Heidrick & Struggles: Are CSOs Here to Stay?

Nearly 90% of the top 250 companies in Europe have a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) according to research from Heidrick & Struggles.
Some 83% of these have been appointed since 2019, so clearly the landscape has made quite a shift in a relatively short period of time.
Changing regulation, the approach of 2030 targets and new net zero roadmaps are all playing a role.
“While this is not solely up to the CSO, for a sustainability agenda to be successful, leaders must embrace the right sustainability mindset,” says Rafe Jackson, Partner at Heidrick & Struggles.
“It needs to be at the core of the organisation's strategy, i.e. that the commercial success and performance of a business is linked with the social and environmental framework in which it operates. This mindset needs to permeate through all of leadership.”
Embedding sustainability in leadership
Making big changes to an organisation’s sustainability strategy requires buy-in from senior leadership.
Whilst not all CSOs report directly to the CEO, this is an important success factor for securing support and aligning sustainability with a company’s organisational strategy according to Heidrick & Struggles.
Some strategies highlighted in its report include a sustainability committee with senior executives and sustainability-related KPIs at the executive level.
Unlocking investments for sustainability also require a close relationship and financial commitment from a whole team, not just senior leadership.
Organisations also need to define success to determine how sustainability adds value.
Heidrick & Struggles says in many cases, sustainability initiatives generate revenue as new products and services are developed and the most advanced companies see sustainability as a growth and revenue driver.
Reframing sustainability to make its purpose more strategically relevant is another practice employed by CSOs.
“To deliver an effective sustainability agenda, the CSO needs to be able to engage and build relationships across all functions and business departments,” Rafe says.
“It is key that the CSO develops a clear view of these different agendas and can build a consistent message & goals whilst getting these people to engage with the overall strategy.
“The most effective CSO’s can execute this and bring people on board who may otherwise be reluctant/struggle to see how this may be advantageous to them.”
How to choose a CSO
If a company is hiring its first CSO, it may be a safe bet to look at external specialised talent as regulation and the complexity of the function could be overwhelming for those unfamiliar according to Heidrick & Struggles.
In Fortune Europe 250 companies, 30% of CSOs were appointed externally – in companies where sustainability structures and goals are already established, choosing a CSO internally may be the right choice as they have an understanding of the business.
More than 20% of CSOs come from an ESG and environmental background and 18% specialise in communication, corporate and institutional affairs.
A further 13% come from backgrounds of general management and operations and 10% from strategy.
Just 4% have legal or supply chain and procurement backgrounds and 5% consulting and advisory.
In 2022, 53% of appointed CSOs came from a senior leadership or C-suite role which increased to 70% in 2023.
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