Over half of leaders say their company is subject to environmental, social, and governance reporting regulations. Others have adopted ESG reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative. But a small number say their company aligns their goals and reporting with the Sustainable Development Goals. This is what a new study by Deloitte has found by surveying 3,150 C-suite executives, managers, and workers across four countries to explore the challenges and pressures leaders are facing in shifting to a human sustainability focus, as well as the potential human and business impacts of this shift.

“Our primary findings suggest that leaders can play a key role in prioritizing and advancing a human sustainability agenda, particularly when it comes to measuring outcomes and holding their organizations accountable for progress. But there are gaps to bridge, and making the shift will include a comprehensive effort to add value for the people an organization interacts with across multiple dimensions. But if our research is any indication, doing well by workers and the world can offer long-term benefits for both people and organizations,” wrote the authors.

In the 2024 Human Capital Trends, researchers described the importance of focusing on metrics that actually measure human outcomes. Check it out:

• Skills development metrics that can indicate the value an organization is providing to its workers, extended workers, and future workers;
• Well-being metrics that cover emotional, mental, physical, social, and financial well-being;
• Purpose metrics that measure the degree to which people feel their lives have meaning and they are making a positive difference in the world and their work;
• Diversity, equity and inclusion metrics that measure the extent to which workers experience equity and belonging as a result of diversity, inclusion, and addressing the root causes of inequity in the workplace;
• Metrics around career stability and advancement that can indicate how well an organization fosters economic mobility and advancement for workers; and
• Societal impact metrics that measure an organization’s contribution to communities and the world at large.

According to the study, while fewer than two out of three executives say their company currently uses human sustainability metrics, around one-quarter say they plan to put these metrics in place within the next one to two years.

—

Source: Deloitte Insights