As environment, social and governance reporting and operations become all the more important, managers are key in facilitating transitions and improvements toward sustainability.
However, managers may be missing critical ESG skills, and a national standard for these skills is also needed. That’s the gap seen by Federmanager, an association of executives, management, and industry professionals that offers training and human resources services. Federmanager signed a memorandum of understanding with Eni, an Italian multinational energy company, to create and promote training and certification programs.
Federmanager joined Open-es, an alliance between industry, finance, and public institutions targeting the sustainable development of companies, “to develop and implement effective training solutions tailored to different sectors.”
Federmanager and Open-es are not the only organizations jumping in to serve companies and develop ESG skills. Late last year, TMF Group launched a new ESG administration services offering.
The partnerships will leverage Open-es’s platform, which has more than 15,000 participating companies, to develop training specifically geared toward the needs of different supply chains and monitor efficacy over time. Managers will have access to specialized training by Fedramanger, with the support of ESGR Società Benefit, Deloitte Climate & Sustainability Società Benefit, and the Federmanager Academy. Managers can also get their ESG skills certified through Federmanager's BeManager program via RINA.
“The memorandum we have signed with Eni confirms our commitment to using shared expertise to promote innovation and growth and revitalize Italy’s values and economy. This will contribute to strengthening the ESG skills of corporate managers,” Stefano Cuzzilla, president of Federmanager, said in a statement. “The sustainability challenge is broad and requires a collective effort. This is why we are glad to be working with the Open-es Alliance to promote training and skills certification for managers participating in the program. Leveraging our network’s training expertise, we are committed to accelerating the move towards sustainability, led by managers and their companies.”
The agreement and partnership between Federmanager and Open-es with Eni underscores the ongoing trend toward more reliance on ESG reporting. There are several simultaneous efforts around the globe to put ESG standards into place, including the International Sustainability Standards Board issuing its first-ever standards related to sustainability disclosures by companies last year. Plus, the European Union recently agreed on its mandates for ESG ratings.
One major problem around ESG reporting is a lack of standards, leading most investors to believe most of the numbers and reports aren’t entirely real. Even many U.S. organizations don’t have a lot of faith in their own ESG reports -- one recent study found 45% of U.S. organizations are concerned they are participating in greenwashing.
Most importantly, with more standardization on the horizon, only 25% of companies said they were prepared to meet these new reporting requirements, according to a 2023 KPMG survey. Specifically, only one-fourth said they have the ESG policies, skills, and systems in place for independent ESG data assurance. That means companies will need to ramp up their ESG skills and operations rapidly over the next few years as ESG continues to gain gravity.
