ESG agenda development: round table at the HSE Graduate School of Business
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Co-chairs of the roundtable Anna Veselova, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development Management at GSB, and Andrey Sharonov, General Director of the National ESG Alliance, discussed with business representatives and leading experts in the field of sustainable development the main trends in ESG-agenda and the practice of their implementation by Russian companies. The discussion was held in an open microphone format — each of the roundtable participants had the opportunity to express his or her position on the discussed issue.
Anna Veselova spoke about the current state and development of ESG practices in the Russian metallurgical industry, presenting the key points of an analytical report prepared jointly by experts from the GSB Centre for Sustainable Development Management and the National ESG Alliance. The report reflects the results of a survey of 2,970 of the largest Russian steel companies’ line managers. According to the results, line managers generally have a positive attitude to ESG advice and are aware of their companies' ESG practices. But the degree of their involvement in its implementation varies greatly.
According to the survey results, 78% of respondents believe that the implementation of ESG projects improves company morale environment and attitude to work, 88% agree that it has a positive impact on the company's reputation, and 60% of people are confident that it also has a positive impact on revenue growth. 59% of participants agree that sustainable development projects help to solve environmental problems, and 70% recognise their importance in solving social problems.
"As an educational organisation, it is important for us to understand how much people's awareness and attitude towards the ESG agenda contribute to their engagement with it. Our large-scale study confirmed the hypothesis that understanding the importance of sustainability issues, awareness of projects and practices implemented in companies, and also support and mentoring from managers, increase line managers' willingness to engage in sustainability projects. All the GSB students, regardless of their programme profile, get acquainted with the most topical issues of the sustainability agenda during their studies, so our graduates, when they join a company, will be ready to be actively involved in the implementation of ESG practices in their functional area," said Anna Veselova.
Andrey Sharonov spoke about the importance of ethical leadership in engaging employees in the implementation of sustainable development projects. Ethical leadership is understood as values-based leadership, whereby such a leader both formulates values and also seeks their adoption by the team through corporate procedures, law enforcement and personal example. For the first time in Russian practice, the researchers empirically proved the positive effects of ethical leadership on various aspects of a company's corporate sustainability by studying them both at the level of the direct head manager and the CEO of the company. "The role model of the direct supervisor is more important for the employee than the CEO figure, but it is crucial that values are broadcast equally clearly and consistently at all levels," said Andrey Sharonov.
The round table participants also paid special attention to the issues of staff shortage and its reduction through the introduction of social practices within ESG-strategies, as well as cooperation between business, government and society to form sustainable models of economic growth and their application in the Russian context. The experts discussed in detail examples of successful implementation of inclusive projects in the practice of the largest Russian retailers, including Vimpelcom, Pyaterochka, Magnit and Perekrestok, partners of the GSB educational programmes.
Evgenia Chistova, Head of Sustainable Development at Vimpelcom, emphasised the importance of a strategic and systemic approach to sustainable development: "If we talk about the sustainable development of companies, it is important for us to be systemic, to understand the interconnections, environmental and social impacts. Risk management in these areas directly affects the operational efficiency of companies and its strategic sustainability". Eugenia also noted that charity and participation in one-off actions are not enough, it is necessary to build a sustainable business, and the competences of employees and their ability to be innovators in the field of sustainable development play a key role in this. "It is necessary to raise ambassadors, promote a culture of continuous education in the field of sustainable development and a culture of cooperation, as innovations are often born in dialogue", — Evgenia Chistova is sure.
Igor Novikov, founder of the Everland social project, highlighted the challenges faced by companies when implementing inclusive projects, including the desire of people with disabilities to work, interaction with the employment centre and HR planning for the long term, so that people do not lose their health in the process of labour activity and are in demand as employees even after a time. "Inclusion has several effects, just one of them is diversity, which is one of the main drivers of business growth. It is important to involve people with disabilities in labour activities, but no less important to also include them in consumer opportunities, which is a systematic approach to inclusion," Igor Novikov drew the audience's attention.
Maria Voronova, head of the “Open for All” project of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, highlighted one of the key trends in the gradual shift away from the concept of sustainable development as being suitable only for large companies. Maria drew the participants' attention to the fact that two or three years ago, medium-sized and small businesses did not understand why they needed inclusion, but recently more and more representatives of these business categories have joined the “pen for All”inclusive business community. At the moment, the community includes 1,250 companies from 86 regions of the country. "One of the objectives of our project is to make inclusiveness the norm for business in our country," emphasised Maria Voronova.
The roundtable participants noted that today there is a positive dialogue: the government is ready to hear business. In the sustainable development agenda, the government is ready to consult with business, centres of expertise, and civil society structures.