Sustainability Manager and his role in the company

The Sustainability Manager is a professional figure in companies that embrace the issue of sustainability and intend to evolve to gain a competitive advantage in the market. The future of business is built by paying more attention to the social and environmental impact generated by production activities. It requires the adoption of sustainable and responsible strategies to encourage customers, stakeholders and employees to remain loyal to the company. This requiresimproving the company's performance by employing skilled professionals capable of achieving the sustainability goals set.

The Sustainability Manager is responsible for ensuring the company's compliance with environmental, energy and safety regulations. He/she is responsible for devising sustainable policies and initiatives, achieving quality performance targets and stimulating sustainability awareness inside and outside the company. The professional figure of the Sustainability Manager is multifaceted and transversal, dealing with the management of the impact that the organisation has from a social, environmental and economic point of view. It goes far beyond the undertaking of realising theoretical goals. It must ensure the practical implementation of sustainability principles in the company itself.

In order for the company to implement sustainability principles, the Sustainability Manager must be able to draw up sustainability plans, identify areas for investment, and report through measurable KPIs (key performance indicators). Having a professional figure who organically adopts these tools means pointing in the direction of business success and demonstrating to stakeholders as well as customers the simultaneous commitment to both economic and sustainability. In this regard, let us recall the importance of the sustainability report, a document focusing not only on financial results but also on the ecological impacts of business activity. It provides for standards to be achieved, indicators needed to assess corporate performance based on universal sustainability thresholds, and in this context 3Bee presents itself as an ideal partner.

The Sustainability Manager is responsible for managing the social, environmental and economic impact of an organisation. The figure must have managerial and technical, social, communication and relational skills. He/she must have the ability to draw up a strategic roadmap with a predisposition for Gap Analysis to define the strategies to be pursued in order to achieve sustainability goals. Reporting is among his tasks, and to this end he must predict and coordinate activities that speak of the company's role in society - such as the Social Budget. At the same time, he/she has the task of coordinating product or management system certification activities, as well as identifying and implementing actions to improve environmental and social sustainability, compliance with national and international regulations in cooperation with other internal bodies.

The activities in which the Sustainability Manager is involved include regular meetings with the various function managers. The aim is to constantly map processes and identify areas for improvement in the area of sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Once again, the importance of making stakeholders, customers and employees aware of the company's sense of responsibility that drives the business both economically and socially is emphasised. The Sustainability Manager then supports and creates content within the marketing function, the bridge between the organisation and its target market. Finally, he or she must integrate plans for alignment with the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN in 2015 into the corporate strategy.

Including the figure of the Sustainability Manager in one's company should not only be seen asa way to comply with regulations, giving the figure ownership of the report to cover various corporate functions - marketing, finance, communication, external relations. The role is much broader, as evidenced by the large number of Sustainability Managers who over time become Chief Sustainability Officers, professionals in charge of monitoring the organisation's performance and who report directly to the top management of the company like other top management figures. The Sustainability Manager is a resource manager who must integrate different skills and specialisations across every role in the company. It is a hybrid profile, capable of combining specialised and transversal skills such as those related to ESG aspects. Hence the need for efficient and assertive communication to involve all staff in sustainability goals.

The advantages of incorporating the figure of the Sustainability Manager into the company are manifold. Embarking on a corporate path towards sustainability means aiming for economic benefits through a more fruitful dialogue with stakeholders, better access to finance, increased revenue and cost efficiency. Your company will gain organisational and governance benefits with risk mitigation, talent attraction, employee engagement. Market positioning will be improved as will company reputation and you will enjoy greater visibility. The brand will be aiming for success, therefore, thanks also to the skills and work of the Sustainability Manager.

Continuing education is essential for the Sustainability Manager and for all professionals working in the field of sustainability. 3Bee comes to the aid of companies with the first online training course for sustainability professionals: Pillole from the Oasis - 3Bee's Digital Academy. It is an online course designed to provide corporate contacts with the right tools to deal with CSR issues. Managers and sustainability teams can participate with the aim of acquiring new knowledge and improving their skills. The topics are constantly evolving and at the same time increasingly in demand. Training on sustainability topics is in fact not optional, but a necessity.

Institutional investors consider environmental, social and governance factors in the process of choosing an investment (86%). One in two customers prefer to pay more to buy sustainable products and services. Employees consider sustainability when expressing their appreciation of the company they work for in view of Employee Net Promoter Score. Three protagonists of the business - stakeholders, customers and employees - demand respect for the environment and society, and their demand must be met by training staff who fit efficiently into a changing environment

Pillole dall'Oasi: 3Bee's Digital Academy for Sustainability Professionals is a training course consisting of 12 lessons and modules touching on various topics, realised in cooperation with Neutralia and Italian Tech Academy. The climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity, ESG aspects, and strategies to make sustainability a factor in business success. The modules will be presented by 23 experts from the worlds of research, innovation, business and finance. An opportunity not only for training, but to join an exclusive community to receive monthly updates on the latest news from the world of sustainability. Do you want to make your commitment to environmental protection tangible and ensure the best training for your employees?



Article edited by Valentina Trogu