In today’s world, I am struck by how business leaders and boards still face tensions prioritizing sustainability. Conventional governance only considers risk and opportunity whereas the mindset required for sustainable action integrates a sense of responsibility for positive impact in every aspect of a business.
The extreme issues in our world can only be navigated through shared responsibility such as collective action and partnerships. We experienced two significant opportunities to put this shared action into practice this past year. The first through USTOA and Tourism Cares sustainability platforms and the other through the B Corp Beauty Coalition.
These collaborative activities have been focused on encouraging and supporting our team to experiment, share learnings and challenges. For us, these activities pay extensive dividends. Our team learns new skills and knowledge; they broaden our access to experts and together we feel we get closer to solving some of our own challenges as well as those of the industries we are a part of. Some of these learnings are highlighted in five case studies throughout the report.
We feel proud that our sustainability efforts have been verified by third parties. A highlight of our 2023 year was our B Corp recertification where our US, UK and Swiss businesses rectified with a score of 141 points. We improved on our EcoVadis Platinum rating and we recently received Switzerland’s Swisstainable label. This is all a reflection of our extraordinary team at MaCher and their dedication to building a purpose driven organization.
In January 2024, we are testing a reduced work hour week, joining many other companies testing this initiative, designed to still deliver strong business performance with improved work life balance for our team. We remain committed to asking the “why?” behind our work and ensuring that product strategies remain relevant and impactful. This means continuing to provide high ROI returns for our customers while significantly reducing waste. This year also saw us shifting away from using carbon credits for compensation and instead investing those funds into decarbonization tools for our value chain. We know there is more to learn in this space, but we are looking forward to the journey.
