Maximize Your ESG Strategy for Sustainable Transformation

Welcome to the third and final installment of our ESG series. The trilogy culminates with the topic (G) or Governance, painting the complete picture of the difficult undertaking organizations face on their path to create, launch, and manage a successful ESG program.

In our previous installments we outlined the areas that companies should be focusing on pertaining to the Environmental (E) and Social (S) elements of the newsworthy acronym. Each letter brings with it unique challenges that can impact everything from workplace culture and operational efficiencies to investor relations. Fortunately, solutions exist to ensure that data is accurately reported, and processes are well defined and consistent, while upholding privacy. In concert, this all leads to a brighter outcome for all.

Checks & Balance

Like all good frameworks, the Governance (G) portion of the ESG program is designed to help organizations “inspect what they expect.” While the G can be interpreted differently based on the type of business, vertical market and industry, the consensus lands on topics such as compliance, data governance (including privacy) and security. Terms like “integrity of data” and “regulatory compliance standards” become common vernacular as a central strategy and structure are formed to rise to the occasion.

On the technical side of the house, investments associated with the elements of an ESG program can be astronomical, expensive, and difficult to prove a hard cost ROI. The need to routinely verify the integrity of information against errors, regulation, and privacy laws, identifies a need for everything from a strong enterprise data policy, a federated information system and a robust cybersecurity practice to control access and ensure everything is secure.

Review Parts 1 & 2 of the ESG Blog Series on Environmental and Social below:

Businesses who are looking to successfully govern the data, processes, and integrity of their corporate ESG programs, should ensure the following aspects are addressed:

Data Governance & Privacy

Data governance which included records management and asset retention in accordance with a schedule agreed to by senior management – is often overlooked. “We save everything!” is not truly sustainable in the long-term. Additionally, this can lead to heavy litigation, as records that are retained past a policy’s destruction schedule can be inadvertently discoverable should an outside party take legal action against the organization.

Data Privacy on the other hand pertains to how data is handled and managed, typically specific to personal data that may be governed by law or regulation. Both present major challenges from an enterprise management standpoint.

Konica Minoltas’ Information Governance (IG) services are specifically designed to relieve these challenges. Our advisors help co-author the corporate data governance and privacy policies surrounding ESG, factoring in both domestic and international rules and regulations.

Compliancy

The burden of remaining compliant with the industry regulations lands solely on the corporation. Sustainability, workplace incident reporting, and DEIB are only a few of the areas that companies will need to remain heavily focused on from a compliancy standpoint. Federal, State and Local laws in addition to segments not addressed by legislation should remain top of mind, when reviewing and enforcing the G.

With Konica Minolta’s Intelligent Information Management solutions, information can be gathered, stored, and verified in one federated system. By consolidating the information, we ensure that reporting is accurate, and auditable should the need arise.

Security

Businesses must transform the way they gather, process, and display their information while allowing for auditability. This means that unfamiliar applications will be added to the corporate domain, and large sums of data will flow through the corporate network from many sources; some external. This presents a risk from a cybersecurity standpoint.

To mitigate risk, Konica Minolta provides Offensive and Defensive Cybersecurity services. This ensures that new, even home-grown applications are secure, and no malicious information makes its way in.

Conclusion

Building an ESG practice the right way is a tremendous undertaking, but you don’t have to do it alone. Konica Minolta can guide you on your journey and provide the world class technology to power your program and your success.

Thank you for reading our 3-part blog. Now is the time to act, contact your OMNIA Partners resource to find out how.

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