Transcript 0:01 We talk about this all the time. It has to start at the top. We need the C-suite, all those executives, to create a culture of sustainability. Nothing works if it doesn't start at the top. 0:15 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation, with your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:33 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. This month on The Peggy Smedley Show, I am talking all about the enterprise and sustainability. 0:47 Today, I want to do something a little bit different. I want to take you inside the mind of one corporate affairs business leader, specifically as it relates to sustainability initiatives. 1:02 Why is sustainability important? What steps can technology companies take? How important is employee buy-in? How can we achieve it? 1:16 And how can the C-suite create a culture of sustainability? Now, I'm gonna cover all of this here in the first segment by looking at one company specifically and what it's doing. 1:29 Later on in the show, I'm also gonna be interviewing a couple of really great guests. 1:34 First up is Michael Steeb, executive director and adjunct professor for Disruptive Technologies and Digital Cities program at Stanford School of Engineering. 1:45 And then I'm [laughs] gonna wrap up the show with Heather Miller, uh, COO of Supply Chain at Breakthrough. So we've got some, uh, good guests as always. So let's get started. 1:56 Why does sustainability need to be on business leaders' priority list specifically today? Well, simply because customers, employees, and investors are simply just demanding it. 2:11 We know this is the case with Gen Z, or as I like to call them, the screeners. 2:18 You know, studies show roughly ninety percent of this socially engaged generation believes companies must act to help improve societal and environmental issues. 2:34 Young consumers are demanding this, but it goes beyond just the younger generation. I recently came across an interesting study from D.S. Smith that asked the question: 2:51 Who is the most eager to recycle? Now, I think the answer might surprise all of you that are listening. Roughly seventy-one percent, you ready for this? Of boomers hold themselves more accountable 3:09 f- for responsibly recycling than others. Millennials are at sixty percent, while Gen Z is fifty-nine percent and Gen X is at fifty-eight percent. 3:26 But this trend towards sustainability is larger than this, and I think it's very important. It's much more than just recycling. 3:37 In total, seventy-six percent of Americans believe it is no longer acceptable for companies to be solely profit-driven. 3:48 We want the companies that we work with and partner with and purchase products from to have a positive impact on our society. Companies simply can't ignore this anymore. 4:06 Now, recently I conducted an interview with Tay Yu, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Cisco. Now, here is what she had to say. 4:20 "Sustainability, business opportunities, and accountability is intrinsically linked. 4:27 Cisco works with customers and partners and suppliers and stakeholders at every stage of the value chain to engineer new sustainable solutions that will benefit people, communities, and the environment." 4:43 Now, we can understand why it is important, but I think what is a little bit trickier and where some companies stumble is with the how. How do we enable this? 4:57 How do we take the steps to create a sustainability strategy? And here is what Yu suggests. 5:08 "Ground the work in the company's purpose and culture, and then integrate into how the company does business." 5:20 She also says, "It is important to set clear goals, governance, and reporting to ensure you are following through." Now, I personally love that statement. 5:36 Focus first on what's core to your business, and then build out from there. Now, I would also add we need to involve our workers, our people, the w- everyone, everyone we work with every day. 5:53 They are critical, and they're a critical component to our success with anything we do. Sustainability initiatives, technology implementations, you name it.You know, think about that. 6:09 Cisco listens to and engages people to be active participants in sustainability initiatives. It has to do that. Let me give you a couple of examples. 6:23 It organizes a two-month employee volunteerism and awareness campaign called Earth Aware, which includes a virtual event. 6:32 Now, I really like this because this is a thought leadership forum on, you guessed it, sustainability. But it also has what it calls Cisco Green. 6:44 This is a hub on its internal digital site that enables employees to learn about and engage in environmental sustainability activities. Now, here's one more example. 6:57 Cisco Green House is an interactive sustainability web platform that helps employees find like-minded peers worldwide who want to lead more sustainable lives. Now, here's the point. 7:13 By organizing these types of events, Cisco is creating a sense of community around sustainability. Now, Yu says it inspires employees to take action both in their own lives and in the workplace. 7:32 Another key component to sustainability is making sure it is top-down initiative. We talk about this all the time. It has to start at the top. 7:45 We need the C-suite, all those executives, to create a culture of sustainability. Nothing works if it doesn't start at the top. It needs to start at the very top. 7:57 That top executive needs to have buy-in and believe in it. The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer gives us some interesting insights into how powerful this is. 8:09 Roughly 66% of employees globally believe the CEO of the company they work for should take the lead on change. Yu says this 8:23 imperatively, "We cannot move forward without looking at sustainability and the post-pandemic recovery as an example." So think about this. So powerfully she... 8:39 I, I guess she's, she so powerfully articulates this point that it... 8:44 I, I love the way that she says, "To further reinforce a culture of sustainability, leaders need to speak out about issues like climate change with knowledge and commitment." 8:55 I don't think anyone's gonna believe a company if that top executive isn't standing behind that initiative. If that happens, employ- employees are gonna follow. It's, it's, it's commitment. 9:09 Cisco has some pretty impressive targets for sustainability, too. And of course, this is only one example. We are seeing many of the large companies in this space taking sustainability very seriously. 9:24 They realize it's about more than just the environment. It's a way of working. Okay, so here's my opinion for today. We need to act now. 9:40 We need to make sustainability and addressing climate change a focus for all of our companies. We need to make sure it is on our priority list for 2021 and beyond. 9:54 We need to create a sustainability strategy if we don't have one already. We need to get employee buy-in, and we need to create that culture of sustainability at companies. 10:12 It all starts, what did I say before? Right at the top, right at that C-suite, that executive level. So here's my tip. Ask yourself some very tough questions today. 10:26 What is my company doing in terms of sustainability right now? Do we have a sustainability culture? Are employees on board? Are executives driving it? 10:44 Where are we falling short? Once you have a better idea of where you are at, then you can take those critical steps to move forward. 10:59 We have an opportunity right now, all of us working together, what I always say, to move from gray to green. How wonderful would that be when we're all doing it together? 11:13 Let's do it for our business and for our investors. Let's do it for our employees and for our partners. Let's do it for our customers and for our communities. 11:27 Let's do it for our future generations, and let's do it together. We can all stand united for a common cause around the world, and let's do it together. 11:46 That's where we stand. Let's do it together. That's the most important. As always, if you have some thoughts what we've talked about today, please send me your thoughts. 11:59 Tweet at me on this discussion on social media at connectedwmac. All right, that's all the time I have for this first segment. I hope you have some wonderful thoughts. 12:08 Check out our website at connectedworld.com or the Peggy Smedley Show site at thepeggysmedleyshow.com. There's a lot of things, any past segments that you can check it out if there. All right, but don't go away. 12:19 We've got more to come right after our quick commercial break. As always, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. 12:27 And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. Go get that quick cup of coffee. We'll be right back. [upbeat music]
