Successfully Sustainable, how does it work?

Do you want to make sustainability a priority in your organization? Many companies start with the basics: separating waste, occasionally donating to a good cause, or purchasing green energy. But lasting impact requires more than isolated initiatives. You need motivated colleagues, and you need a clear direction or strategy. In other words, you need both a structure and a culture for sustainability.

The Power of Structure

When organizations start working on sustainability, enthusiasm is often high. But without a clear direction, that energy quickly fades. What we call a “structure for sustainability” begins with setting clear but ambitious priorities and goals. By linking these goals to specific teams and responsible individuals, sustainability becomes a part of everyone’s job. This ensures that sustainability is properly embedded in the company’s operations.

The right project management tools and a data-driven approach help you track progress and identify what still needs to be done. This makes achievements visible and enables timely adjustments. With this, you can make a more targeted and positive impact.

Culture as an Accelerator

The real acceleration comes when you also build a culture for sustainability. You achieve this by connecting your sustainability ambitions to your company’s brand values. Make it personal and involve everyone. This way, sustainability truly becomes embedded in the organization.

Create an environment where collaboration is central and where it’s easy to participate in sustainable initiatives or workshops. Where colleagues are encouraged to propose sustainability projects and understand what sustainability means in their daily work. Foster a space where experimentation is encouraged, and mistakes are seen as learning opportunities. By trying, you can discover what really works for your organization.

Successfully Sustainable, together

Structure and culture compliment each other. A strong sustainability culture without structure lacks a compass. Conversely, even the best structure remains just paperwork if your colleagues aren’t engaged.

Frameworks such as B Corp help strengthen both elements. They not only offer structure by measuring your impact but also support a culture of continuous improvement. A solid sustainability strategy forms the foundation – it gives direction to your structure and reinforces your culture. These frameworks provide tools, ideas, and insights into what’s going well and where the organization can still improve.

In practice, we often see that structure and culture must go hand in hand. Take Company A: the team has lots of sustainable ideas. Employees regularly come up with initiatives – from CO2 reduction to using more sustainable materials and buying locally. Engagement is high. But without clear goals and measurable outcomes, these ideas remain just that – ideas. They lack answers to questions like: Which actions have the most impact? Who is responsible for what? And how do we track progress?

On the other hand, Company B has clear sustainability goals. There are policies, programs, and KPIs, but teams mostly see them as “just another task.” The enthusiasm is missing. What they lack are the motivations and ambitions that drive people to act and truly contribute to the programs.

In Short

You need both structure and culture to be successfully sustainable. When they go hand in hand, they accelerate the sustainability transition and help turn ambition into reality.