Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has become an important focus for businesses across all industries over the last decade as investors, customers, communities, and governments have become more concerned with issues such as environmental protection, diversity and inclusion, and data privacy. As the demand for sustainable business practices grows, organizations are navigating the transitions and evolution involved in implementing ESG programs into their operations to align with stakeholder values.
So, what’s the key to implementing and operating a successful ESG program? Goby CEO Ryan Nelson says it’s knowing how to measure ESG initiatives.
Establishing, monitoring, and reporting on ESG initiatives consistently lays the foundation for risk mitigation, a reputation boost, and strong sustainability ratings that can improve company valuations. Whether the goal is to comply with mandatory energy benchmarking regulations or roll out a complete ESG strategy, Goby’s software helps companies reach optimum ESG performance.
“The data our software platform collects helps organizations establish, monitor, and report, on their ESG accomplishments and communicate those outcomes with stakeholders,” Nelson says. “Our goal at Goby is to make it as easy as possible to manage, benchmark, and improve your ESG.”
Goby’s software utilizes data-collecting technology, visual dashboards, and reporting insights to help companies monitor and track their environmental, social, and governance metrics. Organizations can define their ESG roadmap, assess their progress, prepare for bench marketing compliance, and report on outcomes.
Companies can use Goby’s cloud-based platform to collect environmental data such as carbon emissions, water consumption, and waste outputs as well as create dashboards to track corporate social responsibility initiatives, and optimize ENERGY STAR submissions. The software also identifies organizational bottlenecks that can be removed and opportunities for improvement to better align with your ESG goals.
But, how can a company track data on things like diversity and inclusion?
“Diversity is essentially the gender, racial and ethnic makeup of a company—it’s a metric Inclusivity is allowing and supporting all individuals at your organization to thrive.” — Ryan Nelson, Goby CEO
Fostering the culture and intentional tactics to enable inclusivity and not just diversity is a balancing act, and it can be difficult to break out of the sameness of your company’s network, Nelson says. This is why seeing the data in a visual dashboard can make all the difference between establishing a core value and actually implementing those values into a company.
“Another powerful measure you can track is compensation. Companies can assign compensation targets to high-level leadership and other personnel for ESG performance.” — Ryan Nelson, Goby CEO
Tracking high-level leadership compensation provides a key metric that supports strong governance and allows for greater company transparency. In fact, being intentional about ESG initiatives is vital, Nelson insists.
Regardless of what metrics a business decides to track, Goby’s software helps companies manage ESG initiatives by themselves and track relevant company data in real-time. But what about companies that don’t want to manage it all themselves?
Nelson and his team of ESG experts can help businesses develop ESG strategies, prepare corporate social responsibility reports, build stakeholder engagement programs, and manage their ESG program.
“There’s always something exciting to learn from our clients,” Nelson says. “Learning about the nuances of our customer’s business, how they came to care about ESG, why it’s an initiative—this is what really gets me going.”
Nelson always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and all aspects of ESG appeal to him on both a professional and personal level. To this end, Nelson co-founded Goby in 2008 with the goal of creating a more socially responsible and sustainable business world.
“My sister was a high school teacher who was doing very impactful work, whereas I was working as a means to an end,” he recalls. “She influenced my commitment when I became an entrepreneur to do something that was socially aligned.”
Today, Nelson leads the Goby mission: to be the world’s leading ESG platform.
“We emphasize the importance of valuing companies by something other than the financial bottom line.” — CEO Ryan Nelson
Goby continues to grow and adapt to new and improved ideas as the business and the investing world evolves and sustainability becomes more important. Goby is now part of Conservice, a utility management platform for the property management industry, together, they provide a comprehensive bill-to-boardroom solution for commercial real estate owners, investors, and managers . This partnership is a strong step forward in cementing themselves as an ESG leader that helps business amplify their positive impact on the world.
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