Business mentor: Sustainable approach means smart thinking

Q: I keep hearing about "sustainability" and how a business should look at its "triple bottom line". We are a medium-sized manufacturing company and wonder what this actually means for us? How do we become more sustainable and continue to grow our business?


* Jane Henley, northern regional manager of the Sustainable Business Network, replies:

A: The words "sustainability" and "triple bottom line" are overused and often misunderstood. In essence, a sustainable business will consider its "triple bottom line". This means that in addition to economic performance, it will also consider its social and environmental performance. The challenge is how can a business have a positive impact on the environment, improve the well-being of its employees and positively contribute to the local community while achieving economic prosperity?

By expanding your view and the way you look at the performance in all areas of your business, you create opportunities for innovation, efficiency and cost savings in process and resource use. There are many other benefits through social initiatives that can reduce staff turnover, sick days, increase productivity and staff well-being which have far-reaching effects on the wider community.

An often overlooked benefit of operating sustainably is the brand value and market differentiation this can create, and the influence on people's purchasing decisions and brand loyalty.

A sustainable approach to your business performance is smart business. It is not for greenies or tree huggers. It requires taking small steps within your current means to begin looking at how you can use less and achieve more. Once a wider approach is adopted in how you measure your business performance, it is likely that you will begin to see other areas that can be improved or adapted.

A good example is when Hubbard Foods looked at packaging. They decided printing "Hubbard's" on the foil bag in their cereal boxes was not necessary and added to chemical pollution in landfill. Removing it from the bag saved them several hundred thousand dollars.

Another example is Phoenix Organics. They looked into their national distribution methods with two aims: To reduce the amount of fossil fuel they used as a company, and to save time and money in getting their goods to market. After an initial cost of a consultant to carry out a transport management plan, they changed the whole way they moved their product - shipping containers by sea and rail rather than in smaller amounts by road to main town centres, and having warehouses in these centres. The payback period for these changes is short and the savings are ongoing.

Recent research by the Government-sponsored Growth & Innovation Advisory Board showed New Zealanders have strongly held values regarding quality of life and the environment, and these dictate their attitudes to economic growth.

To many Kiwis, growth is linked to increased hours at work, less lifestyle, further pressure on our treasured environment, increased stress and associated ill health.

The research revealed a variety of Kiwi values that could form a fresh vision for New Zealand's economic, social and environmental future. Kiwis really care about quality of life, the environment, health and education, about fairness, race relations and innovation, and they also support and call for a change in the way we do business. New Zealanders seem to want recognition of these values, even in the cause of greater economic growth. Kiwis have stated they want businesses to do more than make a profit.

New Zealand can model sustainability to the world by creating ways of doing business that deliver social, environmental, cultural and economic success. Kiwis want to be a part of creating a sustainable future that is prosperous, socially just and environmentally sustainable.

The Sustainable Business Network is keen to see development of new ways of measuring "success" (not using GDP) which focus more on well-being; incorporating and recognising genuine progress, and those important aspects that are unaccounted for - such as environment, voluntary work, health and happiness.

On October 12, the network will explore these issues at the conference, "Sustainable Growth & Innovation - Inspiration towards Action". For more information visit www.sustainable.org.nz or phone 920 2400. Customer relations mentor John Lees is holding half-day seminars, "How to Create Loyal and Profitable Customers", in Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington on September 21, 22 and 23, hosted by The Knowledge Gym.


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