Rising demands make it harder to lean on learn-on-the-go sustainability chiefs

IF you’re looking to hire a chief sustainability officer (CSO), would you hire someone who:

• Has a strong background in sustainability or environmental science but isn’t familiar with your business or industry; or
• Is very familiar with your business or industry, but has only a modest understanding of the science and regulations of sustainability?

An analysis by The Business Times found the 26 largest Singapore-listed companies that had appointed CSOs were split on this question. Of the 28 CSOs from those companies (two of the companies were deemed to have two CSOs each), only 13 were holding sustainability-related roles when they were hired. Eleven were holding roles related to operations or strategy when they were appointed, including four whose roles had also been sustainability-related.

It’s necessary to note that the analysis assessed prior experience based only on the last-held job title when a CSO was hired. This means that the data does not capture CSOs’ earlier appointments, or whether the CSOs had obtained relevant education or training in sustainability-related areas.