Hvordan Rachel Madan fandt, at hun passede ind i hurtig rådgivning | GreenBiz

Hvordan Rachel Madan fandt, at hun passede ind i hurtig rådgivning | GreenBiz

Tidsstempel: 12. maj 2023 kl. 5
Kildeknude: 2646805

Efter at have eksperimenteret med en bred vifte af roller på tværs af flere sektorer, elsker Rachel Madan, direktør for bæredygtighed og effekt hos Luminous, sin nuværende koncertrådgivning med sine formålsdrevne kunder. 

Tidligere har hun udviklet og ledet globale virksomhedsstrategier for bæredygtighed hos International Finance Corporation, skabt sin egen sociale virksomhed kaldet Greener Museums, rådgivet Tate og Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry om bæredygtighed og konsulteret for organisationer som World Bank Group og University of Rochester. 

Denne mangfoldighed af oplevelser formulerer Madans unikke salgsforslag, som hun mener er vigtigt for enhver virksomhed og jobsøgende, der arbejder med virksomheders bæredygtighed. Jeg har for nylig kontaktet Madan for at lære mere om hendes karriererejse indtil videre. 

Shannon Houde: Fortæl os lidt om, hvad du laver fra dag til dag. 

Rachel Madan: Mens Luminous er et strategisk kommunikationsbureau med base i London, arbejder vi også med virksomheder i USA og Europa. Vi hjælper virksomheder med at inspirere andre med, hvem de er, hvad de laver, og hvorfor det er vigtigt. Og vi har forskellige konsulenttilbud, der hjælper med det, og det, jeg leder, er bæredygtighed og effekt. Vores mission er at hjælpe gode virksomheder med at være gode til bæredygtighed. 

I was recruited to create the function and lead the team so it’s like I manage a startup in a way. When I first started, the team was just me, but now I have three people reporting to me and I’m about to hire a fourth. And so, I do a bit of everything: business development and marketing, mentoring and managing my team, working directly with clients, researching and developing new offerings. And because we do sustainability, communications and strategy, I do all of that, too. So, everything from materiality assessments to helping a company develop their first sustainability strategy or update one, or create engaging communications that then tell their sustainability story. 

Houde: I think that’s sometimes what lures people into consulting, the fact that it’s quite diverse and multifaceted and that keeps us challenged and motivated. So, tell us what you love the most about your work? 

Madan: I love that it’s different every day, and fast paced. I think it’s important to try lots of different roles in lots of different sectors in your career. I’ve been in a lot of different ones. And I think that, for me, consulting compared to being in a large company as an internal individual contributor, here I don’t have to wait for things to happen. I remember working at an institution where things moved so slowly. I also love building up and mentoring my team and working with people across the business. And I think, while it’s not for everybody, I really like the size of the company that I’m at, which is about 65 people. There are enough people that you have some support, but it’s not so many that you get lost. I also really love working with clients that are up for change and are interested in what sustainability is. 

Houde: And tell us a little bit about what it’s like working in the sustainability consulting sector where the big four firms are trying to hire these huge teams and be “in the game.” What do you think about this kind of surge that we’re seeing?

Madan: I’m really happy to see the demand. I think the demand for talent is a response to demand for help from companies, which I think is only a good thing. In terms of how we position ourselves differently from the Big Four, I think they’re doing something different to what we’re doing. We’re small and bespoke, and that is something that we can offer to our clients. I’m the director of my team, and I work with most of my clients. If they go and work with a KPMG, a PWC or Deloitte, that’s not happening. With us, it’s not just the same presentation but with a different client name on the deck. That’s something that in a competitive marketplace also applies for positioning yourself in terms of careers, i.e., it’s really important to be able to clearly articulate your own added value and what differentiates you from everyone else. 

En af de ting, du skal kunne i et konsulentmiljø, er at tale med en masse forskellige interessenter om en masse forskellige problemstillinger.

Houde: Hvilke ESG-spørgsmål er de fleste virksomheder bekymrede over? 

Madan: For companies that I’m working with, climate change is top of mind. We’re working with a lot of companies that are trying to meet their regulatory requirements, particularly around financial reporting, so we’re seeing a lot of companies who are trying to come to grips with their Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting requirements. 

Det er faktisk meget vigtigt at have disse rapporteringsrammer lovpligtigt. For eksempel er der et nyt britisk rapporteringskrav omkring diversitet på bestyrelses- og seniorniveau. I lang tid var virksomheder i stand til at give dig dette melete svar om, at der ikke er nok mennesker i pipelinen. Og nu skal de faktisk rapportere om de tal, og så forklare, hvorfor deres tal måske ikke er så gode, som vi skulle tro, de er, at de burde være. 

Houde: As well as climate too, what are you seeing in terms of that “S” in ESG? 

Madan: I’m not sure that there’s a consistency in approach there. I think that the challenge comes in measurement. For environmental issues, we have objective data that tells us what is material and what isn’t. The challenge with social impact is that we have some things that are easy to measure — for example, diversity metrics — but it doesn’t necessarily tell us what the impact of that is. Or, for example, how do we measure an inclusive business? It’s an area ripe for research and advancement. 

Houde: For andre, der ønsker at komme ind i rådgivning eller ESG mere generelt, er der nogen certificeringer, som du ser som essentielle for en nykommer? 

Madan: The challenge and the opportunity of sustainability is that it’s such a broad field. I think that the question around certification depends on in which direction you might want to take your career.

I’m not sure that the skills we seek as professionals are necessarily on a college syllabus, so I’ll tell you what I’m looking for right now in the roles that I’m hiring for. I’m looking for people who have GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) experience. You can do a certification on this; there are a number of organizations including GRI itself that run them. There’s also the Responsible Investing credential that’s run through the CFA in the U.K. So, I feel like those are helpful. I think if you were wanting to focus more on GHG emissions accounting, I would look for certifications and courses to help you get those skills. 

Houde: Til sidst, nogen råd til at tage det spring fra at være en individuel bidragyder i en større virksomhed til en konsulentvirksomhed? 

Madan: One of the things you need to be able to do in a consulting environment is talk to a lot of different stakeholders about a lot of different issues. You need to be able to research quickly, understand your audience and think ahead of them. And, of course, you have to be able to give advice. You have to really know your stuff as a subject matter expert and get to grips very quickly with the different challenges that different sectors might be facing. That’s one of the things that I like about it because I get to learn a ton about different companies. I’m almost always surprised about how similar the challenges are across different sectors. And then every once in a while, you come across something and you’re like, “Wow, I’ve never heard of that before. Let’s dive in and figure this out.” 

Shannon Houde er en ICF-certificeret karriere- og ledercoach, som grundlagde Walk of Life Coaching i 2009. Hendes livs formål er at gøre det muligt for forandringsledere at omsætte deres lidenskab til handling og at leve ind i deres potentiale – at skabe skalerbar social og miljømæssig påvirkning globalt. For at følge flere historier som disse skal du slutte dig til Shannon for Kaffe & Connect hvor hun hver måned interviewer bæredygtige praktikere for at lære mere om, hvad deres "dag i livet" indebærer.

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