Thriving People
There is an increasingly urgent need to embed social sustainability within Aotearoa New Zealand’s workplaces, communities and wider society – and business has an important role to play.
Our vision
SBC’s vision for Thriving People involves members contributing towards a just transition and working to resolve the most material issues facing society. They are building prosperous businesses that work with communities, so no-one is left behind.
In October 2023, we launched our flagship report ‘Thriving People – Strengthening the ‘S’ in ESG’, which showed the New Zealand business community has an exciting role to play in progressing social impact and equity. We’ve made significant progress in activating the report’s recommendations and are establishing a strong foundation to achieve collective impact. Collaboration, innovation, and responsible business practice combined can be a powerful lever for change, delivering impact greater than what a single business could achieve alone.
Our Thriving People programme supports members through thought leadership and best practice, fostering connection, capability building, and collaboration across communities of collective action with focus on:
- Thriving Communities – moving community investment beyond philanthropy, by building relational based approaches to deliver greater impact and value by embracing reciprocity.
- Sustainable supply chains – adopting an ‘end-to-end’ view, addressing Modern Slavery and applying human rights due diligence to catalyse positive social impact.
- Employment practices – building on existing strengths to drive excellence.
Underpinning all of our mahi is a focus on weaving te ao Māori into our thinking and delivery.
Work programme
Capability building
Promoting uptake of the social sustainability maturity matrix in our ‘S’ in ESG report and deliver practical guidance on good practice
Collective action
Galvanising businesses around a series of common social sustainability challenges to support just transitions
Connection
Offering opportunities for connection and learning for members interested in social sustainability.
Thought Leadership
Providing access to thought leadership and insights from members on emerging social sustainability issues
Completed areas of work
- Lifting the living standards of Aotearoa (3 part series)
- Moving Beyond Diversity – Creating Workplaces of Belonging. SBC members are integrating ways of working that support greater diversity and inclusion within their businesses and reporting progress transparently
- Social Impact – SBC members are collectively increasing and measuring their positive impact on the communities in which they work
Pages and resources
Updates on THRIVE – SBC’s Future Work ecosystem
Modern slavery laws – how ready is your organisation?
Thriving Communities – equipping your business for growing impact together
Strengthening the ‘S’ in ESG
Strengthening the ‘S’ in ESG for Aotearoa businesses
Takeaways from the ‘Strengthening the ‘S’ in ESG’ report launch
Annual Snapshot 2023
It’s time we strengthen the ‘S’ in ESG
Making sense of mental wellbeing at work – thoughts from Robert Perry
2023 Insights on New Zealand Sustainability Professionals survey launches
Downer: Social Purpose and a Just Transition
