Local retailer Woolworths continues to draw local and global approval for its sustainability initiatives, now packaged into its Good Business Journey programme.
In October the company was recognised by its international peers and named Responsible Retailer of the Year at the 2010 World Retail Awards in Berlin, Germany. This is the second time the South African company has scooped the prestigious award in three years and represents just one of the 11 occasions during 2010 when the company’s sustainability initiatives were recognised.
Woolworths chairperson and sustainability committee member Buddy Hawton says the Good Business Journey programme was developed in 2007 following consolidation and acceleration of the group’s previous sustainability initiatives. “The programme brought together our philosophy that the true sustainability of a company is reliant on its own continuous performance and a sustainable society and environment. We believe that all the elements of economic growth, transformation, social development, the environment and climate change can either form a vicious or a virtuous circle. The Good Business Journey aims to ensure we drive a virtuous circle that will benefit all of our stakeholders,” he says.
Today the organisation considers the Good Business Journey as a key to enhancing its brand, while being cognisant of the impacts of the business on society and the environment. Customer research shows growing awareness of the programme, and high levels of support for its objectives. In particular, customers increasingly want to understand where products come from, whether they have been sourced ethically and without harm to the environment.
“We have realised in the past few years that our focus on social and environmental issues can drive innovation and operational efficiencies in our business,” says Hawton. “Our customers play an important role in helping us make a difference to our communities and environment and we are committed to providing them with as much information and assistance as possible.
‘Woolworths’ annual people survey has enabled measurement of employee understanding and backing for our Good Business Journey programme. The results demonstrated a high level of support,” says Hawton.
“Something we cannot measure, however, is the innovation and enthusiasm of employees across the organisation in integrating sustainability thinking into their daily jobs and bringing new projects to life that have changed the way we operate as an organisation. We are continuing to work to build our employees’ knowledge around sustainability to enable them to help colleagues and customers understand their impacts and drive the Good Business Journey messages in the workplace and at home. “An example of this has been an energy-saving campaign across the business, which has helped employees reduce energy usage in stores and in their homes.”
Suppliers have also picked up the cause, supporting Woolworths’ implementations of programmes like Farming for the Future. These engagements provided all involved with a learning experience. “We’ve also seen business relationships with companies such as Absa and Engen develop into expansions of our social and environmental initiatives with the expanded Eduplant programme and recycling at Engen service stations two clear examples,” he says.
Getting dirty
The Good Business Journey does not revolve around connecting stakeholders to discuss their support for sustainability, however. The Good Business Journey strongly supports an engagement model that is steeped in activity and enables measurement of progress and outcomes. Hawton says: “Some of our highlights for the year include the launch of our Farming for the Future programme that is improving soil and water resources across our agricultural produce base; a successful pilot of customer recycling facilities at Engen service stations; a significant improvement in our BEE score from level six to level five; and the expansion of our Eduplant programme in conjunction with Absa and Engen.”
Water and energy usage continued to decline and a number of programmes were developed around measurement, management and/or reduction, including one aimed at improving waste water management in the supply chain and another that installed new lighting energy measurement technology and a side project to retrofit refridgeration technologies. Through another project, Woolworths has knocked 660 tonnes off its food packaging weight to date, as well as increasing the amount of packaging that is recyclable and selling reusable bags.
Woolworths’ waste to landfill ratio is moving towards the zero target set for 2012. Hawton says Woolworths made contributions of R314-million to a range of charity organisations as part of its commitment to community upliftment. “Our community focus has been on food security and education — key challenges in the country — via our Eduplant and MySchool programmes and the distribution of surplus food.”
Traffic calming
Woolworths’ Good Business Journey hasn’t escaped the occasional pothole or speed bump. Says Hawton: “We have experienced difficulty with achieving some of our targets, particularly in the areas of organic product sales, preferential procurement targets and progress on packaging reductions, which needs to balance with keeping food wastage, due to damage, low.
“Another area of concern is diffi culties in the South African textile industry. We are confident that we are making good progress; but also note the areas requiring attention, particularly some of our environmental and transformation targets.” Even when assessing from a corporate level, Woolworths is satisfi ed with the progress the business has made.
‘Our overall score for 2010 against our one-year targets is 84% (mid year: 76%). This is the first time that we have achieved over 80%. The score of 71% against our five-year objectives (mid year: 63%) is pleasing, although we know that we need to accelerate our progress to meet the 2012 targets.”
A comprehensive measurement and tracking system has been embedded in the business, and progress measurements are done twice a year. These scores reflect the organisation’s progress towards the stated targets, at both corporate and key indicator levels. Business unit progress is also tracked against each indicator.
Performance measures from the Good Business Journey are now included in the team scorecard. External verification of Woolworths’ carbon footprint and BEE status was conducted as a step towards a broader assurance process. An assurance framework is in place and an internal audit coverage plan completed for those areas of the Good Business Journey where external verifi cation is not available.
The Good Business Journey process has been strongly integrated into the company’s risk model and its risk profile is reviewed annually by the sustainability committee. The committee plays an important oversight role in ensuring structures and policies are in place to allow eff ective delivery of our good business journey targets by management.
“We recognise that the broad nature of our Good Business Journey programme with its 200-plus targets is a strength. Nevertheless, we intend to focus on a few areas as we move forward, specifically: energy-usage reduction within the broader climate change context; improving the broader impact of our supply chain activities on water resources; recyclability of packaging and the provision of recycling facilities; working with our suppliers to promote sustainable farming methods that encourage biodiversity; and building our workforce and supply chain to represent the transformation imperatives in our country,” says Hawton.
“We have learned much about issues that affect the environment and society since we announced our Good Business Journey programme in April 2007 and continue to learn more every day, as more information on the issues become available.”