Why Gender Equity Goes Beyond the ‘S’ in ESG.

The topic of ESG and sustainability is flooding that market and quite rightly so, but the problem, however, is that with so much information, organisations are becoming overwhelmed in being able to connect the relevance of the topic directly to daily business practice.

At Benefactum Consulting when we think about sustainability it is also a way of building processes.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide us with the how. Which goals should we be aiming for and which topics can we focus on specifically, whereas ESG provides us with the measurement tool?

Yet, for many, the question is what are we measuring and how can we create a measurable process?

In financial services, it has been easier to confine the ESG scoring to investments, but with the push of legislation such as the Non-financial Reporting Directive, the onus is on organisations to look at not only their composition but their culture. How are they going to do more to ensure that they are actively inclusive?

A sustainable business is one that creates governance and infrastructure to support the advancement of women in the workplace without needing an advocate or champion to be present as it is embedded.

This is where we can take a slightly different look at the way the ‘E’ in ESG is used to create a strategy for organisational culture. If we use E to represent the environment in which women work and the focus on improving it, the ‘S’ remains focused on how that can be achieved, and the ‘G’ is then building the governance to support it.

Gender equity encompasses the whole spectrum of ESG and even more so as we move along supply chains and who is on the front lines of doing the work.

Starting with organisational culture is the first domino that needs to be pushed if we are going to see change across the supply chain.

If those capital holders make the changes, then we have a better chance of making bigger changes for society as a whole.

To find out more, as to how Benefactum Consulting can support you no matter where you are on your journey, contact us here: contact@benefactumconsulting.com