In our experience with SMEs, the role and responsibility for leading on sustainability sometimes lies directly with the owner or MD, but commonly it is delegated. We work with managers whose main role can be in HR, Production, H&S or Marketing for example.
There’s nothing wrong with that, the main thing is that someone is responsible.
Whether you’re reading this as the former; the owner or MD who takes the responsibility, or the later, the person it is delegated to, the questions are the same:
- What training have you had?
- Do you have goals and targets?
- Do you have easy access to the information you need?
- Do you have the time?
- Do you have the support you need, both internally and externally?
- Do you have a mentor?
Passion, interest and commitment will be enough to get started, but there will come a time when you’ll need more in order to go beyond ‘picking the low hanging fruit’. Moreover, it’s vital to be confident that your efforts are focused in the right direction to achieve the greatest impact. That can involve focusing on areas which may not be immediately obvious to you.
Making measurable progress on sustainability is hard work, but ultimately rewarding, as your costs come down, new opportunities open up and your business reputation improves.
Ultimately, everyone in a business will be responsible for sustainability and it will become as embedded as quality and safety, and that must be the goal, but most businesses aren’t there yet.
If this is you, ask yourself those six questions.