Sisk ties executive rewards to sustainability targets
Sisk has linked sustainability objectives covering climate, workforce and health and safety to financial incentives for senior leaders, as environmental performance becomes an increasingly important factor in securing major construction contracts.
The move reflects growing pressure on contractors to demonstrate their sustainability credentials during procurement, with clients asking more detailed questions about carbon emissions, materials and environmental performance.
Sisk’s sustainability director, Sinéad Hickey, told the Business Post that sustainability had become increasingly important to winning construction work.
READ MORE: UK Construction administrations rise by a third as contractors face mounting pressures
“For the business, commercial and sustainability agendas are interconnected,” she said. “I don’t think you can separate them.”
The contractor has linked annual performance objectives to financial incentives for a range of senior leaders, although the weighting varies according to individual roles and incentive arrangements.
Hickey said the approach was a response to changing client expectations and the growing importance of sustainability in tender submissions.
“It has matured and evolved when it comes to tender submissions, and so we’re ultimately responding to the market and our clients’ requests,” she said.
“If we’re not able to answer those detailed questions, how are we to win the work?”
Sustainability governance integrated into business strategy
Sisk has established an internal governance structure to oversee its sustainability strategy, with Hickey reporting directly to the group’s chief financial officer.
An external advisory council also provides scrutiny of the contractor’s sustainability ambitions and approach. Chaired by environmental scientist Tara Shine, the council includes industry executives such as Marci Bonham, who leads Kingspan’s insulated panels business in Ireland.
READ MORE: Therme Manchester construction progresses as first pool installation approaches
The approach follows the initial sustainability targets established by Sisk in 2020. Since then, the group has expanded its operations across Ireland, the UK and Europe, with revenue increasing from €1.39bn in 2019 to €2.62bn last year.
Its project portfolio includes work at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, London’s Elizabeth Line and the first phase of Vantage Data Centers’ Dub1 campus in west Dublin.
Lower-carbon concrete and steel targeted to reduce construction emissions
Reducing emissions while expanding the business remains a challenge for the contractor, according to Hickey.
“We would have liked to have had a greater reduction in our emissions halfway through our roadmap, but we expected things like green hydrogen to have scaled faster,” she said.
She identified the availability of renewable electricity and the rollout of lower-carbon technologies as factors affecting the construction industry’s ability to decarbonise, noting that some of these changes were outside the contractor’s direct control.
In response, Sisk is concentrating on areas where it can influence emissions, including working with suppliers to source lower-carbon concrete and steel.
READ MORE: OBR forecast raises concerns over construction costs
The contractor has already used low-carbon concrete at its Cherry Orchard Point affordable housing development, with Hickey reporting “huge interest” from clients in using similar materials on other projects.
She said expectations around lower-carbon construction materials were continuing to develop.
“The conversation around low carbon and materials is evolving,” she said, with clients increasingly expecting contractors to be able to offer such solutions.
