When someone says “sustainability”, chances are that you think about the environment. Maybe you suffer from carbon tunnel syndrome?

But there’s more to it than the that.

According to the UN Brundtland Commission, sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

That definition doesn’t tie sustainability to the environment. Sustainability is just as much about financial and social sustainability.

Definition

Social sustainability is about knowing and managing the positive and negative impact your business has on people throughout your value chain and in your local communities.

It covers many different areas, such as labor and human rights, equality, treatment of minorities, education and health, and diversity and inclusion.

Importance

There are some obvious reasons to prioritize social sustainability. One is of course the common decency to respect and value the people involved in your business.

Others include heightened company morale, employee engagement, external image and an organizational ease of operations.

Actions

So, which steps should you take towards social sustainability?

1. Collaborate closely with your suppliers to make working conditions better, ensure a fair amount of time for deliveries, create the necessary policies, visit them and arrange for external audits.

2. Invest in social initiatives - for example in your local communities.

3. Create diversity, equality and inclusion policies.

4. Openly promote public policies and requirements that support social sustainability.

5. Collaborate with other businesses to combine your voices and make them even louder – that’ll give you more power to make a difference.

6. Ensure fair treatment, inclusion, and diversity throughout your value chain. You can do that through regular audits, specific certifications, or for example being a member of Amfori.

7. Regularly assess the welfare of your employees and act if anything is not up to standard.

8. Make sure that there is equal opportunity for people to get the same job and promotions.

9. Install anonymous recruitment process to remove any unconscious bias from the initial round of hiring.

10. Create a whistleblowing arrangement, so employees can be open and transparent in confidence.

These are all different examples of what you can do to implement more social initiatives in your organisation - and there may be more.

It's never too early to start thinking about social sustainability.