You may have heard of ESG — or Environment, Social, and Governance — but do you know what it means and how it relates to successful strategic planning? Governance is an integral part of effective strategic planning. It provides clarity, encourages more effective decision-making, defines roles and responsibilities, and sets policies at the board level. In short, governance is about more than just making sure everyone plays by the rules; it’s about ensuring that all stakeholders can benefit from a well-thought-out plan.
So what does good governance look like? First and foremost, a board needs to dream big. They need to ask themselves what the organization will look like in 5 years time and how their decisions today will impact that future vision. They also need to consider risk management — both from external threats such as competition or market shifts as well as internal threats such as employee turnover or inadequate resources.
In addition to dreaming big and managing risk, good governance also requires improved communication with shareholders and stakeholders. This means providing timely updates on performance metrics so they can see how their investments are paying off. It also includes process design that emphasizes efficiency while still meeting community standards for acceptance. Finally, good governance should include outcome measurement tools that allow the board to track progress towards their goals over time.
Finally, good governance practices must be understood by all stakeholders — not just those involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. This requires transparency and accountability at every level of leadership so that expectations are made clear from the outset and any missteps can be identified quickly without damaging relationships with customers or other stakeholders. Additionally, this helps create a positive perception of your company in the wider community which can help garner support for your initiatives both internally and externally.
Governance is essential for successful strategic planning because it provides clarity on roles & responsibilities, encourages more effective decision making processes, increases transparency & accountability at all levels of leadership, helps define board level policies & procedures for achieving outcomes & measuring success & ensures community acceptance & support for processes & initiatives. All these things combined create an environment where everyone involved has an understanding of the steps that must be taken in order to achieve success in today’s business environment – something that will prove invaluable when looking ahead into 2023 and beyond! By implementing best practices around ESG now – you’ll ensure your business is set up for success!
Copyright Wes Paterson 2023