Governance and Strategy |
Effective Sustainability & Climate Change (S&CC) organizational design and governance enables organizations to meet their corporate responsibility objectives through appropriate organizational structures that align with a company’s unique design and culture. Sustainability and Social Responsibility Strategy can help organizations determine what to do to improve their environmental and social performance.
Many companies are still looking for answers about what kind of internal organization should support their corporate responsibility efforts and the short answer is – it depends. With increasing regulation and stakeholder pressure for environmental and social responsibility, it makes sound business sense for the S&CC function to be formally established within an organization’s architecture. For many companies, systematically executing and reporting on S&CC and sustainability represents a significant change. For other companies, S&CC activities are common but do not have a formal place in the organization. Regardless, to reap the benefits of S&CC activities, a company needs to set goals, monitor execution, track performance, and report results – on the scale that’s right for the company. Establishing either, or both, an organizational structure and governance model, is critical to effectively establishing roles and responsibilities, aligning incentives, and creating accountability for S&CC activities.
Deloitte member firm professionals help companies make the most of their S&CC strategy by providing services in support of their efforts to implement an effective S&CC role within their organizational structure. Deloitte’s services include support of the following activities:
- Assessment of organizational factors such as size, maturity, and industry that are important to tailoring an appropriate approach to designing the S&CC function
- Design of governance structures, including such components as board involvement, external committees, functional or cross-functional accountability, and C-suite leadership that will enable a company to effectively execute their S&CC strategy.
- Identification of the appropriate resources and responsibilities for the organizational structure to execute on S&CC activities
- Development of an ongoing approach to assessing organizational S&CC needs and evolving the S&CC function in response to external changing market demands and internal drivers
- Benchmark current performance against peer groups
- Analyze benchmark results to understand where improvement opportunities may exist
- Establish a vision, mission, and initiatives that can help improve the business’ competitiveness and its ability to react to changing markets, regulations, and expectations
With effective S&CC organization design and governance, organizations will be better positioned to:
- Systematically evaluate their social and environmental risks
- Manage the organization’s brand and reputation by showing a commitment to S&CC and increasing transparency
- Make the most of existing S&CC activities
- Facilitate alignment of S&CC activities and business strategy
- Adapt to future S&CC needs in the long term
