GET TO WORK NOW ON FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR BUSINESS
If you the entrepreneur already want to work on future-proofing your business then MVO Nederland is happy to help you with this. You can even take the first steps yourself – today! For instance, consider procuring green electricity, opting for fairtrade coffee and tea and installing motion sensors for your lighting. However, you won’t make a real difference unless you start with a detailed strategy.
WHAT DOES THE RIGHT STRATEGY LOOK LIKE?
Whether you call it a CSR plan or a transition strategy to take you to the New Economy, it’s true to say that every organisation has a different one. However, if a plan is to actually make an impact in practice then it must answer the following questions:
1. WHAT IS YOUR AMBITION?
Look for your own ‘point on the horizon’. Ours is to achieve the tipping-point by the year 2025 – what’s yours?
2. WHAT ARE YOUR SPECIFIC GOALS?
Your overall ambition can be subdivided into a number of goals. This is because your business cannot do everything at once. This makes it essential to define these goals clearly. As a network organisation, MVO Nederland has already opted for climate neutrality, a circular economy, inclusive businesses and fair trade chains. However, you, the entrepreneur, may find all this a little too much. So, decide the issue that you want to work on and detail how you will do this.
3. HOW DO YOU MEASURE WHETHER YOU HAVE ACHIEVED YOUR GOALS?
It pays to have goals because then you know what you are working towards. The question is: how do you know exactly how much progress you have made? Well, this is why you draw up KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Make them as specific, measurable, action-driven, realistic and time-related as possible. An example of a good KPI is: by the end of 2020 my organisation will have reduced its factory’s CO2 emissions by thirty percent. Regularly measure the extent to which you have achieved this goal and make adjustments if you are not there yet.
4. WHAT IS YOUR SPECIFIC PLAN?
Turn your long-term goals into a short-term plan. What do you need to do in the coming year? Who is to carry this out? And what are the measuring moments where you evaluate the progress made?
THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF YOUR PLAN
And once you have your plan, it makes sense to ensure it is implemented in the best way possible. Our experience has taught us that there are three critical success factors for this: First, make sure you have consulted with your most important stakeholders, as they have an interest in the course you set (and take). Second, your policy must have been made part of your corporate culture. In the end, everything stands or falls with the people who have to implement it. And finally, be transparent – to all your people – about the decisions you take.