Millennials and Gen Z combine for 50% of the world’s population and are the future of your company.

As previously reported via our posts, these consumers care more about your sustainability commitment than your brand.

They will move their purchasing loyalty if they find a certified sustainable company; and they will move their employment if they find a certified sustainable company to work for.

This article discusses another industry, automakers and suppliers, that is accelerating its sustainability programs (the ‘E’ in ESG) to better compete for these consumers and workers.

In short:

• Search for talent – The auto industry is trying to become more sustainable to compete for, and retain, talent. Workers will go elsewhere if the auto industry does not improve its sustainability commitments….and follow through with its promises;

• Government compliance – The SEC and European Commission are putting teeth into laws that will help ensure companies comply;

• Cost of money – certified/verified sustainable and ESG-enabled companies are paying less for their money;

• Vendor impact – Supply chain vendors are being tasked with becoming certified sustainable, to help their clients meet their internal mandates;

• Price and margin – Sustainable products with a lower CO2 footprint are commanding higher prices

Your industry is facing the same demands and opportunities.  You can make sustainability a powerful differentiation tool for your company.  This webinar / PPP explains what you should look for in a sustainability program.

Per this article, corporate travel can account for 20 percent or more of an organization’s total supply chain emissions. 

Hospitality leaders who wish to take market share, have the opportunity to differentiate their brands by becoming certified sustainable.

When they become certified sustainable and promote same, those organizations that are sending their employees on travel, and who have internal sustainability mandates (97% of large organizations have sustainability programs and mandates), are mandated to select the hotels that are sustainable, if given the option.

This is not a hotel-specific story.  The same story is being played out in every industry across the world – the client organization has a sustainability mandate to lower its carbon emissions, which requires its suppliers to also be sustainable.  You, as a supplier, or supplier-candidate, can win the client’s business by being certified sustainable and using that status as a differentiator from your competitive peers. 

Most companies have these departmental responsibilities:

• Operations / Finance – Seeks profitability, efficiency, cost reduction
• Marketing / Sales – Seeks differentiation from competition, a talking point that resonates
• HR / Admin – Seeks employee performance, health, happiness

Studies from Nielsen, Harvard Business Review, HP, Deloitte, Fast Company, MIT, BAR, Symbola, NYU/Stern, Forbes, et cetera, tell us:

• The #1 thing your company is seeking is a way to differentiate from the competition, yet your marketing and sales efforts struggle to find a talking point consumers want to hear. Net, you are not maximizing your advertising spend or messaging opportunity;
• Further to your messaging challenge, 75% of Gen X and Gen Y consumers (64% of the world’s population and the future of your business) say sustainability is more important to them than even your brand name. Net, if you want to resonate with the largest buying groups, you need to talk about being sustainable….but don’t Greenwash;
• Further, as to loyalty, 70% of all consumers will move their loyalty and purchases if they find a certified sustainable company offering a similar product. Net, the clock is ticking, as a competitor might start using sustainability against you;
• As to government work, government regulators are adding sustainability to their requirements. Net, being certified sustainable is a powerful advantage to bidding government work and will become a gating item.  You may not directly serve them, but as a sub-vendor, you will be impacted;
• As to serving large organizations, they are replacing existing vendors with certified sustainable vendor options in order to meet their own internal sustainability obligations. Net, same as with government bids, being certified sustainable is a way to take market share;
• As to saturation, +97% of all large organizations have sustainability programs; yet less than 1% of SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises, under US$1b) have sustainability programs. Net, the opportunity to stand out by becoming certified sustainable is greater for SMEs;
• As to your future staff, 9 out of 10 under 40 job candidates want to work for a certified sustainable company and will take less money to do so. Net, being sustainable is a key component to finding and retaining talent;
• As to the performance, health and happiness of your existing staff, every company loses an average of 5% profit per year due to employee insomnia, stress, anxiety, physical pain and mental acuity. If you do not have a program that addresses these, improving the performance, health and happiness of your employees, you are losing an average of $10,000 per full time employee per year.

Is your company addressing all the above?

If not, watch this webinar,as it:

• Helps Operations / Finance enjoy higher profitability, improved efficiency, cost reductions
• Helps Marketing / Sales enjoy differentiation via a talking point the majority of consumers want
• Helps HR / Admin achieve higher employee performance, health and happiness

Per this Forbes article, the seriousness of commitment to sustainability / carbon neutrality / ESG will cascade through the commercial ecosystem in a profound way.

The article says there are three groups of companies with regard to sustainability / carbon neutrality / ESG, but there is obviously a fourth, which is the first one below:

• Those that have yet to do anything
• Those just dipping their toes in the ESG landscape, making small commitments, and moving slowly in making actual change
• Those making substantial commitments, investments, and operational changes focused solely on strict compliance with their CEO mandates
• Those that recognize there is a substantial opportunity to improve their brand and competitive positioning through their ESG commitments and investments

As to which stage of the above your company is currently at, the article states that if you are unable to demonstrate you are reducing your carbon footprint and being socially responsible, your company will be replaced by a company that is.  Net, the sooner your company gets to the fourth stage and uses its sustainability status as a competitive differentiator, the better you will hold your existing clients and win new clients.

As to supply chain, if you are a supplier, regardless of your size or public/private status, be prepared to be required to be certified sustainable and have a carbon program as your clients will be required to have vendors that can prove their sustainability and carbon reduction programs.  Again, this is an opportunity to take market share if you are faster than your competitors to become certified sustainable and have a carbon neutral program.

This master class webinar gives you the information you need to proceed through this process.

Matt Wilson, of AMB Performance Group, who is also the host of the “Business Owners Speak” podcast series, interviewed David Goodman, CEO of Edenark Group, for Episode 15, shown via this LinkedIn link.

They discussed the value of becoming environmentally certified sustainable for a small to mid-sized business.  Here is the YouTube podcast.

Edenark Group can be reached via this contact form.

AMB Performance Group can be reached via this website.

United Tech Employee Management (https://www.unitedtechpeo.com/ ), a Palm Beach, Florida-based, family-owned, employee leasing company that handles payroll, workers’ comp, and unemployment administration became environmentally certified sustainable under the Edenark Group ISO 14001 environmental sustainability certification program. The company will re-open its corporate office at the end of Earth Month 2023, after a major energy-saving remodel and retrofit.

The energy-saving retrofit includes new insulation, a smart NEST A/C thermostat, new water-efficient toilets, a new low-energy refrigerator, and new LED lights.

“We are a family-owned business.  We care about our community and the world we are leaving behind for the future.  Serving people and protecting future generations is at the core of our culture.  We decided to upgrade our corporate office to be as energy-efficient as possible,” said Kristina Smith, President of United Tech Employee Management.  “We will use our new corporate office to present the benefits of environmental sustainability to our guests, including vendors, prospects, clients and community colleagues,” added Smith.

United Tech Employee Management (https://www.unitedtechpeo.com/ ) can be reached at +1 561.594.4892

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We are often asked, “What are some of the things you help clients do, to become certified under the Edenark Group ISO 14001 program?”

Item #49 from the Edenark Group Green Team Guide is CO2-absorbing paint, allowing you to Paint Your Way to Reduced Office Staff Health Problems!

With very little difference in price versus traditional paint, why not paint your walls with our air purifying and CO2-absorbing paint that reduces up to 95% of indoor air pollutants?

• Non toxic
• CO2 reducing
• Zero VOC (volatile organic compounds)
• Absorbs VOCs
• Eliminates odors
• Greenwise-certified
• Helps you pursue the Edenark Group ISO 14001 certification, inclusive of carbon neutrality
• Quick-drying, with no nasty paint-job smell (ie, minimum down time)

Knowing that newly painted walls lift the mood and energize your team, why not go with paint that also improves health of your team and the planet?

Edenark Group is a distributor of Smog Armor paint products and we recommend these products to our clients as part of their sustainability certification, carbon neutral and ESG program, as they help you achieve your goals.

It is an easy, fun, smart and safe way to improve a work environment’s visual, emotional, environmental and human-health appeal.

The past 8 years have been the hottest on record….and with El Niño starting, temperatures are expected to rise.

Changes will occur.

This article picks 16 specific species and landscapes, including your morning cup of coffee, and talks about what we can expect in the coming years.

Should your company wish to be part of thousands of companies around the world who are choosing to be part of the solution, please watch this webinar and send us a note.