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Sustainability teams are hitting a wall when it comes to pulling off bigger-picture business transformations. Key hires can help overhaul strategies and kickstart real progress — but filling the role of transformation lead and setting it up for success is a challenge.
This was a running theme in the 2023 Vogue Business Sustainability Leaders Survey. “Sustainability is a complex topic that takes time to fully understand and thus develop an interest for,” said Hanna Griesbeck Garcia, impact manager at Hylo Athletics. “It takes time to get information out to all employees at all levels effectively,” added Yukihiro Nitta, the group executive officer responsible for sustainability at Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing. Brazilian brand Farm Rio said it was hoping to reach critical mass by strategically converting a small percentage of influential employees to the cause.
Companies including LVMH, Kering and Richemont have a history of hiring directors of transformation, spanning HR, digital and supply chain functions. Experts say other brands could now apply this to sustainability — some already are. These jobs are focused on transformation, creating collaborative and cross-functional teams that essentially act as an internal change management consultancy, troubleshooting sustainability challenges and tackling the less tangible elements of business change, from shifting mindsets to winning over leadership.
An exclusive survey covering 90 fashion, luxury and beauty brands shows sustainability teams are still limited on time, money and people power, without which it will be difficult to achieve their ambitious targets.
Challenges that might require this oversight include responsible sourcing, which sits between product design, procurement, risk management, compliance, legal and sustainability. In the past, digital transformation, e-commerce and social media have all posed similar conundrums for fashion brands.
“The transformation roles that have cropped up in the last couple of years are a sign of sustainability strategies maturing,” says Elisa Niemtzow, vice president of consumer sectors and global membership at business network and consultancy Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). “Previously, businesses were working at the strategic leadership level to make big, broad commitments. Now, we’re in the decade of delivery, which needs to embark the entire organisation on changing ways of working.”
This shift in how companies perceive sustainability roles could prompt systems change in a way that traditional internal dynamics can’t. To achieve real transformation, businesses need to flip the switch from add-on sustainability initiatives to sustainability as the starting point for every other decision. This holistic approach — where sustainability is an even more fundamental driver than profit — can help companies meet targets and avoid greenwashing, says Lasse Lindqvist, co-founder of purpose-driven management consultancy AndX.
“Sustainability and transformation are not about where you spend your money, but how you make your money,” he says. “Some companies are still thinking about sustainability as purchasing more sustainable, often more expensive, materials. There’s nothing wrong with that, but business models take you to the root. It becomes an unlearning process, unlearning old habits and metrics, old business rules. Then, the sustainability transformation is embedded in every function, from the strategy to the culture.”
So, how can brands find the right person for this multifaceted role and set them up for success? There’s no one-size-fits-all approach.
New roles representing bigger business changes
At UK footwear company Vivobarefoot, which has been implementing regenerative leadership as a route to better business practices for people and the planet, former head of people and culture Ashley Pollock has just become head of transformation and culture, one half of the newly minted transformation team, tasked with aligning employee values and behaviour with company goals.
Pollock spends several days each week at Springwood Farm, an ancient woodland in the UK which houses regenerative leadership retreats, and which Vivobarefoot uses to ground its employees and decision-making in nature. This work on the inner nature of individual employees sits alongside the business transformation side of her new role, balancing personal changes — connecting more deeply with others, heightening self-responsibility, becoming more comfortable with failure and feedback, and tuning into natural rhythms rather than corporate ones — with structural changes such as team hierarchies and KPIs, Pollock explains. “We reached a point with the retreats where people felt like they could be themselves at work and self-manage to an extent, but it was a bit too chaotic, so we added this transformation layer. Before, everyone had amazing talent but we weren’t pulling in the same direction.”
The transformation team is currently focused on sustainability, but Pollock says it will become more subject agnostic as it evolves. “At the moment, we’re trying to unlock talent at all levels: making sure our directors are united and our strategies aligned, setting the direction of travel for the company and making sure everyone understands their role in that, and mapping our talent and updating their KPIs to drive high performance,” she explains. “In the future, we could turn our attention to evolving the B Corp triple bottom line, or addressing logistics if another situation like the Suez Canal arises.”
The emergence of transformation roles shows that businesses are open to redefining their purpose, which could be a key unlock for sustainability, says AndX’s Lindqvist. “We often take it for granted that business is about maximising profits for owners and shareholders, but that narrative only took hold in a few decades ago,” he explains. “Now, legislators, consumers and employees are pushing for different types of brands and business models.”
Transformation roles are often aimed at creating deeper shifts in an organisation, with a specific emphasis on upskilling existing employees and cementing company values — less tangible changes, which can be hard to inspire and measure. Experts recommend a holistic approach, which includes building sustainability into individual and team KPIs, tying executive bonuses to the achievement of sustainability goals, and offering grants to employees interested in personal development courses, as well as repeating key messages across internal newsletters, physical posters around offices, “lunch and learn” events and training sessions.
In May, luxury conglomerate LVMH outlined plans for a new employee training series, to run between 2024 and 2026, based at the Vallée de la Millière association an hour outside of Paris. The biodiversity and regenerative agriculture reserve, created in 2020, will host sustainability training and awareness-raising activities for LVMH employees, and the group has committed to help “renature” the site for the next five years. The aim is to make all employees “true stakeholders in our environmental policy”, says director of environmental development Hélène Valade, an attempt to aid group-wide transformation by emphasising the importance of protecting nature, not just profits. “To effectively transform, it’s a question of changing habits but it’s also a question of having common goals. The latter can be a challenge, considering that LVMH has six sectors of activities and 75 maisons — each of which has a lot of operational autonomy. Having people that are convinced of sustainability and sustainable values is a powerful lever.”
Setting transformation directors up for success
Those in transformation roles play a similar function to external consultants, but there is no simple answer to whether internal or external drivers create more meaningful change. Most businesses will find that a combination of the two works best, says AndX’s Lindqvist. “You need internal people to do the heavy-lifting and execute the brand DNA, and you need the external catalyst — be that a consultant or even a stakeholder group like legislators or consumers — to enable difficult conversations and challenge the norms, to raise the level of ambition.”
The approach depends on the size and pace of progress in each company, says BSR’s Niemtzow. Smaller companies might not even have the resources for a dedicated sustainability employee, let alone a director of transformation. In these cases, an existing employee might need to lead the efforts alongside their own role, or bring in an external advisor to support. The Vogue Business survey found that 86 per cent of sustainability teams in participating fashion and beauty brands have worked with external agencies, advisors, auditors or certifications on their sustainability strategy in the past 12 months.
Transformation roles require a particular set of skills which can be difficult to find in one candidate. “I would look for a management consultant who wants to go client-side on secondment, or someone who wants to transfer out of their sector into something they feel really passionate about,” says executive career consultant Tracy Short. “Companies could pull someone from the area that’s the biggest problem for them right now, but I think this role needs a more elevated positioning, someone with that bigger-picture approach.”
To set this candidate up for success, brands need executive buy-in for the transformation at hand, and realistic KPIs need to be established. “You might have goals related to upskilling, winning over and training people in different functions, or redesigning processes and adding concrete tools to aid the transformation,” suggests BSR’s Niemtzow.
It’s a complex role. “You need people who are strategic thinkers, who can communicate and align people in the same direction, take data and get people on board with the strategies you glean from it, and run those projects,” says Vivobarefoot’s Pollock. “You also need someone who understands the organisation and how these changes will land in this specific company. Otherwise, you could be setting someone up for failure.”
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