Powering collaboration

In the first of a series of articles by guest contributors giving us an insight into their area of work in the world of sustainability, Tim Balcon, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, tells us about the purpose of IEMA, his ambition to achieve chartered status for his members and gives us his insights into what can sometimes be the lonely life of those in the vanguard of corporate sustainability.

IEMA is now 20 years old, but there is a fair chance you have not heard of us. So I was delighted to be asked to write something about IEMA, who it is for and what it does in this inaugural edition of Sustainability Matters. 

Sustainability has not always had the profile it deserves. It’s a subject encompassing many disciplines, so it can mean different things to different people. That is why IEMA exists, to provide a collective home for sustainability professionals and to champion not only their aims and ambitions, whichever industry they work in, but also their professional status within their business and society. I’m passionate about this for two reasons. 

The first is that the sustainability department in a business can be a department of one, even in quite large organisations. That is not far short of a unique situation in terms of company structure and presents sustainability staff with a huge challenge. They not only have to spread the sustainability message across the whole company but be the sole influencer from shop floor to boardroom. Secondly, we need to look at ourselves and those who make up the membership and wider profession. If we are to get our message out to all of society, then we must reflect all of society in our membership.

That’s not quite the case as of yet, so the diversity of our membership is something we will be focusing on more and more. Currently it’s fair to say that our membership is disproportionately white middle class and that is not the best reflection of who we are. I’m very much hoping that in the process of chartered status for our organisation, we will raise our profile, drawing in those who don’t realise IEMA is relevant to them. In turn, this could draw more members from a greater cross-section of society, including internationally, and help put our profession more frequently on lists of careers handed out to young people during the latter stages of their education.

That may all sound a challenge, but we have a lot going for us. Our members report a sense of contentedness and happiness with a strong feeling of doing good and a 2017 State of the Profession Survey revealed that members’ salaries are still above those of non-members. A steady upward trend in pay reflects the sought-after nature of the profession and the skills it requires. Our solid membership base, now standing at around 15,000, has been rising month on month since we reappraised our professional standards in 2016. We are also at the forefront of many areas of public policy which will help raise our profile.

For example, IEMA is playing a central role in the development of the draft environment bill and Martin Baxter (our Chief Policy Advisor) has led our work in partnership as part of the Broadway Initiative (developing proposals for governing the environment once the UK has left the EU). IEMA has been, and remains, a key player in positively shaping future environmental policy and legislation in the UK.

Our most experienced members, i.e. our Fellows and Full members, are driving the purpose agenda and are making sure that the long-term horizon is for businesses that are more purpose-led, rather than profit-led. But I like to think that IEMA is helping to hone the required skills for the challenges ahead, and our sustainability skills map can help with this. We hear many success stories: for example, at a recent employer forum, sustainability was proactively talked about at the design stage of a product’s R & D, rather than just being an afterthought. 

From an external perspective, there are the current mammoth challenges of solving issues involving single-use plastics, climate change and mental health and wellbeing issues in the general population. While it can be difficult for a business to make long-term plans to address some of these challenges, sustainability professionals can really shine here and it’s fair to say that many organisations are now more reliant on our members than ever before. 

I believe that sustainability and IEMA will go from strength to strength, but we must not become complacent. We need to attract more people into the profession, particularly those with an all-round understanding and knowledge of today’s sustainability issues, such as, population growth, climate change and resource use. However, I think the possession and deployment of soft skills are just as, if not more, important. The ability to think long term, predicting the range of risks that their organisation will need to address as well as the accompanying opportunities, is a must. Our members need to network – the power of collaboration can provide many of the potential answers to these difficult challenges. Plus, they benefit from having an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset, keeping in mind the required shift from a profit-based to a purpose-based culture. Finally, our members need the skills to get their message across as the ability to communicate issues is a great attribute for becoming a successful sustainability professional.

The Luminous view

We believe the role of the sustainability professional will continue to be increasingly integral and influential, in light of greater understanding and resonance of sustainability issues within and outside of organisations. In turn, this will help to shape a positive culture and assist in communicating the long-term vision of the business to the many stakeholders which a company interacts with. Sustainability has the power to connect people within an organisation and be a force for good.