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Divides and Dividends 2023
Our research of thousands of global business leaders shows organizations are up for the sustainability challenge.
They recognize that sustainability issues will impact the long-term viability of their businesses—and are developing concrete plans in response. They’re investing in sustainability, even in the face of economic volatility, and are optimistic that sustainability progress has been made and will continue to be made.
Read the Foreword
The four divides that may stop you from reaching your sustainability goals
It’s not enough to just commit to sustainability. To make a positive impact, you need to deeply integrate sustainability across your entire organization—from strategy and operations to daily decisions. Our research shows four gaps that, unless addressed, will prevent this from happening.
Leaders are making the right noises around sustainability. Yet beneath the surface, they still see sustainability as a brand-building exercise, rather than a true lever for business performance.
CEOs often lack the vision and courage that’s needed to take risks, navigate complex trade-offs—and ultimately pivot their organizations toward a more sustainable future.
In the rush to make visible commitments to sustainability organizations are forgetting to ensure their executive team is incentivized to make change happen—and stick.
Senior leaders are missing multiple opportunities to harness the collective potential of employees to accelerate sustainability transformation, at scale.
How we support sustainable leadership
To future-proof your business, we work with you to recruit and develop leaders who understand why sustainability issues are vital to long-term success—and how to capture the opportunity.
Enhance your board’s sustainability credentials
Sustainable leadership starts at the very top. We find ways to strengthen ESG oversight by advising on how your board embeds a sustainability lens into its culture and structure, as well as directors’ sustainable leadership credentials.
Develop sustainable executives
Executive leadership teams need to work together towards your sustainability vision. So, we work with your top team to assess and develop executives’ sustainability capabilities.
Find leaders with a sustainable mindset
Our unique approach to assessment ensures we find CEOs, board members, and CxOs who have the mindset and skills to drive sustainability in your organization. In fact, 46% of the job specifications we create talk about sustainability.
Find world-class sustainability function leads
With access to an unrivaled pool of sustainability talent, we work with you to find best-in-class Chief Sustainability Officers, Heads of ESG, sustainable finance leaders, and leaders for sustainability business units.
Train sustainable leaders with MIT
We’ve partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management to create and run a sustainable leadership course exclusively for senior executives.
Methodology
Divides and Dividends explores the extent to which organizations are integrating sustainability into their business strategy and operations and what actions are linked to perceptions of progress.
It is based on an online survey of 3,813 senior leaders and 8,753 employees across 104 countries, which was carried out between May 2, 2023 and May 18, 2023.
Samples are weighted by country gross domestic product in USD based on 2022 International Monetary Fund statistics.
Not all percentages in charts add up to 100% as a result of rounding percentages and the decision in certain cases to exclude the display of certain groups and “neither/nor,” “other,” “none of the above,” and “don’t know” responses.
Audience definitions
| Senior leaders Includes CEOs, C-suite level executives, and next-generation leaders (those reporting directly to the C-suite). |
Employees Includes currently employed managers and individual contributors. |
Divides and Dividends | 2023 Report
Deliver stand-out sustainability success.