How to become a digital sustainability leader in 5 steps

1. Set tangible sustainability goals

We examined the market value performance of 154 firms that were continuously part of the S&P 500 from 2007 to 2021 and linked it to assessments of digitization and sustainability maturity for firms in each given year. Many digital sustainability leaders cited the importance of setting tangible sustainability goals. The key here is to focus organizational energy on searching for innovative solutions, often leveraging digital technologies.

2. Communicate progress

Effective communication highlighting achievements and areas for improvement is vital to successful transformation. Calling out achievements during the journey helps build and sustain a high-performance culture that encourages behavior shifts and drives a greater interest in digital and sustainability across the workforce.

3. Develop and implement measurement and analytics capabilities

What cannot be measured cannot easily be improved. To guide the prioritization of projects, it’s necessary to understand where the emissions come from. Clear assessments highlight the largest potential environmental gains. Improved measurement also serves as a risk-management tool as it can help organizations avoid reporting errors and being labeled “greenwashers”.

4. Establish governance to drive the complementary digitization-sustainability narrative

Transparent governance plays a pivotal role in promoting the understanding that digital transformation and sustainability can coexist and complement each other. To facilitate this, create global teams of leaders in their respective divisions to generate awareness and transparency around how digital and sustainability initiatives are rolled out.

5. Put appropriate compensation structures in place

Establishing appropriate compensation structures linked to the success of dual transformation efforts is also key in raising engagement and making the transformation an enterprise-wide undertaking.