Sustainability – Employees and customers expect action

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Employees and customers expect action

The authenticity of actions in terms of sustainable development and social responsibility is at the heart of the trust of employees and customers.

Xavier Chabanne – Director of Applications for Switzerland at Oracle

According to a recent survey by Deloitte, the top executives of Swiss companies are unanimous: climate change is a threat. The report also reveals that Swiss companies agree on the urgency of responding to climate change. Although they face more pressure from their stakeholders than their foreign peers, they take less action. Indeed, the pressure to intensify the fight against climate change is real, but while at the global level regulatory authorities exert the strongest pressure, in Switzerland they appear only in fourth position, followed by company employees.

Globally, people are demanding more progress in sustainability and social efforts and looking to companies to take the lead, new research from Oracle and Pamela Rucker, IT consultant, instructor at Harvard Professional Development shows. The ‘No Planet B’ study interviewed more than 11,000 consumers and business leaders in 15 countries and found that people are tired of society’s lack of progress in sustainability and social initiatives, ‘they want companies to finally act and believe that technology can help companies succeed where humans have failed.

Sustainability and social action: what if companies used AI to accelerate their efforts?


Events over the past two years have highlighted the importance of sustainability and social efforts. People not just in Switzerland but across the world are tired of the lack of progress and are asking companies to step up their efforts. The verdict is unanimous with 93% of respondents believing that sustainability and social factors are more important than ever and 80% of them saying that the events of the last two years have strongly influenced their conduct.

94% of respondents believe that society has not progressed enough and almost half are convinced that companies have a role to play and can bring about more significant changes in terms of sustainability and social progress than individuals or companies.

This trend is accentuated by 78% of people who say they are frustrated with the lack of corporate progress to date and 89% who believe that it is not enough for companies to say they put the environment first, they must now be following the example.

And when it comes to measuring impact, 84% of respondents believe companies would make more progress on sustainability and social progress with the help of artificial intelligence, and 61% believe robots will succeed where humans have failed.

The efforts made promote a lasting relationship with customers and employees.

“Events of the last two years have put sustainability and social initiatives under the microscope and people are demanding real change. While there are challenges ahead, this is a huge opportunity for companies to change the world for the better,” said Pamela Rucker . “The results show that people are more likely to work for organizations that act responsibly towards our society and the environment. The time is right. If thinking has evolved, technology has also evolved and can play a key role in overcoming of many of the obstacles that have held back progress.”

By prioritizing sustainability and social issues, technology meets

Up to 94% of people want real progress in sustainability and social responsibility to establish healthier lifestyles (50%), preserve the planet for future generations (49%) and contribute to creating more equality in the world (46% ). This is also reflected in the fact that 70% of people would be willing to end their relationship with a brand that does not take sustainability and social initiatives seriously and that 69% would even leave their current company to work for a brand that put more emphasis on these. efforts.

“It has never been more crucial for companies to invest in sustainability and ESG initiatives because people don’t just want to hear about them – they are looking for decisive action and demanding more transparency and tangible results,” said Juergen Lindner, senior vice president. and CMO, Global Marketing SaaS, Oracle. “Business leaders understand the importance of this, but often mistakenly think that they should prioritize profits or sustainability. The truth is, this is not a zero-sum game. The technology that can remove all barriers to ESG efforts is now available, and organizations that do it right can not only support their communities and the environment, but also realize significant revenue gains, cost savings, and other benefits that impact the bottom line.”

Business leaders know that sustainability efforts are critical to business success, and they even rely on robots, not just humans, to lead social and sustainability efforts. In fact, 92% of them believe that sustainability and ESG programs are essential to the success of their business. Executives identified the top three benefits as strengthening the brand (40%), increasing productivity (39%) and attracting new customers (38%).

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