In his book Sustainable Success: How Businesses Win as a Force for Good, Sphera CEO Paul Marushka provides a simple measure of sustainability maturity. Businesses typically fall into one of three categories, he says: Getting Started, Getting By or Getting Ahead.
Marushka also offers encouragement, examples and practical suggestions to help companies move up the sustainability maturity scale. In this blog, you’ll find a brief description of each category, allowing you to reflect on your company’s current status and consider what steps you need to take to progress.
Understanding sustainability maturity
Sustainability maturity reflects a company’s commitment to relevant sustainability practices and goals and the steps it’s taking to achieve them. The maturity ranges from meeting basic compliance requirements to fully embedding sustainability as a core business strategy.
Businesses can use a checklist to determine where they stand. Checklist questions can cover a company’s impact on the community; energy sources and usage; greenhouse gas emissions; supply chain sustainability; and regulatory compliance, for example.
Once the company understands its current position, the next steps involve gathering data, setting a baseline and establishing performance indicators as a way to track improvement. Let’s begin here by taking a look at the summary for each category.
Getting Started: Companies in the Getting Started category are just beginning their sustainability efforts. They may respond to investor requests or public relations crises reactively but lack a strategic framework. Moving forward requires setting clear goals, leveraging the right tools and building a roadmap for progress.
For organizations just Getting Started, it is critical to explore what sets their sustainability initiatives in motion and how they can approach these efforts strategically.
Getting By: According to Marushka, most companies find themselves in this Getting By category. These businesses meet compliance requirements systematically but see sustainability as an obligation rather than an opportunity. Although they might achieve cost savings and basic benchmarks, their focus remains on tactics, with little integration into long-term strategy.
To advance, companies that are Getting By must move beyond compliance-based actions and embrace sustainability as a catalyst for innovation and stakeholder engagement, he advises.
Getting Ahead: At the top of the scale are organizations that are Getting Ahead. For them, sustainability drives strategic business value. They have determined what is materially important to their organization; in other words, the issues and topics — both positive and negative — that matter most to the company and its stakeholders.
Organizations that are Getting Ahead integrate sustainability principles into every decision, guided by in-house expertise, technology and data. From bold R&D investments to robust accountability mechanisms across all functions, Marushka notes that these companies are setting the standard for sustainable business practices.
The visionary leaders of companies that are Getting Ahead seize the opportunity to enhance brand reputation, strengthen partnerships and future-proof their operations through sustainable products and practices. Such organizations are “best in class” regarding governance and disclosure, while satisfying evolving expectations of stakeholders.
Empowering progress and positive change
Companies that are looking to lead can equip themselves for their journey by starting small and ensuring focus. By using the Formula for Good, which unites technology, expertise and data, companies can move steadily along the sustainability maturity scale. But strong leadership, guided by a Noble Purpose, is what drives real progress. “Doing good” is the motivational engine for long-term success.
The role of business leaders in making sustainability part of the organization’s core values can’t be overstated, according to Marushka. A CEO’s dedication can inspire employees and promote change to help the organization mature.
Transitioning to a sustainability-driven enterprise
By organizing data and applying it strategically, businesses can integrate sustainability into their operations and better understand their value chains. In other words, any company with the right technology, in-house expertise and up-to-date, accurate data from all parts of the company — and most importantly, is powered by committed, purposeful leadership — can transition from a purely compliance-focused to a sustainability-driven enterprise.
Discover how your business can harness sustainability for long-term success. Getting ahead might be easier than you think.
