In the sixth episode of our “In Conversation..” podcast series for 2024, Lucy speaks to Giles Gibbons, co-founder and CEO of Good Business, a strategy consultancy firm with almost 30 years of experience advising organisations on purpose, behaviour change, sustainability and responsible business strategies.

While many organisations are taking positive steps to manage their social and environmental impact, the sustainability agenda continues to move faster than business’s rate of change. In this conversation, Giles explains how having a sustainability and responsible business strategy is good for business and why this is a growing area of focus for employees and wider stakeholders. Lucy and Giles explore the role of employee activism and regulation in driving corporate action in the sustainability space and the challenges that poses for businesses, particularly where views and opinions in the workplace conflict. Lastly, they explore practical ways employers can make impactful change.

Key Takeaways:

• More rapid change is needed. According to the IPCC, climate change is moving ever faster and organisations’ rate of change is not quick enough. 
• Organisations should be proactive. To differentiate themselves, businesses should use regulation as a catalyst for governance transformation and innovation by taking proactive instead of reactive steps towards change. 
• Focus on the issues on which you can make the biggest impact. Organisations should assess their impact on the climate and society and focus time and resources to affect change in those areas through the way it does business.
• Employer brand is so important.  Employees want to know they work for a company that is having a positive impact on the world. As employers strive to attract and retain the best talent, increasingly employees have a greater share of voice in the importance of sustainability within an organisation.
• Create a safe place for divergent viewpoints. Create an organisational culture where it’s okay to have diverging views and it feels safe for employees to engage with people with conflicting viewpoints.
• Have conversations with your employees. Rather than demanding change, turn this into a proactive conversation between employers or employees.