Business Leaders Say These Things Must Happen Before Making Sustainability Improvements

(Credit: Samsara)

Sustainable operations innovator Samsara recently commissioned Wakefield Research to conduct a survey on attitudes toward sustainability among operations and fleet leaders. Wakefield interviewed 300 high-ranking employees between October 4th and October 18th, finding that the prevailing attitude among business leaders is that certain prerequisites must be met before sustainability improvements can be made.

In particular, the sustainability efforts must carry an economic incentive for leaders to jump on board. 94% of survey respondents stated they “can only achieve sustainability goals if it benefits their organization’s bottom line.” Nearly half of the individuals surveyed reported operating without a sustainability strategy in place and 87% worried they will not meet their sustainability goals. These findings indicate governments must take a more active role in financially incentivizing sustainability. Indeed, 89% of respondents voiced that government incentives for the adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles had an impact on their electrification strategies.

Two other commonly cited barriers to pursuing sustainability are the COVID-19 related supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages, which make it difficult to acquire the resources and workers needed to make sustainability improvements. 33% of respondents said supply chain disruptions prevented them  from setting more aggressive sustainability goals and 79% admitted these disruptions have set back their progress on existing sustainability goals.

A third issue complicating business leaders’ efforts is the difficulty of evaluating their own progress: 93% of respondents reported data-related challenges when analyzing sustainability performance, for example an insufficient amount of data, unreliable or inaccurate information, and difficulty synthesizing information.

Nonetheless, respondents recognize the importance of sustainability: 77% said it is either very or extremely important for their organization to meet its sustainability goals and 26% said it’s the most important thing. Part of this recognition is attributable to popular demand: 91% of respondents reported feeling significant pressure to set and meet aggressive sustainability goals, including from the government, suppliers/partners, and even competitors as sustainability becomes a differentiator.