6 hurdles your business can overcome in its quest for sustainability

According to research by Bain, 98% of sustainability initiatives fail in business. One of the key takeouts is that enthusiastic leadership teams overlook the difficulties frontline employees confront when implementing sustainability initiatives. 

Experts at Nedbank have identified six hurdles that may be causing your business’ sustainability transformations to fail. Here they are, with some tips from Mark Boshoff, Head of Sustainability at Nedbank Commercial Banking, on how to tackle them:

1.     Lack of knowledge - Despite the overwhelming number of articles, thought leadership seminars and other media exposure relating to sustainability, misconceptions and knowledge gaps persist.

TIP: Businesses should progress beyond basic training material and engage employees in authentic, meaningful experiences. Employees gain knowledge by working on collaborative activities, sharing interests, and receiving feedback.

2.     Lack of motivation - A lack of involvement or enthusiasm for sustainability in any business presents a challenge that businesses need to overcome. The question is how do you gain buy-in for actions not necessarily tied to performance?

TIP: Employers successful at engaging their workforce understand the need to establish a culture within where motivation is routine. Focus on commitment, make behaviours more visible and incentivise appropriately.

3.     Lack of experience - Many employees lack the experience and confidence necessary to act as champions of sustainable practices.

TIP: Educating and engaging employees is a necessary first step. To encourage involvement, organisations can ensure opportunities exist for employees to observe and practise sustainable behaviours, build confidence in their abilities, and take ownership.

4.     Making the Business Case - For many, the narrative of sustainability is inseparable from higher costs for business owners. But the exact opposite can be true.

TIP: Energy-efficient lighting, spending less on paper, wasting less water may all require a bit more costs upfront, but the saving monthly thereafter improves the business case. Consumers also want sustainable products, and they’re willing to pay good money for them.

5.     No Metrics to Measure Success - Accurate and user-friendly sustainability metrics that measures the success of initiatives is another challenge.

TIP: The best way to approach this is by establishing your metrics for success upfront before you start planning your new sustainability initiative – and make it practical and achievable.

6.     Management and Employee Involvement - Finally, many sustainability initiatives are full of good ideas but face buy-in constraints.

TIP: The best way to re-establish new habits is to incentivise change and reward positive behaviour in a meaningful way.

What can be done?

Partnering with experts in the area is critical for the successful implementation of sustainability initiatives. These partners must be able to give sound advice pertaining to accredited vendor selection, pricing, trusted equipment suppliers, for instance.

"Sustainability pays for itself through savings, carbon credits, carbon footprint reduction, loadshedding, electricity credits, opening up new markets and opportunities," says Boshoff.

Nedbank Commercial Banking offers sustainability funding for 10 years or longer, with a focus on renewable energy financing, water conservation, waste recycling, as well as Agri-products like smart irrigation and shade-netting.

This funding structure also utilises clients’ current interest rate and takes into account the savings when structuring repayments. It is catered to all clients - from individuals up to big corporates.

One such client is a local branch of an international logistics company based in Gauteng, that required a renewable energy solution to supply sufficient power to mitigate the loadshedding.

Savings and allowances

"The R15m project delivering 350kW was successfully completed during 2022. The savings on electricity costs and diesel expenses to run a generator during loadshedding, largely covered the repayments arising from the Nedbank Commercial Banking Sustainability Financing Solution," says Boshoff.

They were also able to reduce cash required by accessing the accelerated wear and tear allowances for businesses installing less than a megawatt of electricity, as well as VAT rebates.

Ultimately, partnering with a bank to assist with sustainability initiatives is a strategic decision.

"Partners can help you reduce your business’s impact on society, planet and the environment, mitigate the climate risks facing your business and ensure business sustainability for your customers, family, employees and society."

This post was sponsored by Nedbank Commercial Banking and produced by Adspace Studio.