We now work, live, and play in a hybrid world with new threats and opportunities, and will regularly face environmental, social, political and technological disruptions. The challenge for leaders is how to help their teams embrace this continual change.

In this edition of Ask Avanade, our experts globally share insights on the actions leaders should take to rethink sustainability with digital.

“Business leaders should critically scrutinize traditional myths like “Driving sustainability hinders business growth and shrinks margins” or “There is no competitive advantage of responsible business.” As a first step, prioritize UN Sustainability Development Goals criteria in line with your corporate business objectives and value drivers.”
- Kai Neumaier, Digital Advisory, Germany

“Don’t greenwash. Review your company strategy and ensure it aligns with your sustainability plans – if the two differ, then this will lead to conflict in the goals and results that your teams will be working towards, hurting your execution.”
- Chris Lloyd-Jones, Global Product & Engineering Lead, Emerging Technology

“It is now a fundamental skillset for leaders to be able to help their organizations make a substantive commitment to sustainability and avoid reputational damage for “greenwashing”. We are seeing clients move to put sustainability roadmaps and measurements in place with suppliers, not just related to the environment, but also talent diversity and inclusion.”
- Lauren David, Global Digital Advisory

“Forward-looking leaders should consider how to leverage rapidly developing digital skills, capabilities and technologies to assess and predict the impact operations and decisions have on people and our planet. For example, we are working with a client where we are exploring using digital twin capabilities and historical usage data to measure and manage environmental and sustainability impact.”
- Charles Woodhatch, Digital Advisory, Canada

“No matter how your organization defines sustainability and how digital is incorporated into the strategy, there is bound to be a significant human impact. Leaders must also take into account how to create the right sustainable environment for employees and customers to adapt to constant change and new or refreshed initiatives.”
- David Galich, Organizational Change Advisory, North America

“Find out what aspects of sustainability your employees really care about, then give them space and resources to create something special. Connect those efforts to your corporate values, brand promise, and customer experience, and you’ll have a level of authenticity that people will want to associate with.”
- Chris McClean, Global Digital Ethics Lead

“Start with a sustainability SWOT analysis, focused on an expense and operating model reset: the cloud can improve costs and scalability and equip the workforce for change, while data can help to provide visibility into customer interests, gain end-to-end visibility and optimization on the supply chain and source smartly and responsibly.”
- Marcos Suárez, Europe and Growth Markets Lead (Retail & Consumer Goods)

Do you have a question for our digital innovation experts? Ask Avanade.

For guidance and tools to help build the digital dexterity of your team, visit our Rethink Leadership portal.