Why go it alone if you don’t have to (and you don’t have to)

The complexity and newness of corporate sustainability reporting makes it difficult for companies to tackle on their own. There are ways to ensure a successful collaboration with external consultants.

The paradigm shift in corporate sustainability reporting to regulated, standardized, audited, and digitized disclosures represents a step change for most companies that is not easy to navigate. Not surprising, given that there is very little institutional knowledge about corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainability related issues, that these are complex, multidimensional, and interconnected matters, and that best practices are evolving at the speed of light. As a result, most companies lack the information, expertise, and skills internally to effectively tackle sustainability reporting on their own at first.

At the same time, there seems to be a popular perception that external consultants offer nothing more than flashy credentials and overpriced services with little value add — high costs, generic solutions, overuse of powerpoint, and reliance on junior staff are common reproaches.

“Eye-wateringly expensive and what value do they really add? Sure, some consultancies are useful for helping companies chart the right decarbonisation pathways, meet regulatory requirements and write sustainability reports, but some CSOs wonder if the thousands, sometimes millions they pay a consultancy couldn’t be saved by bringing the expertise inhouse.” 15 things that frustrated chief sustainability officers in 2023

While that may be the unfortunate experience of some companies, it doesn’t have to be that way. In reality, advisory is only too expensive if:

• it doesn’t meet your needs

• it doesn’t deliver what it promised

• it’s not actionable.

Hiring an external consultant makes a lot of business sense precisely when you are lacking the internal information or expertise for something you would like or need to be doing, especially if you’re pressed for time. Choosing an advisor who has that knowledge and expertise is the fastest way to get things done. The key is to work with them and learn from the experience to internalize the knowledge and expertise. Working with an external consultant is not the same at outsourcing!

"The role of a trainer or consultant is to empower the customer, not to make himself indispensable" ~ Bertrand Meyer

There are three conditions to having a positive external consultant experience.

1. The right type of service

Consulting services can be broken down into two distinct types:

• Advice-based, which entails a transfer of knowledge in the form of analysis, insights, recommendations, and action plans

• Task-based, which entails basically outsourcing high volume tactical work. 

You may need either or both of these services, at different times, for different needs. They have different scopes, costs, and outcomes. What’s important is to know the difference.

2. Clear needs and expectations

You play a crucial role in ensuring you have a positive external consultant experience:

• Know what you need help with, and have a good idea of the outcomes from the mandate.

• Set clear expectations and request a written scope of work before the work begins; this includes a description of the work, any scope limitations, what you will be expected to contribute (usually time and attention), due dates, fees, and deliverables.

• Designate a point person to interact with the consultant, who can provide the resources and information they need and corral the people internally who must participate in receiving the deliverables — whether it’s a presentation of findings, workshop, brainstorm session, focus group, or training session.

• Have regular touch points to keep the flow and try to keep to a tight (but realistic) schedule.

• Choose a time of year where you have the mind space and time to contribute adequately, receive the outputs, and take action immediately.

3. The right consultant for you

Beyond choosing a consultant that can do the work you need, choose one that:

• Makes their actual subject matter expert directly accessible to you

• Tailors their service offering to your specific circumstances

• Clearly states what falls outside their field of expertise

• Builds trust-based long-term relationships.

When it comes to integrating ESG and sustainability into strategy and business model, management, performance, and reporting practices, companies need to do many different things, which require different expertise they may not have internalized yet. There is likely no one person or consulting firm -– just like there is no single tool or software — that can do it all. It will take a village, as they say, to support companies’ transformation towards sustainable business practices. They certainly don’t need to go it alone.