How do you Create Profitable Solutions Using a Sustainable Development Approach?

1. "The engine" = each of us, acting on a daily basis

2. "The essence" = the results obtained, which mobilize and attract resources

3. "The goal" = to preserve our humanity and our planet

Our individual capacity to exercise influence can have an impact on our personal sphere (with our family and with our loved ones), in our professional sphere (as a leader of an organization, as a collaborator or shareholder) or in our daily life (as a citizen, a consumer, a volunteer, etc.). In a professional context, sustainable performance can only be considered effective if all stakeholders are taken into account.

An organisation’s value creation project could call upon the entirety of its different systems (HR, customer, quality, societal and environmental) in order to bring forth a new system that is unique, integrated and coherent, and which connects profitability to sustainable development.

The model "Diamond of A Sustainable Business" was originally published in 2012 and further developed through the collaborative effort of some 100 companies of different sizes and from different economic sectors, over a period spanning two decades of operational interventions. The Diamond proposes the full command of 8 facets in order to establish, measure and advance the maturity level of an organization in terms of its sustainable development and the continuation of its responsible performance.

This model can be used as a guide for companies that wish to link their societal and eco-responsible values to the design and marketing of products/services in a profitable way in the long term.

Here are the guiding principles for taking action, as outlined by the Sustainable Business Diamond:

1.     Vision and Leadership

• Give meaning that speaks to all stakeholders, in addition to considering the planet

• DDevelop next level (4.0) decision-making capabilities: head / heart / guts / communities

2.     Measures and Indicators

• Implement the Triple Bottom Line: economic (profit) / social (people) / environmental (planet)

3.     Process

• Build your company on a solid foundation, linked to clear objectives and indicators

• Master the process = ensure its internal and external added value

4.     Information Systems and Data

• Everything is digital: this implies overseeing data at the executive level

• Define and manage your IT architecture in accordance with the 4 standard levels (capacities, processes, software and infrastructure)

5.     Skills and Know-How

• Consider know-how to be a strategic asset: invest in it continuously, develop it and make it grow

• Prioritize people over tools

6.     Organization

• Be progressive: change as often as is needed (result of the combination 3 + 4 + 5)

• Be adaptable: create multidisciplinary teams by subject as often as possible

7.     Capitalize on Experience and Continuous Learning

• Continuous training: 5 to 10% of the week’s working hours are dedicated to giving or receiving training

• Formalize best practices and disseminate them methodically ("from the aquarium to the sea"); have "guardians" for document management

8.     Ongoing Progress

• Systematically apply the P-D-C-A problem-solving method

• Track down the root causes: solve less, but better

• Generalize solutions that work

The Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec, AdmA, offers an online training course, given by Frédéric Gaurier, AdmA, CMC - Groupe Trencadis.

This article was written by Thaís Maia.