Lately, the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) has gained significant importance because of the increase in interest from stakeholders which also includes investors. At the higher levels, where there is a lack of sustainability talent and companies and businesses are paying generous remuneration for the role. In the corporate hierarchy, the role of the head of sustainability at organizations is rising up and has seen a surge in increment of up to 60%.
A Times of India report quoted consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA), Khushboo Kumra, as saying, “Sustainability talent in organizations is slowly witnessing an elevation in the hierarchy, primarily driven by the need to ensure accountability for results and alignment with business leaders. We have seen companies correct compensation by 15-20% as a result.” ITC’s corporate HR head Amitav Mukherji states, “Given the fact that this (sustainability) is a key focus area for the company, we have recruited professionals in this space with competitive compensation benchmarked to industry standards.” The FMCG company recently appointed Madhulika Sharma as chief sustainability officer (CSO). She has earlier worked with Tata Steel for many years.