Stakeholder engagement strengthens sustainability strategy

Sustainabilty is a word that’s thrown about a lot and has unfortunately led to ‘green washing’ and confusion about what the right thing is to do. The reality is, as global weather becomes more extreme, the threat that climate change poses is quickly becoming a reality. Businesses need to understand climate change risk as it applies to them, and to endure, they need to be prepared and ready to adapt. But that’s only part of the climate change story for businesses.

As sustainable transformation specialists, Tadpole work with many companies in a wide range of industries who are prioritising sustainability. These businesses are taking time to understand their contribution to climate change and developing and implementing strategies to reduce their impact.

One Tadpole client, warehousing and supply chain expert, Online Distribution, has recently begun their journey, and is already reaping the results.

Online Distribution have recently completed their materiality process, during which hot topics and risks of relevance to the business were identified. To ensure they choose the best way forward, Online Distribution asked Tadpole to conduct stakeholder interviews with a cross section of employees, clients and suppliers.

From the open enthusiasm of sustainability leaders Allbirds, to the partnership opportunities offered by Waste Management, the stakeholder interviews provided more than validation of the direction the business needs to take.

“The stakeholder interviews facilitated by Tadpole have been such a positive experience. We got enormous value out of them. I only wish we could interview all our clients, suppliers and employees!”

For Online Distribution, stakeholder engagement has resulted in extensive benefits, including:

• A complete list of material topics to feed into the company strategy, based on the opportunities, issues and risks identified by stakeholders;
• Engaged stakeholders who feel heard and valued due to their involvement;
• Partnership opportunities and innovation concepts which might have otherwise gone undetected;
• Increased communication with employees, clients and suppliers;
• Enhanced employee morale;
• Opportunities to promote stakeholders and their own sustainability storytelling, in exchange for them doing the same;
• An introduction to the topic of sustainability, in plain English.

To learn more about the value your business can experience by engaging with stakeholders about sustainability, contact Allan Birch on 021 930 992 or allan@tadpole.co.nz.