Goumbook’s has expanded the scope of its consulting services which now includes tailored assistance to achieve certain sustainability certifications.
Most recently, Goumbook lead the development of a comprehensive sustainability strategy, a company Code of Ethics, as well as various policies and implementation supporting action plans for a local company which applied for an assessment by business sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis. Traffik 360, a below-the-line agency headquartered in Dubai, had tried to achieve certification by EcoVadis before, which enables companies to manage their network both upstream and downstream, either by sharing their performance with their stakeholders or monitoring the performance of their own upstream value chain. The EcoVadis rating helps companies do business with multinational corporations, who themselves integrate specific sustainability guidelines into their corporate strategies. Since the certification process requires specific expertise and time resources that not all businesses, especially small- and medium-sized ones, are able to dedicate, Goumbook’s consultants guide companies through the entire procedure from preparation to implementation and ultimately applying for the certification.
With an explicit commitment to sustainability as a first step, becoming a sustainable company means improving practices both operationally and at the workplace, and integrating all company activities into a sustainability strategy. As part of its consulting services to assist with the certification process, Goumbook designs action plans with concrete and detailed recommendations to implement at the office and as part of the business operations, empowering everyone to understand their role and responsibilities. The suggested actions are categorized into sections that reflect diverse aspects of the office culture and operations with an effect on overall sustainability, such as procurement, waste management, paper and energy consumption, IT and electronic waste, food and beverages, and transportation.
As part of developing a sustainability strategy, we create policies and standards including:
- Corporate Sustainable Procurement Policy
- Corporate Environmental Policy
- Corporate Social Responsibility Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Standards for Suppliers
To support the implementation of newly developed policies, Goumbook then introduces specific action plans to help companies put them into practice on a daily basis.
In order to optimize practices, the status quo first needs to be determined which is why measuring and monitoring are crucial activities. Goumbook supports by developing the tools needed to gather and continuously monitor impact data.
“The collaboration with Goumbook has empowered us at Traffik 360 understand our impact as a business”, says Marcel Khairallah, CEO of Traffik 360. “But we will not stop there: We are now able to implement the same process within our supply chain and with our clients, helping them on their journey to make choices in a sustainable way.”
Another key component of Goumbook’s work with clients in general is the education and awareness aspect, which has proven to be the foundation of successful behavioural change.
“Working with the 15 employees of the company on awareness regarding sustainability issues in general was the starting point of our collaboration”, Irene Garcia Lasala, Sustainable Business Leader at Goumbook, recalled. “It is crucial to include the whole team in the process to build the necessary support for changes that can feel quite fundamental for some”, she explained. Of the workshops, which were held for different key departments to embed sustainability in their operations, the sustainable procurement training was the most important as it enabled the procurement team to understand the important role they play in supporting the company’s sustainability journey. The Goumbook consultants tailored tools for Traffik 360 to ensure their supply chain works within the new sustainable procurement policy. A growing sustainable portfolio is another positive result of the changes that were implemented.
Ever since achieving their certification, the Traffik 360 team seems to have got a taste for the rewarding feeling of making the right choices: They have since planted Ghaf seeds with Goumbook as part of their CSR and volunteering activities and – even more importantly – have set their eyes on the EcoVadis Gold Certificate.
For more information about our certification services, please email us at ask@goumbook.com