9.1 Course Notes

course notes2

9.1 Performance against governing principles of sustainable development

Relevant Definitions:

Sustainable Development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needsNote 1 to entry: The process provides an enduring, balanced approach to economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress.
Note 2 to entry: Sustainable development is about integrating the goals of a high quality of life, health and prosperity with social justice and maintaining the earth's capacity to support life in all its diversity. These social, economic and environmental goals are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Sustainable development can be treated as a way of expressing the broader expectations of society as a whole.
Performance: measurable result

Connecting performance back to your declared governing values and principles is an essential part of your performance evaluation process.
This is a high-level approach and  looks at when you distill everything down, does your performance add up to supporting sustainable development principles such as Inclusivity, Transparency, Integrity and Stewardship?
This is different from the performance outcomes such as measuring the amount of waste etc. It is a more holistic, and the report to match this clause’s requirements would be more 'story telling 'than data crunching.
In the approach you would set out what the most important aspects are for consideration and describe key indicators of performance or milestones to be met, which will in turn are indicators of progress.
Maturity Matrix Approach
Table A3 of the standard, the Maturity Matrix approach is presented. This where against each of the SD principles, stages of continual improvement towards meeting the principle in full are mapped out. Against ‘stakeholder identification and engagement’ it has three measures – minimal, improving and engaged.
In this case you could create a sliding scale of improvement, for each of the key aspects of your work, relating to the overarching pillars or foundation sustainable development principles. Then write a description or show graphically, or offer check boxes for ticking off on a scale.
In this approach you could set up to review your performance against your governing principles of Sustainable Development. Include the headings of the overarching principles and then underneath each describe the issue, aspect or objective, and how you are working towards achieving it. Remember you may be reviewing the success of your procedure’s implementation, rather than the actual outcomes of the issue’s management.
See an example of a maturity matrix here.


Requirements of this Clause:

[list type="check"]

  • An approach to track and review progress against your statement of purpose and values and  governing principles of sustainable development.
  • Evidence of the approach process.
  • Evidence of the approach being enacted.
  • Evidence of of a process to track continual improvement in meeting these commitments.

[/list]


Suggested Steps:

[list type="check"]

  • Set out the values and Sustainable Development principles to which the organization commits.
  • Establish performance indicators which would demonstrate each of these being met.
  • Create a process, framework, checklist, form, that cross checks the commitments with your performance.
  • Document this and provide evidence of its use, importantly wrapping in the continual improvement/progress element.

[/list]


<<< Back to Course Unit


Leave a Reply