Historically, anything outside the realm of maximizing returns has remained outside the focus and attention of the C-suite. That is beginning to change as corporations grasp the importance of investing in sustainability and appointing a C-suite chief sustainability officer (CSO) with the responsibility of driving the planning and execution of a company's sustainability strategy.  

However, the CSO and their team remain a relatively low proportion of an organization’s workforce. Moreover, CSOs are often relegated to a narrow scope of influence and impact, making sustainability a departmental responsibility instead of something that can create real impact across the organization. The reality is that sustainability is seen as a far-away aspiration, cost center or, at best, a strategy much lower on the priority list—especially in an uncertain economic climate.

Talent demands sustainability

Hiring and retaining top talent today requires that organizations think beyond compensation packages and perks and focus instead on the issues that are important to them.

Millennials already make up the largest proportion of the U.S. workforce.

Pew Research Center

In addition to making up more than half of the workforce, according to some sources, millennials are also keen to consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work. As millennials continue to increase and dominate the lion’s share of the workforce, their buying power and, by association, influence will grow.

Consumers are also making their intentions known through their purchase decisions, as 66 percent of U.S. customers and 80 percent of millennials and Gen Z are willing to pay more for sustainable products compared with less sustainable competitors. And 64 percent said that products branded as environmentally sustainable or socially responsible made up at least half of their last purchase.

A concerted focus on and investment in sustainability can also provide savings and operational efficiencies over the long term, thereby positively impacting profitability that cannot be easily met by the competition. Those moves will ultimately help to create brand affinity and increase customer lifetime value by reinventing the value exchange between businesses and their customers.

Investors see sustainability as a strong investment

The investment community is also keen to understand how companies will make net zero commitments a reality in 2024 and beyond, protecting against future economic shock with updated environmental regulations and compliance. The leaders in sustainability will consider how to best achieve long-term cost reductions through identifying environmental operational efficiencies, all of which make organizations moving towards sustainability an attractive investment prospect.

Investors want to see commitments that exhibit stronger governance frameworks around the impact of their operations on climate change, tangible actions to reduce emissions across the entire value chain and enhanced disclosures that go beyond regulated mandates that will assist in tracking the progress a company is making.
 

Now’s the time to chart a sustainable path forward for consumer tech companies

In the hyper-competitive category of consumer technology, innovations are quickly copied, market share marginally moves between the same players and consumers see little difference beyond their own experiences and price promotions. Publicis Sapient can help chart a plan for organizations looking to introduce and evolve sustainability at their organizations for today's needs and tomorrow’s future.