149PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC M ROJASsations seeking to effect changes in society can do
so only if people trust them, and people now tend
to trust businesses more than politicians.
Oelwang points to the Edelman Trust Barometer,
an annual international survey of 33,000 people and
the degree of trust they have in various professions
and institutions. In recent years trust in politi-
cians and public institutions has fallen, while faith
in employers has remained strong; in 2019, only
one in five people felt the system was working for
them, and 76 per cent felt CEOs should take the
lead on change without waiting for government
to impose it. That, says Oelwang, is why actions
taken by business can sometimes achieve greater
social change. One might ask, for example, if the
Harley-Davidson testers who took to the electric
bike would have been as ready to embrace a
government initiative on cleaner engines. Perhaps
this faith in business is likely to increase, because
younger demographics tend to be more jaded about
mainstream politics, and have higher expectations
of CEOs on ethical decision-making.
For The B Team, environmental and social
sustainability have to go hand in hand, and
much of its work is based on improving the way
workplaces function. Its 100 Percent People project
saw 350 companies, including Unilever, Zappos
and Natura, sign up to a rolling series of experi-
ments in HR practices, geared towards improving
equality, respect, growth and a sense of purpose
among workers. In New Zealand, financial services
company Perpetual Guardian trialled a four-day
week based on a “100-80-100” rule – 100 per centremuneration, for 80 per cent of time in the office,
meeting 100 per cent of agreed productivity. Staff
stress levels lowered (from 45 per cent pre-trial
to 38 per cent post-trial) and satisfaction with
work-life balance increased (54 per cent to 78 per
cent). By 2019, the four-day week was on the agenda
at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In the US, Greyston Bakery pioneered a
programme of “radical inclusion”, which meant
people were employed without having to show a CV
or have any background checks done, and the HRdepartment partnered with employees
to remove obstacles around issues such
as childcare or safe housing. Greyston
branded the idea as “open hiring”,
and is committed to supporting other
companies curious about the approach.
The questions that Zeitz gets
asked most often around the issue of
sustainability are “How do we do it?”,
“Is it a responsibility or is it more?”,
and “How do we justify the expense?”
Answering these often requires a
change of culture within an organi-
sation: perhaps leaders may need to alter
the way they think about employees –
shifting emphasis from shareholders
to all stakeholders, for example, or
adjusting pay structures that incen-tivise short-term profits at the expense
of environmental or social benefits.
CEOs looking for a place to start, he
says, could get rid of quarterly reports,
which lead to companies looking for
immediate gains, rather than working
out long-term goals. “Transforming your
business is an investment, just like you
invest in R&D or marketing. It’s investing
in sustainability and developing new
materials, and it’s not going to come for
free, so I look at it as part of my operating
expenses... The argument that sustaina-
bility should pay for itself is a short-term
argument that I do not think is correct
unless you are a business where it is
relatively easy to transform.”
Zeitz admires boldness, and the ability
to make things happen quickly. At Kering
Group, he watched in admiration as
CEO François-Henri Pinault decided
that he wanted gender equality on the
company’s board, and promptly replaced
three men with three women.
As for the future, he sees the
increasing tendency of investors to look
for sustainability in business plans as
a sign that things will continue in the
right trajectory. “Money will show you
if something is going to happen, and
usually it’s just a question of time,” he
says. “Especially now, because there
is smart money out there looking for
opportunities with strength. Moneyfinds the opportunity, and it sees that
opportunity before anybody else.”
But getting there won’t be quick or
easy, as it requires a cultural shift beyond
just consumer behaviour. “I am a very
impatient person, but I have learned
that we can’t shift culture overnight,”
he says. “The environmental movement
requires such a cultural shift that you
can’t assume it will happen in a decade
or even a couple of decades.
“Of course I am very pessimistic
looking at today’s politics in America
and I’m terrified of what’s happening
in Brazil and other countries, but I am a
realistic optimist. Look at the UK super-
markets: the plastic bags are disap-
pearing. Look at the plastic bottles at
Glastonbury – just because there were
plenty left on the ground doesn’t mean
we haven’t saved a million. It’s the signal
effect that will change things.”
He shoulders his guitar, and steps
out into the late summer sunshine.
“The important thing is for businesses
to see this as a necessity and an oppor-
tunity,” he says. “They would be
absolutely stupid if they didn’t.”�Richard Benson wrote about artificial
surfing lakes in 09.19Left: Jochen Zeitz with an observation
plane at his Kenyan nature reserve
Below: Zeitz and Mats Granryd,
director general of the GSMA mobile
technology operators group, at the
B Team Leader meeting, held in July on
Richard Branson’s Necker Island11-19-FTJochen.indd 149 17/09/2019 13:25