Why sustainability reporting is such a challenge

Producing a sustainability report is harder than routine financial reporting for a number of reasons:

Wide-ranging – sustainability report topics span environmental, social, and governance activities happening all over an organisation.

Multiple inputs – report data and content, often qualitative and unstructured, must be sourced from different departments, geographies and supply chains.

Resource intensive – producing a comprehensive and engaging sustainability report needs executive involvement and a budget.

Specialist expertise – recruiting a team able to produce sustainability reports annually with reassuring continuity can be a challenge.

Checklist for sustainability report design and production

Before kick-starting your next sustainability report development cycle, prioritise these time-tested factors that the Stepworks team have learnt are essential.

• Start the project in time

  Allow sufficient time to develop the report. We recommend a four-month development time period for a PDF report, and six-month development lead-time for a website report.

• Develop a methodology

  Implement a systemic approach to collecting images and stories throughout the reporting year.

  Photograph events professionally to ensure your report includes high quality images. Great photos make a far greater impact than ad-hoc camera phone shots taken by staff members.

• Go digital

  Today sustainability reports are almost always published in digital format only – which is more sustainable than print. They will be viewed on multiple screen sizes, though significantly more on devices with larger screens such as laptops and desktops.

  A report developed as dynamic web pages, such as this page from Swire Pacific’s, is more accessible than PDFs, but requires a bigger budget and a longer development time.

  

  
  PDF reports such as GLP Capital Partners’ are less complex to produce. But they are potentially less engaging for the reader as PDFs lack rich-media functions. PDF reports are also not optimised to be navigated on small mobile devices.

Digital reporting offers endless opportunities to create clarity and impact.

• Prioritise clarity

  Clear and concise language is essential. Audiences should be able to catch the drift without deep ESG expertise. Informative headlines, and short paragraphs are more friendly online than big blocks of text.

  

   

  Present data in graphs and charts. Include photographs of events and initiatives that reveal the social side of the business. Typography and layout must respect diverse users and screen sizes.

• Lead with brand and story

  The overarching strategy for your business, brand, and sustainability efforts may already be articulated in a phrase or a theme. If so, ensure your key messaging and your report design support and amplifies that theme. If you do not yet have a theme, consider developing one to align your sustainability efforts with business and brand strategy. 

  Ensure the design of your report follows your brand guidelines and apply graphic design appropriately to visually tell a compelling story of your organisation’s ESG journey.

  An attractive sustainability report keeps readers engaged while highlighting key data and achievements.

• Present a unified picture

  Sustainability report content comes in from multiple sources and is often inconsistent in presentation style. Designers can’t judge which business unit or activity should have priority in the report. 

  To increase efficiency, internal reporting teams should give colleagues in various business units guidelines about word count, and image and video specs. A content outline informs designers how to organise the report.

  Along with subsequent reports, it needs to be presented consistently. A professional design follows brand guidelines and the style of any accompanying financial report.

• Aim for continuity 

  Ensure year-on-year consistency in key messaging, branded elements, navigation, colour palette, charts, graphs and infographic designs.

  Reporting continuous sustainability improvements in-line with developments in the business conveys that your team has a reassuringly long-term mindset in ESG.

• Consider interactivity, animation and video

  Digital reporting offers endless opportunities to create clarity and impact. Your sustainability report designer’s palette includes infographics, iconography, images and audio-video. Applied wisely, these tools are emotional levers that strengthen bonds between stakeholders.

  

   

• Ensure a coherent navigation

  

   

  Clear navigation signposts and well-labelled links greatly enhance user experience. This is the case for both web-based and PDF reports. Link any table of contents, references, citations and data within the report and to external sources where relevant. A consistent navigation across all your reports supports visitor understanding and reveals long-term progress.

• Develop workflow continuity

  Teamwork is the single biggest success factor for sustainability report design and development. Recruit a small, tight team. The more individuals involved, the messier the process.

  Prioritise recruiting if you’re preparing your first report. Anyone who’s produced a few business reports will agree to the value of ongoing relationships with experienced contributors.

• Manage feedback and reviews

  Consolidate internal feedback and make sure instructions to the design and development team are clear. Avoid open ended comments that require internal confirmation. Provide direction for data visualisation, or find references that will help the design team express the intended message.

• Get more from your report 

  Consider repurposing and sharing content from your report as a series of social posts throughout the year, to raise awareness of your ESG process, and drive traffic to the full report on your website.

• Deliver on time

  A sustainability report hard deadline often coincides with annual financial reporting. Releasing separate reports simultaneously reinforces positive perceptions. Consider a top-level navigation link on your website so stakeholders can immediately see you prioritise ESG as a business.
  Post them online as a set so financial analysts get the message.

• Get enough sleep

  We’ve found that even the best of teams will likely face a crunch time in the last week of the project. Content or data often comes in late from one or more operational teams in the business. 

  So leading up to the last week before your sustainability report goes live, do make sure you’re well-rested. so that you can perform at your most clear-headed state as you put your report to bed.

Adding value to business and your brand

Locating ESG at the operational core of a business is the right thing to do. Businesses and people that do the right thing are more likely to thrive. 

Although a challenge to get out on time and within budget (especially the first one) a well-received ESG report delivers incremental value in terms of stakeholder perception and support. It’s something worth taking pride in to get right.