What has been learned about corporate sustainability and the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer that can help leaders determine where to position the role in their organization? See highlights of the Hudson Gain Study of the role of the CSO and explore questions that can sort through the issues.

1. The Organizational Structure of
Sustainability
and Highlights from GOING GREEN?
Don’t Hire a Sustainability Chief Until You
Read this Study!
Roger Thorne, Managing Partner
Victoria Zelin, Senior Vice President
Hudson Gain Corporation
For AMR Research’s Sustainability Peer Forum Teleconference
February 12, 2009
Five Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10001 Phone 212.835.1601 w w w .hudsongain.com

2. Agenda
 Introduction to Hudson Gain
 Hopes for Today
 Context: Definitions of Sustainability
 Hudson Gain Study on CSO Role in Corporations
 Does Your Organization Need a CSO?
 CSO Career
 Tips for Hiring or Appointing a CSO
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3. Founded in 2002, Hudson Gain
Corporation believes that the work of
corporate leadership is to ensure that
their organizations are sustainable from
the perspective of the triple bottom line:
People, Profit, Planet.
Hudson Gain’s work is on the People
part of the equation: helping
management to
“build or buy” their leadership talent. As
a leadership solutions firm, we serve the
talent acquisition, talent development
and change management needs of client
companies of all sizes and industries.
Among Hudson Gain’s leadership
solutions are helping companies hire or
appoint Chief Sustainability Officers and
building employee engagement for
Sustainability.
Roger Thorne, ManagingPartner
212.835.1601; roger.thorne@hudsongain.com
© 2008-2009 Hudson Gain Corporation
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4. Hopes
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5. The Context: Definitions of Sustainability
 “Meeting the needs of
the present without
compromising the ability
People Planet
of future generations to sustainable employee sustainable resources
and customer base and operating environment
meet their own needs.”
Brundtland Commission
(1987)
Profits
sustainable business
increased present value
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6. Scope and Methodology of CSO Study
 “Voice” of executives leading corporate
sustainability efforts, summer 2008
 1241 large private companies reviewed
 Less than 1/2 had execs with partial responsibility
 191 had sustainability/environment in job title
 214 executive backgrounds reviewed
 61 structured interviews in summer 2008
 Some mid-sized, universities, others included
 Content analysis and conclusions
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7. Contents of the Hudson Gain CSO Study
 Going Green? Don't Hire a Sustainability Chief
Until You Read This Study!
http://echem.goiwx.com/downloads/HudsonGain_ChiefSustainabilityOfficerStudy08.pdf
 “Universal” Chief Sustainability Officer requirements
 Key CSO responsibilities and challenges
 Filling the role internally or externally
 Examples of Top People/Companies
 Sustainability 1.0 vs. 2.0
 Quotes
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8. The Ideal CSO is a Senior Executive who …
 Has the ability to understand complex technologies
but keep it simple
 Can move the entire organization to where it might
not know it needs to go or be willing to go
 Will identify the organization’s carbon footprint and
reduce that to zero while saving money
 Has passion for sustainability but not too evangelical
while making sure that everyone hears the message
 Can make the organization profitable while doing no
harm to people or planet

9. Basically:
 What are the skills needed
to be a CSO?
 Where does a CSO
come from?

10. “Universal” CSO Skills/Knowledge/Experience
 Communication Clear Vision
 Technology
Passion
 Financial/ROI
Organizational
 Measurement
Respect
 Innovation Leadership
 Ethics Persistence
 Supply Chain Tenacity
 Operations/Structure Emotional
 Culture Intelligence
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11. Where Do Sustainability Leaders Come
From?
 Not yet from having C-level roles, in same firm
 High-level technical and leadership roles
 Almost all functions, depending on many factors
 Previous experience in another function (not
sustainability), typically internal, supplemented
by technical consultants
 Some external candidates; they have gaps, too
 Builders vs. Managers, creators vs. maintainers
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12. In Our Study We Found CSOs from ….
 EHS
 Supply Chain
 Finance and Audit
 Human Resources
 Law Compliance
 Operations
 Public Relations and Communications
 Engineering
 Research and Development

13. Hudson Gain Take Aways from the Study
 No “one size fits all” for sustainability leadership
 Industry, company, culture, decision-making
style, timing-impact whether/when to have CSO
 Good CSOs are rare, multi-talented leaders
 Currently, more CSOs are appointed from within
 The external market will get tighter for CSOs
 If you don’t have a CSO:
 Start building C-level support and planning
 Identify internal CSO candidate pipeline/career track
 Look for confluence of strategic factors and
internal/external needs to be negotiating “at the table”
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14. Does Your Company Need a CSO?
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15. It Depends!
 On your company and …
 Timing of a Sustainability Leader at the C-level
 Sustainability’s role in your strategy
 External marketplace
 Internal drive for sustainability as central to who you are
 How you are structured (functional, matrix)
 Philosophy and values (everyone’s job vs. function)
 Other factors
 Company size, mission or imperative
 What your competition is doing
 What your customers are demanding
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16. Where Does a CSO sit?
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17. Typical Organization
CEO
CFO Sales/Marketing
HR R&D
Operations
EHS
Manufacturing
Quality

18. When is Sustainability at the C-Suite Level?
CEO
CFO Sales/Marketing
HR R&D
Operations
EHS
Manufacturing
Quality ?????

19. What Factors Determine Where “CSO” Sits?
 At what level are sustainability decisions/trade-
offs currently being made?
 At what level should/could they be made given
strategy, span of control, your values?
 What is the highest level stakeholder to whom
your sustainability efforts are accountable, and
what priority do they place on sustainability as
compared with People and Profits?
 To what role should sustainability chiefs be
accountable?
 Dotted lines, solid lines of reporting?
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20. If You Had a CSO, They Would Be/Have/Do …
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21. In Your Company, the CSO Would Need…
 Credibility for dealing with what strategic issues?
 Industry/competitive expertise?
 Functional & Technical skill/knowledge?
 Company/political/decision-making knowledge?
 Other credentials/experience?
 Hierarchical/peer level, negotiating about what?
 Authority, staff and resources?
 Structure for decision-making and execution?
 Culture/Style?
 Influence/change management skills?
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22. The Evolution of a Sustainability Structure
 Lessons from the evolution of other functions
 Quality
 HR
 Legal
 EHS
 IT
 Supply Chain
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23. Roles and Careers in 2009 and after
 Share your journeys
 How did you get into sustainability?
 Where have you taken your role, re: sustainability?
 Evolution of your company/group/function?
 What can you learn from others’ journeys?
 How can you prepare yourselves for what’s next?
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24. Implications for Structures and Careers
 Sustainability in the year 2020
 What’s possible as a vision for structuring
sustainability?
 Mindset, leadership, execution
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25. Potential Future Career Paths to CSO
 CSO
 Senior Vice President Sustainable Enterprise
 Vice President Sustainable Operations
 Director Sustainable Marketing
 Senior Manager Sustainable Communications
 Manager Sustainable Finance
 Sustainability Engineer
 Sustainability Analyst

26. Tips for Appointing or Hiring a CSO
 Get senior management aligned
 Focus role, responsibilities, requirements, budget
 Understand what outside/consulting support needed
 Set objectives based on strategic priorities
 Use a rigorous selection process
 Consider internal and/or external candidates
 Do it right and/or get outside help
 On-board even internal appointments
 Align for collective success, know WIIFMs
 Use Stakeholders to make CSO an “insider” fast
 Expect continuous learning
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27. More Info, Sounding Board, Keep in Touch
Roger Thorne
Managing Partner
212 835 1601
Roger.thorne@hudsongain.com
Victoria Zelin
Senior Vice President
908 306 0272
Victoria.zelin@hudsongain.com
Hudson Gain Corporation
Five Penn Plaza, 23rd floor
New York, NY 10001
www.hudsongain.com
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