SMI: Sustainability Management Institute
SMI provides its members with a structured program to identify challenges, create opportunities and prioritize investments in sustainability.
Many business and sustainability leaders are struggling to transform their companies with limited resources and constant pressure to justify the economics of business sustainability. Economic realities often drive us towards short-term tactics that fail to solve long-term challenges. As a self-directed leader, you probably have some eco-programs already in place, but due to organizational barriers, you struggle to make sustainability strategic to the business.
To help you be more effective, we provide a Sustainability Management Maturity Model (SM3), our proven systems approach. Through SMI you will gain access to the processes, resources and tools for you to take your business to the next level of sustainability management maturity. Our subscription-based modules bring our experience to your door, package and ready to implement.
Step One: Leadership Track [assess, accelerate, advance]
For Fortune 1000 Sustainability Directors
The Leadership Track is a structured one-year program that will help you assess your company's current sustainability management capabilities, accelerate your sustainability initiatives by addressing bottlenecks, and advance your business to the next level. We show you how to capture ROI and differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
SMI Leadership Workshops
1. Assess Deliverable: Two-week assessment (mostly on-site) and a road map
Using our Sustainability Management Maturity Model, SM3, which examines six key management dimensions (Strategy, Organization, Process, Measurement, People and Marketing), we help you assess your ability to respond to, develop, manage, and report on sustainability issues and opportunities and identify strengths, bottlenecks and a path to the next level.
2. Accelerate Deliverable: Four 1.5-day workshops (off-site) & a package of supporting materials
Sustainability Strategy Workshop
Review and share proven methodologies for developing short, mid and long-term sustainability strategies that are integrated with key business product and services offerings. Obtain business case justification tools for presentation to key management and executives. Assess potential challenges and opportunities through case studies and SMI peer experiences.
Organization & People Workshop
Discuss how to identify and attract executive sponsorship, develop a sustainability governance model designed to foster effective implementation, understand potential structural roadblocks and engage and empower employees to support your programs.
Process & Measurement Workshop
Discuss and review the importance of metrics, what to measure, how to measure and how to build credibility through transparency. Obtain effective dashboard tools that facilitate continuous learning and improvement. Understand the various sustainability rating indices and assess which ones to pursue.
Marketing Workshop
Review strategies and case studies for making sustainability part of your brand, marketing and customer experience. Learn how to obtain syndicated and customized research and interpret customer data as it relates to sustainability.
3. Advance Deliverable: Value summary and wrap up (virtual)
Review your progress to date and inventory key learnings. Use our templates to summarize progress and realize return on investment from your sustainability initiatives over the last year.
What you get:
- Proven methodology which details a multi-step path along key sustainability management dimensions.
- Access to a network of sustainability experts, peers and practitioners who act as a virtual team to leverage your time and in-house skills.
Single annual renewable subscription
Step Two: Practitioner Support Modules [act]
For sustainability or business function managers
Next, engage your practitioners in modules that provide them with the tools they need to act. These sessions supplement the Leadership Track and can be customized to address your key implementation challenges.
Practitioner Support Modules
4. Act Deliverable: Optional 1 day on-site training and a package of supporting materials
Driving New Value
Justify your proposed sustainability investments to an audience familiar with traditional economic, competitive and operational parameters.
You will learn an approach for constructing business cases that connect core sustainability investment value capabilities with overall business goals.
Executive Sponsorship
Build organizational support so you don’t limit the scope and potential success of your sustainability initiatives.
You will learn an approach for mapping stakeholders, sustainability roles & responsibility definitions and gain knowledge of different governance models from real world examples.
Create Topline Revenue
Eliminate the risk of underselling your green credentials (or of greenwashing) by correctly aligning your sustainability marketing messages with current initiatives.
You will learn a methodology for identifying opportunities for improved messaging and sustainability operations.
Partnering with NGOs
Develop a pro-active NGO strategy that allows you to manage the risk of adverse events, and partner in areas of strategic importance.
You will develop a prioritized list of NGOs with a detailed mapping of areas of common interest for each high priority NGO.
Ethical Sourcing
Engage and align your external suppliers with your internal sustainability initiatives and goals.
You will develop a tailored approach for your supply chain that aligns internal and external operations with your sustainability strategy.
The Value of Transparency
Propagate the new behaviors your sustainability strategy requires by measuring and reporting the right things.
You will create a detailed checklist of metrics for internal and external CSR reporting and determine appropriate certification level needed for competitive and compliance purposes.
What you get:
- One or more – you choose – on-site, 1-day training modules
- Methodologies, industry/domain best practices and solutions, and pre-prepared content that acts as a “How To” guide for practitioners.
Fixed fee per module for up to 20 attendees.
