Automotive company builds fundamental approach to ESG

It can hardly have escaped companies' attention: ESG factors are of great importance for the future of their organisation. But where to start, if the will is there to contribute to a sustainable future, but its organisation is still in its infancy? The European organisation of an international automotive company struggled with exactly that issue.

The automotive multinational's headquarters, on another continent, had an outline sustainability strategy. But in Europe, it was high time for a practical translation of it, especially with the upcoming European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in mind.

In collaboration with PwC, the organisation took five steps towards a sustainable future. To coordinate with the global organization, a steering group with members from both Europe and head office was established at an early stage. 

1. Analysis of the company's sustainability position in the market. 
2. Research into the company’s most relevant sustainability topics. 
3. Development of the sustainability vision, strategy and ambitions based on analysis and research from the previous steps. 
4. Translation of the vision, strategy and ambitions into measurable goals and drawing up the so-called roadmap for the country organizations. 
5. Implementation and communication of the steps taken and the way forward.

To determine the most important sustainability topics, the automotive company decided to survey all employees. That was a smart decision, as people are the heart of the company and they are needed to bring the strategic choices to life. If they can work on their collective priorities around sustainability, the strategy is more likely to succeed and employees will feel more closely connected to their employer. 

The survey itself increased awareness of the importance of ESG. The enthusiasm of the employees became the lever for change. Once the strategy had been formulated in outline, external stakeholders such as brand dealers were also involved.

Based on the survey results and discussions with management, the client wrote a four-pillar strategy in collaboration with PwC. One of those pillars, for example, is more efficient use of energy and materials, which typically achieves sustainable progress in the automotive sector. But promoting diversity and inclusion also became one of the four strategic pillars. PwC's extensive experience with sustainability and sector-specific knowledge surrounding the automotive market were helpful in determining realistic goals. Together with the customer, goals were formulated with sufficient ambition and a good fit with the current way of working. Not too much, too fast, but certainly not too little and too slow.

The knowledge level of employees within the organization must be in order to really get started with ESG. That is why a selected group of one hundred employees initially engaged in a further training program for ESG. They could then think along about the measurable goals and help shape the change process. ESG further training was then scheduled for all employees, to ensure everyone was optimally involved in the sustainable future.

What else was needed to execute the strategy? Figures among others, to measure progress. With the help of PwC, the company set up a solid data collection and reporting process. Starting small was the starting point. The pilot, with several business locations and a handful of 'key performance indicators', was further expanded after success.

Throughout the ESG approach, well-considered first steps build trust on the journey of sustainable progress. The automotive company, which at the start of the collaboration with PwC, had little in the pipeline, is now working hard to fundamentally strengthen sustainability with a large group of very engaged employees.