OSiT’s approach to Governance
The governance element of ESG is absolutely key to a business’ overall approach to ESG, as it relates to all the many elements which influence decision making within the company. At a very basic level governance performance is about how a business is run: the integrity, honesty and transparency of the management team, and their impact on the creation of policies that affect the different stakeholders in the business.
When we talk about power, we’renot just talking about governance but our position as a business, a management team, members of the OSiT family and as part of our wider communities, and how we influence and drive positive change for the benefit of people and planet. It’s the governance bit of ESG, but for us alsoabout collective empowerment and giving everyone at OSiT the support they need to make a difference.
Our management team lead by example. We took the decision at board level to enshrine ESG, not only in our culture but also in our legal structure: the board is allowed to, and encouraged, to consider the ESG impact of any decision, and if believed to be appropriate to prioritise ESG ahead of profit. We even have dedicated ESG director on our board.
OSiT Policies
We want to ensure that the businesses we work with are aligned with our ethics. Over the years we have introduced a number of business policies to support our ongoing environmental and social aims, these include:
- Code of ethics and conduct for suppliers
- Contractor questionnaire (now including a mandatory ESG section)
- Green purchasing policy
- Sustainable timber policy
Following the creation of our new green purchasing policy and a significant procurement exercise by our Operations team we have recently made some swaps to more eco-friendly suppliers and products.
Awareness
We believe that influencing change is where we can have the biggest impact.
All OSiT employees are enrolled on the Carbon Savers Course run by Carbon Savvy, helping them to understand how to reduce both our business carbon footprint and their own.
Through our work with Planet Mark our clients have had access to Carbon Clinics in our buildings. These one-to-one sessions with carbon footprinting and sustainability experts provide practical, tailored advice to support them to drive sustainability forward in their own businesses.