For any company to thrive moving forward, taking sustainability seriously is crucial.
Consumers, investors, and regulators are increasingly prioritizing it, and even forgetting that; the operational/financial efficiency that sustainability brings just makes sense from a business perspective.
But there is a growing issue here. Because to take sustainability seriously, companies need to attract top sustainability talent. Yet sustainability talent is increasingly becoming difficult to compete for.
So how are all these companies going to thrive then!? If they can’t attract the necessary talent!?
Don’t worry, if you’re a company and you’re reading this, we know an even better way you can thrive. Forget about hiring elusive, full-time sustainability talent. Instead, embrace the efficiency and flexibility of sustainability services!
By sustainability services, we’re referring to the specialized expertise and solutions provided by freelance sustainability professionals. Below, we explore five ways these services can help companies thrive.
1. Regulatory compliance
Sustainability regulation is a bit, complex isn’t it? CSRD, CSDDD, Green Claims Directive, ESRS, Omnibus. There seems to be a new regulation popping up every day, and the specifics of each regulation seem to be constantly changing.
Any company that tries to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape without expert help is pretty much doomed to fail. And the truth is, each individual regulation is so extensive, you realistically need to find a different expert for each one.
So even if you could attract the full-time talent, would it really be feasible to hire a permanent employee to help you with each regulation?
Of course it wouldn’t!
With sustainability services, you can temporarily hire different sustainability professionals to help with each regulation. And then once you know you’re in compliance, you can congratulate them for a job well done and send them happily on their way. (And then if regulations suddenly change again, you can call them back! It’s flexible, stress-free, and effective).
2. Operational efficiency/Cost savings
You shouldn’t just be taking sustainability seriously so that you can comply with some little old regulations though. Forget about that; there is real money to be saved!
So many companies are unaware of how much money they waste through inefficiencies like poor energy use, excessive material consumption, and unsustainable supply chain practices.
By availing of sustainability services such as Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) experts, Scope 3 emissions experts, or decarbonization experts, companies can identify inefficiencies and implement measures that lead to long-term savings.
And as well as lowering operational costs, such efficiency improvements can also help to future-proof companies against rising resource prices.
Now doesn’t that sound like thriving?
3. Brand reputation
Consumers, employees, investors, what do they all have in common? They are all increasingly demanding responsible business practices, that’s what!
If a company today can prove they are really performing sustainability-wise, it will do wonders for their brand reputation.
And sustainability services offer multiple ways to do just that. Globally recognized assessments such as EcoVadis, CDP, or Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) provide companies with a credible way to demonstrate their sustainability performance and showcase progress. But they require a lot of work to get right.
Through sustainability services, companies can find dedicated experts to guide them through all these kinds of assessments.
Then, after performing well in these assessments, it’s possible to access the services of a sustainability communications expert, to maximize the reputational rewards gained from all that hard work.
4. Innovation
Embracing sustainability usually drives companies to innovate.
You don’t simply develop greener products for example, or significantly increase supply chain efficiency, by doing what you’ve already been doing.
To get sustainability right, companies need fresh ideas, new strategies, and expert guidance to rethink processes, materials, and business models. Sustainability services can play a key role here in numerous ways.
Whether it’s conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to identify product improvements, using Scope 3 calculations to drive supply chain efficiencies, or setting ambitious, science-based emissions reduction targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
It is possible to easily hire freelance experts to drive progress in all these kinds of areas, and inevitably, innovation will follow.
5. Climate resilience/Risk management
The importance of sustainability today, beneath it all, is driven by the need to ensure a safe and functioning future for the planet.
And when companies make sustainability a part of their core strategy, in a similar way, they are ensuring a functioning, successful future for themselves.
It cannot be denied that already, the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, resource scarcity, and geopolitical challenges pose serious risks to business continuity. But by availing of the right sustainability services, companies can assess risks, develop adaptation strategies, and strengthen their resilience.
Companies that integrate things like climate risk assessments, renewable energy adoption, and resource efficiency initiatives into their long-term planning will be better equipped to navigate any disruptions that come along.
And as a nice bonus, these kinds of proactive climate resilience strategies also help to position companies as leaders in sustainable development.
If you’re feeling in a proactive mood after reading this far — and you fancy finding out how sustainability services can help your own company thrive — look no further than Dazzle.
With Dazzle, you can easily access all the sustainability services you need to thrive
Dazzle is a platform that offers the world’s best sustainability freelancers on demand.
So even in a time when top sustainability talent is becoming difficult to find and attract, with Dazzle’s sustainability services, you will never have to stress about finding the expert help you need.
We have top sustainability professionals ready to jump in and help with any particular challenge you might have. And with Dazzle, quality is guaranteed, as all of our freelancers are extensively pre-screened.
The process is also very flexible because you can choose to work with our experts on a project-based, on-demand, or interim basis.
Contact us today, and we can send you several expert profiles within hours, allowing you to find the perfect fit, fast!
We have dedicated ourselves at Dazzle to making top sustainability talent as accessible as possible, so that companies like yours can thrive without stress.
All the while making the world a better place.
