Sustainability strategies are plans for a company to remain ongoing, including corporate governance, employee development, innovation, and systematic improvements. Each company’s implementation is different, and choosing the right strategy depends on internal operations. Corporate governance can include environmental and social issues, employee development involves developing and retaining employees, innovation leverages technology, and systematic improvements are incremental changes for sustainability.
Sustainability strategies are plans and efforts a company puts in place to remain an ongoing concern. These strategies include corporate governance, employee development, innovation and systematic improvements. Each of these elements can lead to one type of strategy that a business will use to improve business operations in the long run. The implementation of sustainability strategies is different for every company as their operations and business segments can have different influences that alter these plans. Choosing the right strategy also depends on these elements and each company’s internal operations.
Corporate governance is the general guidelines and directions a company uses to control people and operations. Sustainability strategies can be in corporate governance, so it becomes a mantra that a company always keeps at the forefront of its operations. Rather than just addressing standard corporate matters, corporate governance can include environmental and social issues. This ensures that a business has sufficient physical assets to continue business operations. Social issues can require the company to spend capital on elements that improve the surrounding environment, helping not only internal stakeholders, but also those not directly invested in the business.
Employee development is another common type of strategy. Companies often rely on wetware, which are the attributes and benefits brought to the company by an employee’s intangible skills. Employee sustainability strategies involve developing employees, compensating them at above-market levels and preventing these individuals from leaving the company and working for a competitor. Opening channels of communication and allowing for employee input in decisions can also reinforce this strategy. A company with a strong employee base seeks to keep people far into the future, beyond current managers and executives.
Innovation, mainly through technology, is another group of sustainability strategies. Companies look to the future and develop technology or processes that leverage technology in their operations. In many cases, sustainability strategies involve transforming standard manual processes into processes supported and completed by technology. Technological innovation allows a company to improve its business processes and continue operations for longer as employees are not required to run operations. Waste reduction is another benefit of innovation, which saves capital resources.
Systematic improvements can represent incremental improvements that a company uses for its sustainability strategies. Improvements can be reducing debt by a certain percentage each month, adding new products at specific intervals, or improving the company’s value chain. Companies identify areas for improvement that will impact sustainability. Changing operations to make improvements may take a long time. Therefore, the company may need a sustainability plan that provides systematic improvement during future periods.
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