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
No matter where an organization stands on its journey, ensuring that its performance management practices are up to par can influence its progress. Done correctly, this could be the edge that sets it apart from the competition.
The KPI Institute (TKI), through the efforts of the dedicated members of The Global Performance Audit (GPA) Unit, has successfully collaborated with the Talent and Performance Management Department of the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) to evaluate the performance management practices of the organization. This evaluation encompasses various areas, such as strategic planning, corporate performance management, employee performance management, and organizational culture.
The TDF is a young organization established in Saudi Arabia in 2020 with the mandate of driving growth in the national tourism sector by enabling private investments. With nearly 200 employees, the TDF has set up a formal division dedicated to managing strategy and performance. It comes with specialized departments responsible for handling key processes like strategic planning, corporate performance management, strategic initiatives portfolio, organizational excellence, research, and insights. Similarly, people’s performance and organizational culture are guided by specialized teams.
The KPI Institute’s maturity assessment for the division adhered to a holistic approach in both project coverage and methodology. In terms of coverage, the following organizational capabilities were evaluated: strategic planning, performance measurement, performance improvement, employee performance culture, and organizational culture.
Figure 1. Integrated Performance Management Maturity Model | Source: The KPI Institute
Regarding the methodology, TKI’s Integrated Performance Maturity Model includes a review of formal procedures and other official documentation (outputs) and insights from employees in the organization obtained through surveys and interviews with key internal stakeholders. All findings were rated against best practices using a scoring methodology, and the final score positioned the TDF on maturity level IV out of V (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Performance Management Maturity Level | Source: The KPI Institute
To read the full article and know more about the stages of a performance management system maturity assessment, download the PERFORMANCE Magazine Issue No. 27, 2023 – Government Edition now through TKI Marketplace.
Unlock best practices that drive success in the government sector with insights from the Tourism Development Fund’s performance management practices evaluation. Get your hands on the physical copy of the magazine via Amazon.
