Q: What are the key drivers of sustainability in organizations, and what role does the performance management system play in creating a sustainable organization?
A: Sustainability is getting more importance after the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 (17 SDGs, 169 targets), agreed upon by almost all nations. The main aim is to sustain resources for current and future generations with the most efficient and effective resource utilization, minimum environmental harm, best economic rates of return, and the most involvement and empowerment of societies.
The circular economy is one of the drivers for sustainability. It aligns directly with SDG 12 and indirectly with all other SDGs. Moreover, it focuses on transitioning from the current linear economy to a more sustainable closed-loop circular economy, where resources are minimized and products are recycled as the final stage. The closed-loop approach prioritizes reuse, refurbishing, and remanufacturing before recycling.
The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Model 2020 defines organizational excellence as the structured management of three pillars: Direction, Execution, and Results. The goal is to use integrated and agile methodologies to support lean execution and achieve sustainable results that meet or exceed stakeholders’ expectations.
Aligning sustainability, circular economy direction, and organizational excellence would support continuous positive impact and collaborative efforts among stakeholders.
An engineering and management professional with 13+ years of rich experience
Certified trainer and training delivery in strategy planning and execution, KPIs, OKRs, BSC, customer service, employee performance management, innovation, excellence, sustainability, and quality management
Experience in R&D in AI, conditional monitoring, and sensor fusion with experience in the HPC computing industry in the UK
Masters of Science Engineering and Management | University of Exeter, UK
PhD Business & Management (Circular Economy and Excellence), University of Pecs, Hungary (2021-2025)
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This feature was first published in the Ask Our Experts section of Performance Magazine Issue No. 25, 2023—Sustainability Edition. To download the free digital copy, visit the TKI Marketplace. You can also purchase an additional printed copy via Amazon.
Q: How can an organization create meaningful sustainability reports?
I will reply with a question: meaningful for who?
My point was to bring to your attention the importance of knowing your audience and the information they expect or need to receive. To identify what your sustainability report focuses on, one must identify the needs of the audience, and as you can assume, there will be one approach to report internally to the top management on the latest progress and a completely different perspective if the annual sustainability report must be released for external stakeholders. Moreover, there are compliance issues that must be considered since regulators, depending on your location, will require certain aspects to be captured in the reporting.
Putting aside the specific context of each organization and the local compliance issues, I find the following principles valuable for producing a quality sustainability report:
Identify the materiality issues – Identify what is the most relevant issue for your organization and consider the informational needs of the report’s users.
Ensure data accuracy – Misinterpretation of results or simple error calculation can lead to serious legal consequences, reputation damage, and loss of stakeholders or shareholders’ trust.
Focus on impact – Use specific KPIs or metrics to measure the achievements of objectives, avoid presenting only what the organization is doing, and include more data about the performance achieved and the impact created.
Provide regularity – Information should be reported on a predefined schedule (e.g., quarterly, annually).
Communicate with clarity – Use simple language, include essential information (not all data available), and use visuals that convey the data’s meaning effectively.
Center for Government Performance, The KPI Institute
Business Unit Manager of Research Programs at The KPI Institute.
Her professional experience embeds research skills with performance management consulting and practical strategy development and execution for the Research division.
In the last 10 years, Cristina contributed to the development of best practices and standards in how to use and leverage KPIs that are taught in the premium certifications of The KPI Institute worldwide and assisted large organizations in industries like oil and gas, financial sector, telecommunications, manufacturing, and utilities.
She conducts maturity assessments for performance management systems and has trained over 500 professionals over the last years getting first-hand experience with the most stringent issues organizations face.
This feature was first published in the Ask Our Experts section of Performance Magazine Issue No. 25, 2023—Sustainability Edition. It offers deep dives and practical insights into the sustainability strategy and performance management. To download the free digital copy, visit the TKI Marketplace. You can also purchase an additional printed copy via Amazon.
The field of data analytics is very important nowadays, considering how the business environment is going through continuous developments in terms of technology, innovation, globalization and sustainability. The field also faces various economic struggles and unexpected challenges. For these reasons, managers and executives must remain up-to-date with information and data to make the best decisions for their organizations and maintain their competitive advantage in the market by creating value for clients.
To do so, I recommend managers and executives join different professional groups on LinkedIn where they can ask questions and discuss any challenges they are facing. They should also have subscriptions to various research journals and business magazines. It also helps to attend conferences where they can meet researchers and professionals from both the academic and business worlds.
Furthermore, following business blogs, watching podcasts, and reading books are valuable methods to gather new data to make informed decisions. By being part of professional groups on social media and attending conferences, managers and executives can find out in real-time the challenges other leaders face, discuss them, and take on new ideas for implementation as early as the next day. These communities of managers and executives are valuable assets in today’s challenging business environment.
Over the recent years since Vision 2030 of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been initiated, the massive changes within the operations of government entities have led to a rise of expectations for better communications with the stakeholders to achieve effective citizen engagement. Communication strategies and initiatives have been developed and launched with the initiation of KSA’s Vision 2030 in order to streamline the strategic objectives and clarify the roles of stakeholders and staff as well as identify the target audience and communicate with them more effectively.
To implement the communication strategy of any public entity effectively and efficiently, the communication plans should include what information should be communicated, who should receive that information, when that information should be delivered, and how those communications are tracked. Also, some actions need to be considered within the implementation of communication strategy, such as opening two-way communication means, using technology to streamline the communications, and focusing more on engaging with the audience–not just listening to them and answering.
The popularity of sustainability has surged in recent years, causing organizations to grapple with balancing short-term profits with long-term sustainable practices. This has led to concepts like shared value and corporate social responsibility, with companies aiming to create economic and social value while reducing their environmental impact. The movement has sparked active efforts, with social innovators, policymakers, investors, and academics all striving to measure sustainability.
In today’s world, companies must move beyond outdated economic metrics and adopt KPIs that consider the triple bottom line, including social, economic, and environmental aspects of their operations, all while promoting sustainable human well-being.
However, sustainability is a constantly evolving concept that adapts to context and cannot be measured with a single yardstick. The balance between social, economic, and environmental considerations is crucial to achieving sustainability. It is like walking on a tightrope, requiring constant adjustments to maintain equilibrium in a changing world. Each context requires a unique approach, with varying weights and measures for different factors. Customized solutions are needed that address stakeholder needs while maintaining long-term balance, as a one-size-fits-all formula won’t work.
About the Expert
• As a Managing Director, Teodora leads development initiatives to support and enhance the organization’s strategic plan and manages the development and growth of the MENA branch of The KPI Institute.
• An expert researcher, consultant and practitioner with six years of experience in the deployment and implementation of KPI Management Frameworks.
• Pursuing a PhD. in Management on the topic: Rethinking the Performance Management Systems to ensure organizational sustainability, Lucian Blaga University, Romania
• Postgraduate Program in Entrepreneurship and Venture Creation, ISCTE Business School Lisbon, Portugal
• Master’s Degree in Project Management, Romanian-German University, Romania
