Corporate agility is a winning strategy, now apply it to ESG

There’s a key trait successful companies around the world have shown over the past two years—agility. 

Companies have been agile when moving to virtual work at the onset of the pandemic. Seemingly overnight, multinational corporations adjusted their operations in specific countries due to recent geopolitical events, proving that businesses could practically restructure a large part of their global operations in less than 48 hours. 

Coming off these historical and defining moments in business, I believe now is the time for companies to continue to embrace that same agility and apply it with the same sense of urgency towards integrating business strategy, transformation and reporting to deliver on ESG goals. If companies can quickly reckon with a global pandemic and geopolitical unrest, I believe the same can be done with corporate ESG initiatives. Now is the moment for the business community to execute on ESG—this is the corporate world’s time to collectively commit to ESG. 

Throughout history, the private sector has made key investments in initiatives and projects that have advanced society, all by being agile. From reimagining how we move around, to rethinking the way we communicate, business has been at the heart of major changes that have defined moments in human history. The private sector is ultimately a key source that consistently and continually redefines the status quo to help propel the world forward. 

And in the same vein, as the world collectively shifts to create cleaner, more sustainable energy operations, the private sector has the capability to advance society toward cleaner energy. The business community has the ability  to reimagine the world’s energy operations, moving humanity toward cleaner, more sustainable energy sources. Plus, strategic ESG initiatives may not only benefit a company’s stakeholders, its community and our broader society—they can also be  good for the company’s bottom line.

Over the past few years, many companies have made long-term net zero commitments with goals stretching out 20 or 30 years. Knowing that these same companies have demonstrated a proven ability for quick enterprise-wide transformations in response to other crises, why can’t the same agility apply to ESG technology development, transformation initiatives and transition? The answer is that it can—and should. 

In the boardroom, ESG should be viewed as a critical factor that’s necessary to delivering value now and in the future. Companies that build momentum early may create distance from their competitors, powered by access to critical talent, enabling technologies and broader business alliance relationships.   

To quickly fulfill ESG goals, business leaders should assess where they are in their ESG journey and then consider several steps, including connecting ESG strategies, milestones and reporting to their company’s overall business strategy when working to adopt a more agile approach. 

Instead of moving the needle slightly every year with ESG deadlines that are decades away, companies should fully embrace ESG business transformations now, like they currently do with other segments of their business. 

It didn’t take weeks to move to remote work—it took mere days. It didn’t take months to reorganize global operations abroad—it took only hours. The time is now for companies to act with agility toward ESG goals, as the clock is ticking for us all.