ESG - More than just a new business phrase

Did you read this article because you are interested in ESG or because you are not familiar with its meaning? If you are unsure of the meaning, you are not alone. However, knowing there is more to ESG than what you might expect is important.

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It refers to a set of criteria that assesses a company’s approach to protecting the environment, managing relationships with employees and stakeholders, and ensuring good corporate governance. For instance, environmental criteria scrutinize a company’s policies on climate change. Social criteria gauge how a company interacts with its suppliers, customers, and surrounding communities. Governance criteria cover the company’s leadership, executive compensation, audits, internal controls, and shareholders’ rights.

You might be thinking of leaving this page now, but I suggest you stay longer. Climate change is a genuine concern that requires us to rethink our processes and the impact of our corporate activities. However, many organizations face difficulties finding their position and creating strategies to tackle this issue operationally and strategically. At least the large majority is already (re)thinking about it and aware of the urgency.

Recent research indicates that many companies and consumers prioritize choosing vendors, products, and services that comply with ESG standards. Brands that make claims related to environmental, social, and governance factors have achieved a cumulative growth rate of 28%, compared to the 20% growth rate of products without ESG claims. How does this relate to CheckHub and our services? It’s quite significant. While we are also working on reducing our environmental impact by investing in trees, our service has a major impact on the footprint of our customers.

We discovered that streamlining document management processes results in significant cost savings for our customers and brings other benefits beyond cost reduction. This has been demonstrated with small and large companies. Although we focused on the environmental aspect of our solution, it was just the beginning. We didn’t only aim for cost reduction, a paperless office, and reducing our footprint, but we also wanted to set an example. Doing so can inspire our organization, co-workers, and suppliers to follow suit and aspire to a new standard.

It’s great news that more companies recognize the benefits of changing how we work, including increased revenue. This can motivate other companies to follow suit. Regardless of the motive, setting a new standard can positively impact you and make you a leader in the field. We want to motivate you to transform into a leader in your field. The message could be rewritten for clarity as follows: “Two decades ago, it was common for people to smoke in airplanes, but today, we consider this idea unreasonable. Similarly, in today’s world of work, relying on printed materials and having cluttered workspaces is outdated.”