be solely on what your customers think. Having a boss that ignores employee concerns or under-values staff is one of the main reasons why people leave their jobs. And high employee turnover is not sustainable. So there are benefits a-plenty to spending the time listening to all your co-workers and embracing their suggestions in a fair and transparent way. 

What is happening down your supply chain?

Do you actually know what is going on at your suppliers end? Have you seen it for yourself? It’s nice if you can spend a week out in a different country understanding what actually happens in the places you purchase your materials from, but it’s also not realistic for a lot of small organisations, especially if it’s a long and messy supply chain too. Most people just don’t have the time to turn up at the stationery supplier’s door demanding to know the full history of some highlighter pens.

But that’s okay. Be honest about it. Do your homework and identify those gaps, the question marks, see where you can do better and aim to spend a bit more on sustainably-made supplies. Let’s be real here, if the entire existence of your small organisation relies upon getting the cheapest materials from sources with questionable ethics, your business probably isn’t that viable in the long-run.

Do you unnecessarily consume resources?

It is simply not possible to not use any energy or resources at all. But everyone should be aware that resources are finite and in the UK, we are currently using way more than our fair share. The first step in any sustainability journey should be to look at what you can reduce your consumption of. Every organisation should know exactly what resources they are consuming so they can start to make real, tangible changes (and hopefully save a little cash in the process).

An interesting exercise that we like to carry out is to see how your organisation fits within a circular economy. Are you quite linear? Where things come in one end and out the other, with a lot of waste material along the way? Or have you identified areas where you can recycle resources, share skills and use renewables?

What do you do to make society a better place?

We often see companies proudly proclaiming that they’re donating 1% of their profits to charitable causes. If you want to be truly sustainable, we firmly believe in getting your house in order first – make sure you’re listening to your staff, you’re in check with your suppliers and you know where to improve on your consumption of energy and resources BEFORE you start trying to bolster sales through donating money. There might even be a better way to donate. What expertise do you have at your organisation? Are there any local organisations who could really do with the use of those skills for free? 

Whilst you may instinctively wish to help causes close to your business, you shouldn’t forget to think about what you are doing to look after the area where the factories that produce your materials are located. One of the key tenets of sustainability is justice, for the planet and for the people, whether that’s in your local neighbourhood or across the globe. We are all in this together. So we ask again, what do you do to make society a better place?

This is Grow’s take on sustainability. It’s a flavour of the very basics of what we like to talk about when we work with you and your organisation to develop meaningful business strategies. If you’re thinking about taking your business in a sustainable direction then use the contact form on our website or email us at hello@goodbusinessesgrow.co.uk and we can talk some more.