Doing business sustainably is very important for organizations in this era because business sustainability does not depend solely on competitiveness or the focus on making profits. Doing business sustainably in this era means using available resources to the maximum benefit, reducing waste, reducing costs, and reducing unnecessary work processes. At the same time, organizations must also take into account all stakeholders, such as employees, communities, and society, etc.
Doing business sustainably like X3 with True Corporation Plc.
“For a business to be sustainable, it is not enough just for the business to be successful. Our business must also create positive changes for society and the environment.”
With this business concept, True Corporation Plc. has received the World Class Sustainability Leader: Dow Jones Sustainability Indices award , with the highest score in the world for 3 consecutive years in the telecommunications business group in 2020.
Admin had the opportunity to interview Dr. Thiraphol Thanomsakyuth – Chief Innovation & Sustainability Officer, True Corporation Plc. to understand how sustainability affects organizations, businesses and people. And will organizations that focus on sustainability be able to cope with crises more easily?
Dr. Thiraphol explained that “We are in a world that is constantly changing. Currently, the expectation of business organizations is not just about performance alone. It must also have a sustainability dimension, which is creating changes for society and the environment. Innovation will be the solution to help create Win-Win-Win benefits for organizations, society, and the environment.”
In addition, Dr. Thiraphol also added that if the organization is going to seriously push for sustainability, it must come from the Leadership Mindset that starts from the top executives, with Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, the Chairman of True, being the initiator and continuously pushing for this issue through various policies and activities until it becomes the culture within the organization.
In addition, Dr. Thiraphol also added that if the organization is going to seriously push for sustainability, it must come from the Leadership Mindset that starts from the top executives, with Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, the Chairman of True, being the initiator and continuously pushing for this issue through various policies and activities until it becomes the culture within the organization.
“The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) are like a health check on corporate sustainability.”
The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices are stock indexes of leading global companies that have been assessed for sustainability based on economic, social, and environmental indicators by institutional investors around the world. For True, joining the DJSI requires a sustainability report, which is like a corporate health checkbook, giving the organization a checklist to examine its sustainability, enabling it to look at risks and the future.
For True, which is a telecommunications business, it prioritizes the security of customer data, as well as the stability and efficiency of the system, such as always being ready to provide customers with service at all times without interruption.
Dr. Teerapol told us that for organizations and businesses, to be sustainable, businesses must change themselves all the time. What is important is people. How can organizations make people in the organization have the same beliefs, especially in terms of sustainability, and be ready to move forward together?
Creating change today, we cannot do it alone. Therefore, we need to engage employees from the entire organization to help with sustainability. And if we want tangible results, we cannot do it alone. True has therefore joined hands with the Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT), which brings together many private companies to create positive change on a larger scale.
Dr. Thirapol told us that True’s sustainability management to create change has 5 main pillars as follows:
1. KPI Transparency: is the determination of a clear and transparent framework of sustainability thinking. True has 3 axes: Heart, employee development, Corporate Governance, transparency, Health, social health care, focusing on education, Home, environmental care. True has set 2 big and challenging goals by 2030: Carbon Neutron, Zero Waste.
2. Creating Leadership Mindset: This is to encourage new-generation executives to participate in social projects, such as becoming a School partner in the Connect ED project, joining One Young World to discuss global social and environmental issues, all to gain ideas and learn how to create change by themselves, and to increase their thinking in other dimensions that are not just about business.
3. Empowerment: Promote and support True employees to empower and provide resources to create change, such as providing employees with funding to do social projects.
4. Market Mechanism: Creating participation with stakeholders
5. Technology: True’s business group is a disruptor. We try to Lead the Change all the time. True is an Agile Organization that promotes cross-functional work, gives opportunities for the new generation to join the team, and is ready to create new things, such as examples of creating change with innovation such as Vroom Vlearn Vwork for online life during COVID, development of Robot Tele-Health to support medical work, etc.
Management in the Covid situation
For management in the COVID situation, Dr. Thiraphol told us that True prioritizes employees first, which is to provide employees with stability (no layoffs), provide additional medical benefits, and take care of spouses who lost their jobs during COVID. In addition, True also hired a large number of new graduates during COVID.
Benefits of doing business sustainably
Dr. Thiraphol believes that doing sustainable business is mostly about policy changes, which does not always require a lot of investment, as many people may misunderstand. And doing sustainable business also has many benefits, such as increased income or profit from developing environmentally friendly products and services that meet consumer needs, because consumers these days are willing to support companies that prioritize this issue, or in terms of cost reduction, such as energy saving, water saving, or using resources in a valuable way. Finally, it helps reduce the risk of organizations and businesses.
Therefore, sustainability is something that can be applied in many dimensions, including our own lives, organizations, and the country. We can be sustainable by growing together, with mutual respect, taking into account all stakeholders. In addition, we can also use the principles of sustainable business to improve or change organizations to transform businesses into the New S Curve.
