INTHEBLACK December 2021 - Magazine - Page 16
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SHORTER
SUSTAINABILITY
ACCOUNTING AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
(3RD EDITION)
Alex Soojung-Kim
Pang
Brooke Baldwin
Penguin
HarperCollins
Matias Laine,
Helen Tregidga and
Jeffrey Unerman
The way to increased productivity and
profits is not working ever-longer hours,
says workplace consultant Alex SoojungKim Pang. Just the opposite – innovation
comes from clear thinking and creativity.
Shorter looks at many companies that
have moved to four-day weeks without
reducing remuneration, with good results
for the bottom line. Done properly,
shortening the working week improves
recruitment and retention, Pang says,
and employees – especially those who
are parents – report improved focus,
less stress and better mental health.
Pang’s research suggests that
most companies that have moved
to a shorter week are medium-sized
enterprises in the knowledge sector,
led by founders who are recovering
“workaholics”. However, there is nothing
to stop large corporates making a
comparable transition. New-generation
communication technology has a key
role to play in using time efficiently.
Meetings, which consume huge amounts
of time, are another area to consider –
putting a simple timer on the table can
prevent distractions.
Pang emphasises that no single model
fits all situations. However, now is a good
time for leaders to consider whether
a shorter week is suitable for their
company. Working better by working less
might initially seem counter-intuitive, but
the idea deserves thought.
Brooke Baldwin, journalist and anchor
with CNN, is interested in the way
women organise into groups to
overcome adversity and discrimination.
Female “huddles”, she says, can
provide crucial support and advice,
and a means to advance causes of
special interest to women.
In her book, Baldwin speaks with
women who have established or
joined a female-focused group. One
particularly interesting huddle is made
up of female lawyers who have found
their way up the ladder blocked by
discrimination and are now working
together to overcome it. Another is a
group of female nurses who say that
mutual support has been critical in
helping them deal with the pressures
thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baldwin believes that successful
women have an obligation to help
others climb the ladder. She looks
at an organisation set up by actress
Reese Witherspoon to assist women in
the notoriously prejudiced Hollywood
environment and speaks with the
founders of the #MeToo movement.
The books starts out with the premise
that huddles are a recent phenomenon,
but Baldwin eventually concludes that
they have a long, if quiet, history. There
are universal lessons in this book about
the value of networking and the power
of collective action.
Designed as a textbook for advanced
students, this book would nevertheless
be of interest to any finance professional
who wants to know more about
sustainability reporting. Nearly all large
corporates now have some form of
sustainability reporting, according to the
authors, but they vary greatly in purpose,
substance, format and utility.
Matias Laine, Helen Tregidga and Jeffrey
Unerman review the various frameworks
available, especially the Global Reporting
Initiative and the Task Force on Climaterelated Financial Disclosures. These are
useful, the authors say, but each company
has to tailor its reporting to the specific
circumstances and the demands of its
stakeholders. The authors support moves
towards standards and guidelines, but they
argue that regulation in this area requires a
light touch.
There are several chapters dealing
with specific issues such as accounting
for climate change and weather events,
biodiversity, water management, human
rights and inequality. Reporting about
these issues should not only deal with
recent activities, but also future challenges
and strategies for meeting them.
While progress is being made in this
area, Laine, Tregidga and Unerman
believe much work still remains.
Sustainability reporting will continue to
be a growing field – after all, what gets
measured gets managed.
16 ITB December 2021
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