Our tales are as essential as our methods with regards to advancing environmental, social and governance (ESG) inside firms and society-wide. Whereas some consider “storytelling” as being inherently braggadocious, superfluous and even disingenuous, to inform tales is to be human. Because the starting of humanity, folks have informed tales to switch information, coordinate group habits and facilitate collective motion. A very good story can change the world — or forestall it from altering.
But many organizations battle to speak ESG successfully. Some are early of their ESG journey and keen to speak — however don’t know the place to start. Others are additional alongside, however face difficulties crafting the suitable messaging. And nonetheless some draw back from speaking ESG altogether.
One factor is for positive: Speaking ESG now not is non-obligatory even when it stays voluntary for now. And with the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) quickly prone to require ESG disclosures from publicly traded companies, firms that act to enhance their ESG communication will likely be forward of the curve.
However speaking about ESG stays troublesome — we’re coping with a number of the world’s most advanced challenges in a time when misinformation, polarization and oversimplification reign supreme. At GreenBiz 22, I explored how firms can do a greater job speaking ESG.
Discovering success by sharing failures
Embracing ESG means assuming a development mindset — acknowledging and disclosing your group’s missteps and setbacks together with the wins — and remaining true to this throughout your entire communications.
“Consistency and authenticity are essential north stars when telling your ESG story,” mentioned Sunya Norman, vp of ESG technique and influence at Salesforce throughout my GreenBiz 22 panel dialogue. “Whether or not your viewers finds you on social media or reads your ESG report, they need to really feel like they’re participating with the identical firm voice and values.”
This aligns with what I’ve seen in my very own work as a journalist and ESG advisor. By definition, authenticity means being snug with exhibiting each magnificence and blemishes. This doesn’t come simple to these reared within the traditional mannequin of company communications — which focuses on emphasizing an organization’s successes and downplaying its failure.
Sustainability is a perfect towards which firms attempt — not a state of being. Organizations could be extra sustainable, or much less so, however by no means obtain paragon standing. And that’s OK. With this in thoughts, the most effective ESG communication is rooted in brave vulnerability.
“It’s about progress, not perfection,” mentioned Sasha Calder, head of sustainability at Genomatica through the panel.
Don’t all the time lead with ESG
Whereas ESG could also be having its heyday, the idea stays area of interest and most of the people outdoors of company sustainability, investor or analyst circles are unfamiliar with the acronym. This implies when speaking ESG, you don’t all the time want to steer with ESG.
One key takeaway from the panel was that typically it is not essential for an viewers to know the jargon or technical specifics utterly — it is extra essential that they’ve an emotional response and stroll away understanding the corporate cares in a real method about no matter ESG difficulty is being communicated. That is doubly true for normal and worker audiences.
“Assembly your viewers the place they’re at is vital and utilizing language that connects with them issues,” mentioned Roma McCaig, senior vp of influence and communication at Clif Bar & Firm, through the panel.
Whereas reporting stays imperfect, if executed proper it may be an efficient medium for speaking ESG progress to buyers, raters and different data-driven stakeholders.
“Our workers wouldn’t join with the time period ‘ESG’ however they do perceive our 5 Aspirations, that are the enterprise values that outline our enterprise mannequin and information our choice making to drive influence.” Clif Bar selected the phrase “aspiration” in recognition that the corporate is on a journey to problem itself and the established order — all the time reaffirming that it’s in enterprise to be a drive for good. It is a nice instance of firm embracing ESG as a journey versus a vacation spot.
“At all times take into account a human is on the opposite facet of the desk and emphasize conscience, readability and connection,” McCaig mentioned.
Supply mechanisms for efficient ESG communication
For a lot of of us, ideas about ESG communication conjure pictures of PDFs full of all the things from metrics to feel-good tales. There’s little query that ESG reporting is on the rise. In 2020, 92 p.c of S&P 500 Corporations and 70 p.c of Russell 1000 Corporations printed sustainability experiences. In my very own expertise, over the previous two years the variety of new firms reaching out asking for help with their first ESG experiences has elevated exponentially.
Whereas reporting stays imperfect, if executed proper it may be an efficient medium for speaking ESG progress to buyers, raters and different data-driven stakeholders. When publishing knowledge, it’s essential to incorporate the nice with the unhealthy, mentioned Davida Heller, head of sustainability technique at Citi at GreenBiz 22. Being clear about your challenges in direction of attaining ESG objectives is a vital a part of reporting, she added.
Aligning these experiences to main frameworks resembling GRI, SASB and TCFD additionally provides credibility to your ESG experiences.
“Main firms can greatest talk that they embody ESG greatest apply by reporting by way of CDP, working to get an A grade, and profiting from emissions reductions alternatives — and price financial savings — of their provide chains through the use of CDP to assemble emissions and power effectivity knowledge from their suppliers,” Paul Dickinson, founder and chair at CDP, informed me throughout a lunch chat at GreenBiz.
However reporting isn’t the one strategy to ship ESG info to stakeholders. Certainly, attempting to have interaction all audiences with experiences results in huge, advanced paperwork that make everybody depressing.
At Citi, Heller mentioned, whereas the report is used as a “single supply of fact” for ESG info, they complement this with different communication mediums extra fascinating to totally different stakeholders. Citi has an ESG web site that breaks up matters into bite-sized items of content material. If a buyer, for instance, peruses Citi’s web site, they will simply discover content material concerning the firm’s local weather threat or human rights work.
The best story ever informed
Whereas we roughly have already got the means and know-how to deal with lots of the world’s ESG challenges, what we lack is the power to take collective motion at scale. We received’t achieve success in addressing the local weather disaster and different urgent issues if we are able to’t do a greater job speaking them. Earlier than we are able to get folks to behave, we’d like them to care — and storytelling is one of the best ways to maneuver them.
We’re all a part of the best ESG story ever informed — and it is as much as us to find out the way it ends.
