How CX Led Me to Develop a Business-Minded Beginner's Guide to ESG
If you had asked me a few years ago where my work was headed, ESG research probably wouldn’t be on the list of possibilities.
My work has long centered on the engines of customer experience: ethical leadership, red tape, sludge, and dark patterns… essentially, the decisions leaders make that affect customers' lives.
Yet somehow, I ended up writing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG): A Guide for the Business-Minded Beginner for Sage’s new peer-reviewed Social Impact Collection.
I devoted a chapter to ESG in my book, Sage Works Guide to Global Leadership. The new guide was a chance to expand into ESG's vocabulary and everyday global landscape.
And honestly, I loved every minute of developing the guide.
What is ESG and Why Is It a Matter for CX Leaders?
ESG refers to three broad categories of nonfinancial performance indicators that reflect how a company operates beyond profitability. It's often associated with broader scope business sustainability.
Customers are crucial to business sustainability; their experiences play a role in whether they will continue as customers. The "S" in ESG captures how companies treat those customers, plus employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
Investors, employees, potential employees, suppliers, and regulators often have an interest in ESG data. Thus, ESG isn't an outside matter for CX. Yet, I've rarely seen it explored in the CX world.
What My Guide to ESG for Beginners Covers
When there is a gap between what people need to know and the resources available to help them learn it, that feels like a problem worth solving. And as a practice-driven scholar, that's usually where my interest is sparked.
In my guide, I discuss:
A global perspective on the long-ago roots of ESG
Pottery Barn, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé's ESG successes and challenges
How the global political landscape can impact attitudes toward ESG.
The ESG vocabulary: regulations, reporting frameworks, disclosures, standards, ratings, and governance mechanisms (not interchangeable terms!).
My aim: to help up-and-coming CX leaders go beyond a basic understanding of CX practices and principles and grasp an opportunity to build business fluency.
Contact Sage for a free trial to the entire social impact collection, or to access my guide. Thanks to Sage's acquisitions editors, peer reviewers, developmental editors, and production crew that made the whole collection possible.
