The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a dominant global preoccupation. They feature almost everywhere, and are shaping policies and practices across levels. One thing that is often mentioned in relation to the SDGs is that they are complex problems requiring collaborative efforts to address. They call for strong and creative collaborations amongst the public, private, and third sectors.
In the private sector, corporate sustainability can be succinctly described as an organisation’s genuine attempts to align with and contribute to meeting the SDGs. As such, some organisations are now engaging in all sorts of sustainability initiatives – from advocacy to zero waste management. Some have gone as far as mainstreaming sustainability in all their processes and practices. The likes of Unilever appear to remain the global role models in this area.
However, in order for many organisations to mainstream and sustain these sustainability initiatives, they also need the requisite human capabilities and capacities. This has led to the emergence and proliferation of sustainability related jobs and roles in organisations. Given the newness of such jobs and roles, many people who move into them most of the time do not have the requisite technical background and training to fill such roles. Most of them tend to follow their interests in this area, while some are motivated to contribute to changing the world and how organisations respond to global environmental and social challenges. As such, many of them learn on the job and navigate their ways through the often tortuous labyrinth of organisational dynamics and politics.
Unfortunately for these sustainability professionals, no one loves change. Secondly, many people still fail to see the need for sustainability, especially in developing economies. These economies simply want to grow, develop, and later worry about environmental and social challenges. For them, the latter is a good problem to have and China, in recent times, remains a very good role model for this type of growth and development. In sum, some people believe that if it is not broken, why fix it!
The other challenge that trails the sustainability role is the ever increasing demand to justify the role and its advice through the proverbial business case route. Should sustainability orientation automatically make money? Should it be profitable? If not, why not? The sustainability professional needs to adequately answer these questions to gain credibility and legitimacy in the organisation.
Faced by these challenges, most sustainability professionals end up pushing up to win the support of doubting senior management and pulling up to carry along colleagues who are sceptical of senior management’s interest in sustainability. Trapped in the middle, the sustainability professional is inadvertently expected to be all things for all people. This is not a good space to be in.
In addition, the sustainability function, in most organisations, is seen as peripheral to the core business of the organisation and as such not adequately resourced. It is often seen as a cost centre and the first to lose its budget in times of emergency and turbulence, which appear to be often these days. They are always on their toes to justify their existence. It can be a lonely space.
The sad reality is that intuitively sustainability is appealing but no one wants to invest in it. Senior management understand the need to protect the environment and minimise negative societal impacts, but they would not want to go down this route unless it makes immediate returns in abundance. No one seems to believe or accept the long-term benefit rhetoric – perhaps because in the long term, we are all dead. This makes the sustainability role even harder!
In such scenarios, the sustainability professional wishes for some external forces to change his or her fortune. Some of these external forces include mega corporate scandals and organisational-life threatening situations. Research evidence shows that organisations seem to respond well to such near death experiences. But how often do such happen? Most organisations do not survive such crises and it is not in the interest of sustainability professionals to wish for such unless they also want to be out of job.
The other possible source of pressure is regulation. The view that corporate sustainability is a voluntary activity, sometimes makes it easy for organisations to walk away from it or do nothing about it. Regulation then becomes a strong way to nudge organisations on to the sustainability path. This is a credible path, given that most of the issues sustainability professionals battle with are usually borne out of market failures and regulatory lapses. The regulator then should be the sustainability professional’s best friend and ally. Unfortunately, some regulators are behind the curve and or under capture by some business interests, especially in weak institutional environments.
In some contexts, where the civil society is vibrant, they can also be a force for good. At least, they can hold organisations accountable and endlessly hack on their reputation. Organisations sometimes understand these pressures and sustainability professionals can take advantage of such. Unfortunately, too, the civil society can suffer business capture and or be powerless; a double tragedy!
Tied to these challenges, the sustainability professional is also expected to walk the talk. Very few roles have such expectations. Are accountants expected to be good at accounting their personal financial activities? Are investment managers expected to be good at managing their personal wealth? Are lawyers expected to be always law abiding? Expecting the sustainability professional to practice what he or she preaches moralises the role and can inadvertently become an extra moral burden for the sustainability profession. Again, that’s the cross of the sustainability professional!
In sum, it is fair to say that sustainability professionals have a job many people will not like to do. No one wants to be the person always nagging top management and other members of the organisation to do the right thing and do things right.
Despite the burdens of the sustainability professional, it is still a necessary job to be done and someone will have to do it. Perhaps, the joy of the profession is the zeal to take on new and complex challenges sustained by the hope of a fruitful and successful outcome. However, the job requires extra care and psycho-social balance. It is a role that requires a lot of emotional strength, diplomacy, and courage.
The sustainability professional should not be carried away by the lure of the positive kicks the role gives to the point of exhaustion and burnout. This is usually a possible outcome, which is rather unfortunate for a job to change the world!
Kenneth Amaeshi
Amaeshi is professor of sustainable financial systems and holds a personal chair in business and sustainable development at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He tweets @kenamaeshi
