We all know culture drives performance, but for whatever reason the correlation between culture and performance when it relates to the success of sustainability programmes isn't always considered.
In 2016, global management consultancy Bain & Company assessed over 300 corporate companies around the globe including household names like Coca-Cola and Nestle, evaluating the success of corporate sustainability programmes. Bain’s research on sustainability transformation programmes showed that only a poultry 2% actually achieved or exceeded their aims, citing the level of ‘leadership support’ as the greatest factor influencing success or failure. Bain cited the second highest factor as ‘employee engagement and interest’.
(Achieving Breakthrough Results in Sustainability, Bain & Company 2016 report)
This demonstrates a clear case for culture being the primary driver behind sustainability success or failure.
So for those organisations with a genuine desire to shift the dial on sustainability and achieve real and meaningful impact, how do they achieve the level of leadership support and wider colleague engagement necessary for success?
It starts with measurement…
BVC - Culture Sustainability Report
Sherrington are accredited users of Barrett Values Centre diagnostic tools. BVC are a globally recognised provider of culture diagnostics and values assessment tools, that enable organisations to gain a true understanding of their people and what really drives their behaviours.
The Barrett ‘Culture Sustainability Report’ provides a clear lens into how cultural values can support or hinder sustainability ambitions, by understanding how the values of your people and leaders align with to the United Nations 5 P’s – People, Prosperity, Partnership, Planet and Peace.
The report provides us with a clear picture of the current values and culture, so we can then introduce leadership coaching to support leaders to understand how their values impact culture and in turn organisational success when it comes to sustainability.
The report highlights the levels of alignment between the optimum culture for sustainability and your organisation's current culture, thus showing you exactly what needs to change in order to be successful when it comes to achieving real and authentic sustainability.
This means when recruiting future leaders and managers, you also have a tangible benchmark to use for values alignment and can recruit with the ideal values in mind for your organisation's desired culture - hopefully one that supports sustainability.
