5 Ways our Process Tackles CSRD

Now that you know a bit more about the basics of CSRD as outlined in our blog on Everything you Need to Know About CSRD and our recent webinar. We explained some of the lessons we have learned but now it’s time to look at how we as a consultancy can guide you through this process. In this blogpost we will discuss how our specific process tackles CSRD.

In summary, we work by starting with the end in mind. By using CSRD as a steering tool, giving a complete overview of all KPIs, connect dashboarding with sustainability reporting, and trying to find a common language throughout your company.

Our special recipe to tackling CSRD includes:

Making the process visual;
Supporting the CSR Manager by finding a common language to communicate internally, and;
Connect sustainability dashboarding and sustainability reporting in one place.

What does our process look like again? Our process consists of 8 key steps that get you ready for CSRD.

More about CSRD

1. Start With the End in Mind

What do we mean by “start with the end in mind”? We start by emphasizing what the end goal of CSRD is and where your company is going to be in 1 or 2 years. This way, everyone has the same vision and knows why we are doing this process. By getting everyone on the same page from the beginning, including colleagues from the legal, financial and HR departments. This way the process will run more smoothly with support across the whole company.

Getting ready for CSRD is also going to take a lot of resources and usually at least a year of preparations. Making sure you know who you are working with and that the processes and tasks are clear is important. We help to ensure everyone is working with the end in mind, with a forward-looking approach. Because although you are asked to report on your numbers from last year, you will also be setting targets for the future. For example, on water usage, the usage of rare earth materials or amounts of injuries in the workplace.

As reporting for CSRD will also be a yearly requirement, establishing a functional data collection and visualization plan will help you greatly in the future. So, essentially there is a lot we can do today to help ourselves in the future. Keep the future in mind while starting now.

2. Use CSRD as a Steering Tool

The goal of CSRD is to measure goals with social, ecological and financial impacts. We see CSRD and the 8 steps to prepare as an important process to collect and systematize data. Do not just let it be a government requirement but make actual use of all this data you gather. With our incorporated Impact Dashboard see what is important for your company in order to be successful. Therefore, the data required by CSRD can be used for both external and internal purposes. For example, data on CO2 performance can be equally interesting for your employees as for potential clients and partners. Implementing the CSRD is not just a tool for reporting but also to set up reporting processes with the data that can be used in many ways.

We also talk about making sure your company is future-proof – but what does this mean? CSRD helps ensure your company takes stock of its social, environmental and financial performance to make sure your company can exist in the future. For example, banks are requiring more sustainability data to accept loans. Banks have set climate targets or indicate that a certain amount of a company’s portfolio needs to be sustainable investments. Thus, it’s going to be easier to borrow money from a bank if you meet can show targets and data, and it’s going to be harder to borrow money if you don’t. Therefore, using CSRD as a company steering tool makes your company more agile and prepared for the future.

For me, B-Corp is especially important when looking for companies to partner with or do business with. In this process, B-Corp gives certainty through its certification, this means that by partnering or engaging in business you also contribute to a better society and planet. I prefer to partner with B-Corp companies, and I see this is the case for many people (especially the younger generation), and I think it will play an even more important role in the future.

3. Overview of all KPIs

Another key part of our process is the way we look at all key performance indicators (KPIs). We start with an inventory of the KPIs that you already have and gather data on. For example, maybe you already collect data on the chemicals you use, your waste processes, production processes or the energy usage from your headquarters. Through identifying your current KPIs you may realize how much is actually being measured! For the whole CSRD process, we focus on three groups of KPIs:

Which KPIs you already have (step 2/8 Current KPI phase)
Which KPIs are important according to the Materiality Analysis (step 3/8 Materiality KPI phase)
Which KPIs are mandatory to measure by the European Union (step 4/8 ESRS KPI phase)

In the end, we connect these three groups to see which ones are overlapping and which ones you are already measuring. This helps prevent any double work for you. Before becoming overwhelmed by the more than 130 indicators of ESRS let’s take a step back and get an overview of what KPIs your company is already measuring. Maybe a CSRD report is closer than you think.

4. Connect Sustainability Reporting with Dashboards

Another factor that sets us apart from other sustainability consultants is how we directly combine sustainability reporting with our dashboarding experience. Since we put it all in one place for you, there’s no need to hire external dashboarding experts. We use our knowledge about sustainability and dashboarding together and connect the two aspects in each discussion. For example, our impact dashboards already focus on people, planet, and profit.

5. Finding a Common Language

Lastly, we know that preparing for CSRD is going to take different departments within the company to work together. CSRD has a lot of abbreviations and technical terms, and it can be hard for people within the company who are new to sustainability to understand these terms, and therefore be a part of the change process. Not all departments have experience reporting sustainability, but to bridge the gap it’s important that we all speak a common language.

What does our common language look like? We work to make sure that the process is as visual as possible. We support our clients and help the CSR Manager get more support using visuals and uncomplicated language. With our dashboards and 8 step program we feed everyone only the information that is relevant to them. Connect the different departments of your company with a common language, bite-size pieces of info, and visuals, this will make working as a team easy!

In short, we have summarized five of the key aspects of our process that helps you tackle CSRD. Interested in learning more about how we can support you in your CSRD journey? Fill in the contact form.