Drive Growth Through Sustainable Business Practices (Collection)

3. Understanding Your Stakeholders and What Is Material to Them

Before companies charge down the path of sustainability, they should figure out what is material to their business and what their stakeholders care about. Too often, organizations make the mistake of skipping this step because they are in a rush to “get something done” or they are responding to an external request from a customer, shareholder, or supplier. This Ready-Fire-Aim approach misses a crucial step if you want your sustainability efforts to be successful, and that step is stakeholder engagement.

A company should first determine what aspects of sustainability are material to its business. Then it needs to understand what its various stakeholders care about, prioritize actions ...