Company enhances customer trust and transforms sustainability record

Client Challenge

A real estate construction company faced customer pressure to improve its ESG ratings or risk losing its preferred supplier status and future contracts. Company leaders needed a plan to improve areas identified in the company’s scorecard from EcoVadis — an ESG rating platform — and meet an aggressive timeline requested by its customers. At the same time, the company faced staffing changes and had to prioritize its sustainability initiatives.  

So, the company turned to Haley & Aldrich, a longtime trusted partner, to develop a corrective action plan that more effectively showcases its current ESG efforts in alignment with the EcoVadis assessment and guides future improvements. We had already partnered to advise on the company’s Lean journey, executive coaching program, 2040 sustainability roadmap, and carbon, water, and waste goals — meaning we already had a deep understanding of the company’s organizational culture and priorities.  

Our Approach

Drawing on the strong relationships we’d built at the company, we took a collaborative approach to help our client satisfy customer demands and protect its preferred supplier status. 

To begin, we conducted a comprehensive review of the previous EcoVadis submission and all associated documentation. We also engaged with key internal stakeholders to better assess the current state of sustainability policies, actions, and performance. We mapped our findings against the improvement areas flagged by EcoVadis, identifying gaps and prioritizing what our client should focus on to increase its score. We made communication and collaboration transparent by creating a dashboard to share progress updates and inform recurring meetings with our client and its customers.  

The corrective action plan we developed focused not just on improving the EcoVadis score, but also on our client’s broader sustainability performance. The plan aligns policy updates, training programs, and monitoring and reporting metrics to address the identified improvement areas and embed sustainability across the organization. And we remain a partner as the company implements the plan, providing guidance and support to build its sustainable future. 

Value Delivered

• Raised the company’s EcoVadis score high enough to rank as a green supplier according to one customer’s metrics and far surpassing customer demands. 
• Helped the company rebuild trust with its customers. 
• Through a comprehensive review of sustainability policies, programs, and metrics, laid the groundwork for meaningful sustainability improvements and continued growth.