Steinbeis experts support businesses on their journey toward a sustainable future
Sustainability is already one of the biggest issues in the world today, and its economic and social importance will only continue to grow. To ensure that they are strongly positioned, 14 Steinbeis Enterprises formed the Steinbeis Consulting Group Sustainability (SCGS). The focus is on sustainability, with particular emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. By bringing together such a wide range of expertise, the group is able to offer a broad spectrum of sustainability consulting services. This is crucial to ensure successful positioning in a field where both the topics addressed and the different target groups call for a broad-based approach.
Sustainability has long since ceased to be an issue confined to companies and businesses. It is also relevant to public institutions including economic development agencies, commercial and savings banks, auditing companies, hospitals, associations, welfare agencies and institutions, and NGOs. Accordingly, the SCGS is consciously positioning itself as a service provider for all the relevant groups. It also offers long-term strategic development cooperation and assistance through partnership agreements. For instance, consultation days organized in conjunction with regional and local economic development agencies offer businesses the opportunity to discuss their questions and problems directly with the SCGS experts. The group is also a partner in regional savings bank consultant networks, helping savings bank customers to achieve their ESG objectives.
But it is not just economic or normative factors that motivate businesses and social actors to address sustainability. The constantly growing body of regulation in this area is obliging more and more of the corporate sector in particular to concern itself with sustainability and ESG criteria. For example, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires businesses to carry out comprehensive sustainability reporting. While it will initially apply only to large companies, it will then be progressively extended to medium-sized and small enterprises. More and more commercial and savings banks are also making lending conditional on the fulfilment of specific ESG criteria.
A one-stop shop for a wide range of services
The partnership between 14 Steinbeis Enterprises in this field offers multiple benefits for SCGS customers, the first of which is that is reduces the cost of finding the right partners. The customer interacts with reliable experts with an outstanding professional reputation who work hand in hand with each other. This eliminates the usual costs associated with coordinating and aligning different consultants – the customer benefits from a one-stop shop
for professional expertise, consulting, training and implementation support. The partners put together customized service packages for each customer. These are delivered by Steinbeis experts chosen because of their project-specific expertise, ensuring solutions that are tailored to the customer’s particular challenges. The SCGS’s partners also have access to the Steinbeis Network’s extensive service portfolio with other professional management, strategy, process and technology consulting partners.
The topics addressed by the SCGS range from technical questions about energy and resource efficiency, climate protection and net-zero emissions, ESG scoring and analysis, the circular economy and funding advice to staff development, recruitment of skilled professionals, HR management, new work, training and professional development, strategic and organizational development, change management and digital business transformation.
By providing references to each other, the partners share complementary customer contacts. The aim is to progressively build a joint market presence and develop new, collaborative service offerings. The group is also planning to participate in various events and create its own local event formats aimed in particular at reaching small and medium-sized enterprises in their own ecosystems.
Contact
Dr. Michael Ortiz (author)
Managing Director
Steinbeis Beratungszentren GmbH (Stuttgart)
www.stw-beratung.de