During the recent Prime Global Leadership Conference, we gathered input for a big hairy audacious goal. As Prime Global Member firms, we want to impact society by helping our clients be net-positive firms. And this ambition will be on the front page of the Financial Times in 2030 with the title: Prime Global shows that they have the biggest client base of Firms of Endearment. For this Prime Global created a new goal to be accountants who are stewards for a sustainable society.

It’s great to see that a lot of PrimeGlobal firms are working on the theme of sustainability for their own firms as well as for their clients. They've started sustainability teams in their firms, they have taken courses with universities to get improve their knowledge and some work together with ACCA to get insights into the role of accountants in the transition to a more sustainable society.

The first step on the road to sustainability is the biggest one

Accountants can be the stewards for a sustainable society

To become stewards for a sustainable society, the baker must eat its own bread, which was also an important conclusion of the participants of the Journey to ESG session during the Edinburgh conference. To be a leading example of a sustainable firm I suggest the next five steps.

Step 1: Inspire!

As well as for your own company and for your clients it is important to know what your source of inspiration is. Are these the Sustainable Development Goals, is it new economic thinking like the Donut Economy introduced by Kate Raworth or is it a company like Patagonia that triggers your ambitions?

Let your source of inspiration be the basis for the value proposition of your company. For this, you can use the model depicted in figure 1. So where is your value proposition at the moment and what will be your strategic steps towards an eco-centered approach?

Step 2: Don’t panic, organize

An important second step is to know what to organize on your road to ESG. For this, it is very helpful- and insightful to choose a management system for sustainability. There are several ones that vary from ISO and of course, the B Corp standard, which is explained in the PrimeGlobal B Corp Workbook with the title ‘Let’s use our partnership to create better business models for a better world!’, which you can download here.

Step 3: Gather the right data

And then when you know what your value proposition is, you know the strategy you want to follow and you have an idea of how to organize it, and collect the right data. Data that challenge your ESG Ambitions and show the way you are reducing material impacts on ecology, society, and people.

Step 4: Report and learn

And then when you have everything in place you can report. Not only report to be compliant but more importantly to have a dialogue with your stakeholders about the chances, risks, and dilemma’s you see in executing your ESG strategy. In our opinion, it’s only in a dialogue with stakeholders you can learn to be more and more sustainable.

Step 5: Create a culture of stewardship

And finally, create a culture of stewardship instead of that of an agent. When we want to be stewards of a sustainable society it starts with the way we manage our companies. So, do you act like an agent or like a steward?

And as a steward in your company, you can start tomorrow with what is called Green HRM (Human Resources Managment). Green HRM focuses on employment practices that promote organizational environmental sustainability. These are practices like recruitment and selection, onboarding and for example performance management. And from research, we know that Green HRM enables green behavior, and green behavior is associated with companies’ environmental competitive advantage.

Start to inspire instead of transpire

As we mentioned before, the biggest step is the first one. And let the first step be an inspiring one. Create an inspiring ambition combined with a culture of stewardship and be an ecoist instead of an egoist.

Don’t start with reporting, start with your ambition in mind. Because only with an inspiring ambition you will challenge yourselves and your clients on the bumpy road to a more sustainable future! At times it will be challenging, and you will transpire, but you keep a smile on your face because you are shaping for a better future.