Turning Sustainability into a Competitive Edge – Five Tips for Driving Real Impact

What does impact work mean in practice?

Companies are no longer judged only by their financial performance. Customers, investors, and employees increasingly expect businesses to take responsibility for people, the environment, and society. In fact, more and more people want to commit to companies that make a real difference around them. But what does “impact work” actually mean in practice? Here are five concrete tips to help your company on its journey towards impactful, future-proof business.

1. Define what your impact really is

Impact means the positive change your business creates – for customers, society, and the planet. It’s a step forward from traditional ESG, which often focuses mainly on risk management and reducing harm.

At Sustera, we’ve framed our impact around three clear themes:

• Helping our customers reduce carbon footprint
• Enhancing well-being and quality of life of property users
• Maximizing cost savings and economic growth of our customers

This way, we know exactly what to focus on and what value we bring. I encourage other companies to do the same: clarify the impact of your business and distill it into simple, understandable themes. Frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the EU’s CSRD directive can be great starting points.

2. Make it measurable

Without metrics, impact can easily remain just talk. That’s why each impact theme should have clear indicators that let you track the progress.

Here at Sustera, we measure our impact through three types of “handprints”:

• Carbon handprint (tCO₂): how much we reduce our customers’ emissions
• Wellbeing handprint (people): how many people’s wellbeing we improve
• Savings handprint (M€): how much we help our customers save and grow

I recommend assessing impacts in advance for each service or product. This way, the benefits become more concrete for customers and give you a clear edge in the market.

3. Bring customers and stakeholders on board

Impact doesn’t just appear out of nowhere – it’s built on customer needs. That’s why it pays to involve customers and other stakeholders early in the process.

At Sustera, we’ve run regular stakeholder surveys and kept up a constant dialogue with our clients. This has helped us anticipate future needs and ensure our services truly support our customer’s sustainability goals.

4. Engage your people

Sustainability and impact work isn’t a one-off project – it’s something that should be part of everyday business and strategy. And that means your people need to be fully on board.

At Sustera, we’ve set up an internal impact working group with representatives from all our business areas. On top of that, we share practical knowledge and examples through our in-house “Impact Academy.” When employees understand why impact matters, it shines through in the way they work with customers.

5. Keep it simple

Sustainability and impact can easily feel overwhelming. The secret is to keep it simple and actionable. With a clear direction and small, steady steps, impact becomes part of daily business life. And when you make your work measurable and visible, it stops being just a compliance exercise. Instead, it turns into a genuine competitive advantage – creating value for customers, employees, and society as a whole.