Five steps to develop a sustainability strategy: Step four

From part one, you've learned how to educate your organisation on ESG. Part two then takes you through the process to map out your stakeholders, and part three details the all-important materiality assessment. Now in part four, let's put that to good use.

Action plan and implementation

There is a material ranking of issues of key focus and information gathered from the gap analysis on what actions the company has taken already, these should be combined into an action plan. 

It should set out the core objectives on the key material issues identified, and these objectives should be measured and monitored by easily quantifiable KPIs. These objectives should be ambitious, aiming to push the business forward towards creating a net positive social and environmental impact, however not so ambitious they cannot be attainable. In turn the KPIs should be attainable, applicable and comparable to crucial industry measurements.

Once you know what to do, look at the effective implementation of the strategy. This can be done in a number of ways, but it is a combination of methods which leads to the most successful implementation. Before this, the action plan will need to be signed off by senior management, to ensure not only buy-in but also alignment with core business aims.

Once this is done decisions on how to integrate the strategy throughout the business can be made. Engagement with employees through clear and exciting communications, which explains to them how this strategy will influence their day-to-day actions is crucial, such as those whose job it will be to collect data or guide employee training.

Dialogue is also essential to these communications, allowing employees to understand, ask questions and give feedback on the strategy. Other actions include setting up governance structures such as internal and external committees to oversee implementation, with individuals having specific objectives delegated to them to ensure they are met, and stakeholder feedback on the strategy.

The series concludes tomorrow, with a look at how to measure the success of your strategy.

Participate in ICE365 and DigitalRG's industry ESG survey

In order to understand the key issues on which the industry needs to focus, click here to do a personalised materiality assessment. This will be used as part of the ICE365 Materiality Matrix, in collaboration with DigitalRG, to create the most accurate picture of the ESG elements the gambling industry will prioritise in the year ahead.