From Sustainability Program, you add metrics to help manage data collection for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or sustainability reporting. Each metric can collect a single annual value or multiple values based on dimensions — such as location or demographic — and collection period.
To help ease data collection, you can collect these values:
- Directly in the metric, from Sustainability Program
- Through a connected source Spreadsheet or Document, such as the Data Collection spreadsheet or a policy manual
- Through tasks assigned to workspace members, who collect and approve the values through a connected source file or the streamlined Workiva Tasks portal
Tip: Before you start a metric's data collection, set up the values it collects.
Tip: To enter the value directly through the metric but have another workspace member verify its data entry, first create a task for the approvers that includes the value.
To enter a value directly through its metric:
- From Sustainability Program, open the metric, then select the value's reporting year and collection period.
- In Values, enter the value in its row, such as based on its dimensional value.
- In Notes, enter any additional context about the value, such as for a footnote or supporting material.
- In Attachments, click Attach to upload or link to any supporting attachment, such as a utility bill, Workiva file, or online resource.
-
To indicate that the value is collected, select
Complete
from its menu.
Tip: If the value has a task with assigned approvers, select Send for approval from its menu to notify the approvers of their task. To restart a completed value's data collection, select Reset.
Note: Until complete, a value with no task displays a status of Pending . If the metric requires notes or attachments, you can complete its values only when they include the supporting material.
To pull the value from a source file, such as the Data Collection Spreadsheet:
- From Sustainability Program, open the metric, then select the value's reporting year and collection period.
-
In Values, select Edit details
from the
value's menu.
-
In Value, click Connect source.
Tip: To connect a value to a different source, first click Remove source, then select its new source file and section.
-
Browse to and select the source file, then click
Open file.
-
From the source file, select the cell or content to provide
the value, then right-click and select
Connect source to metric.
-
Select the metric value to connect, and click Apply.
Tip: If a connected Spreadsheet cell has no value, its coordinates appear in Value on the metric.
-
To collect the value, either:
- Prepare the value in its connected source, then select Complete from the value's menu in the metric.
-
To delegate the value's collection or approval to
other workspace members,
create a task
that includes
the value, then send the task to its assignee.
Note: Values with connected source files each require their own separate task and can't be included with other values in the same task.
To learn more, view Connect source Workiva files to Sustainability Program values.
To assign workspace members to prepare and approve the value:
- From Sustainability Program, open the metric, then select the value's reporting year and collection period.
-
In Tasks, click Create task.
-
Enter a unique name to help identify the task.
- In Assignee, select the member to prepare the value and its supporting material, then enter their due date.
- To assign members to approve the prepared value, click Add approval step, then select the approvers and their due dates.
- Enter any instructions to help the members complete their task.
-
In Values, select which of the metric's
values
to include in the task, and click Apply.
Note: If collected through the Workiva Tasks portal, you can include multiple values in the same task. Values collected through a connected source file each require their own separate task.
- Click Create task.
After you create tasks, send them to their assignees when ready to begin data collection:
-
From the metric, choose the tasks to send in Tasks,
then click Manage tasks, select
Send,
and choose whether to notify the assignees of their tasks.
-
From the metric's topic, select the year and reporting period
of the values to collect, then click Send tasks
or select Send without notifications.
Tip: If you choose to send tasks with notifications, the assignee receives an email to notify them of their tasks. To help reduce email fatigue, you can choose to send without notifications and have the task simply appear in their tasks in Home or the Workiva Tasks portal.
When an assignee completes their task, the approver will receive a task to verify the value. You can track the status of data collection from the metric or its Program or topic.
To learn more, view Manage metric tasks in Sustainability Program.