Liquid’s CEO, Lis Lewis-Jones, attended University of Birmingham’s Business Engagement roundtable discussion on sustainability, meeting with marketing and communications delegates and academics from across the West Midlands.

The discussion focused on how the marcomms community can support sustainability and promote the value of sustainability to stakeholders.

After gaining plenty of insights from the session, Lis shares her biggest takeaways and pieces of advice from the discussion below.

Find ways to find solutions

With so many companies now looking to make sustainable changes, it can be hard to make a company’s voice heard. To tackle both the noise and sustainability issues, joining together at events like the roundtable is an essential first step in creating regional alignment and a solidified approach.

Engage the right stakeholders

While conferring on how best to communicate sustainability goals with stakeholders, it was suggested that businesses should be encouraged to acquire sustainability accreditation, in order to build trust with their customer.

The conversation led attendees to consider how customers are placing more and more importance on the CSR efforts of brands, meaning that businesses, not just the environment, can benefit from implementing more sustainability practices.

Avoid greenwashing on the sustainability journey

While working towards climate targets is essential, it is equally as important for a business to communicate their efforts accurately and sensitively, to avoid greenwashing. With consumers paying more attention to the environmental effects of their spending habits, one attendee remarked that communicating sustainability efforts and targets to consumers is now just as important as communicating revenue and profit to shareholders.

Another delegate noted that younger generations are tending to hold their employers to account and that the generational gap needs to be bridged. To engage stakeholders with sustainability goals, employees and employers should introduce a collaborative approach and work together to find new ways to enhance internal and external sustainability.

Implement sustainability in every aspect of business

Roundtable participants agreed that sustainability practices can and should be implemented in all areas of companies, and that they lead to positive outcomes for general business.

For example, investing in sustainable, natural workspaces can have a positive impact on employees’ stress levels and Lis explained how increasing sustainability efforts improves staff retention rates.

Participants also noted it was essential to ensure suppliers are taking similar sustainable measures to reduce the risk of any progress being undone.

Support SMEs on their sustainability journey

Delegates highlighted the importance of supporting SMEs in their sustainability journey, given the extra hurdles they must overcome. For example, half of SMEs don’t own the building they operate from, which can make implementing green initiatives more difficult.

An effective method to support SMEs would be to promote the net positives of sustainability, especially in relation to their costs. The success of SMEs should be high on the priority list of institutions, local governments, and surrounding businesses since SMEs make up 90% of businesses operating in the UK and contribute £217bn to the economy.

As an SME, Liquid is constantly making strides along our sustainability journey, which includes the installation of carbon neutral flooring during our 2019 office remodel, lots of recycling bins available around the office, as well as working with clients who share our sustainable values. We also encourage all our team members to use public transport where possible and minimise food waste.

Continue the legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Following the success of Birmingham 2022’s sustainability initiatives, delegates discussed how to ensure the efforts and legacy are continued. To best maintain the momentum, attendees highlighted the importance of keeping up the grass-roots level approach to sustainability.

What do you think is the best way for marketing and communications professionals to promote the value of sustainability to stakeholders? Let us know your thoughts on social media.