ACHIEVING sustainable development goals across the region requires the adoption of best practices in the field of sustainable project management. Regardless of their nature and value, the move to achieve the usual objectives of the projects includes the adherence to allocated costs, specified length of time, and compliance with the required quality standards in line with the sustainable development goals. To measure the social performance of projects, we should know about the various pillars of sustainable social development, namely, ‘Labor Practices and Decent Work,' ‘Community and Customers,' and ‘Moral Behavior.' There are specific metrics known as key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to assess the implementation of these four categories in order to evaluate business performance and processes in the course of pursuing various goals for achieving sustainable development. The ‘Labor Practices and Decent Work' category includes several specialized indicators such as the number of local citizens as well as the percentage of female members and individuals with special needs within the project team, the number of training days, health and safety levels at the work site, and the terms of the work contract, among others. The KPIs for the ‘Community and Customers' category include support for the community through sponsorship of various social events, contributions towards minimizing the unemployment ratio, creation of fresh job opportunities for new graduates, compliance with public laws, and assurance of customer safety and health, to name a few. KPIs for ‘Moral Behavior' focus on implementing fair and healthy procurement practices, and refraining from practices that promote unfair competition. The performance of each of the indicators is measured in accordance with a special registration system that contains values of -2 to +2, where -2 represents the highest level of compliance while +2 value indicates complete non-compliance. In other words, a lesser KPI value means optimal achievement of the sustainable development goal. The evaluation process is conducted regularly, either on a monthly or quarterly basis. The aim is to measure and evaluate the social performance of the project to analyze improvements by comparing with other projects undertaken by the implementing entity. * The writer is CEO, CMCS
