Measuring progress with the SDGs at Siemens Congleton

Earlier in the course, you heard from Andrew and Michaela of Siemens Congleton. They explained how their activities to support the SDGs have been mapped against the strategic themes for the site. We will now find out a bit more about how they measure progress with the SDGs.

Performance against all of the SDG activities at Siemens Congleton is reviewed monthly. The SDG activities are also included in the 6-monthly strategic reviews. Most of the activities have performance indicators, which are now being reinforced by the clear targets that are embedded in the new, corporate DEGREE framework. You will learn more about DEGREE next week.

We asked Michaela about her experience of using the SDG questionnaire with the Congleton leadership team.

“We found it really valuable in growing our knowledge and helping us to have meaningful leadership conversations. The questions were really thought-provoking and the team really enjoyed discussing the topics together. It also allowed us to follow a structured approach. The questionnaire follows the EFQM Model, so Direction, Execution and Results. In the same way as when you use the Model, you identify quick actions which we changed or updated in our strategy. I’d say it’s like a pulse check; it doesn’t require a lot of effort. It created understanding and gave us insight but, most of all, it was fun to participate in using it.”

Andrew added that it helped the leadership team to be much clearer about how the SDG activities are tied in with the strategy. “We’ve probably all seen companies that are going on a sustainability journey with the SDGs, but it seems to be on top of, or not aligned with, the day-to-day strategy. For me, the big value [of using the questionnaire] has been bringing it all together.”