Engaging employees in your sustainability strategy
The key to creating a thriving and sustainable company is to get all employees – from the C-Suite to the frontline – engaged in everyday sustainability efforts.
Companies often have good intentions when it comes to sustainability, but they sometimes struggle to connect employees’ support for sustainability with their daily work and the company’s operations. According to researchers at Stanford, to solve this problem companies need to create an alignment between personal and corporate values in three areas: formal, psychological and social.
This means making sure that sustainability is included in job duties, training, and bonuses. It also means rewarding and recognising employees for their sustainable efforts, and having a company culture that aligns with the company’s stated values and practices.
Initiatives to help SMEs achieve this alignment:
- Educate employees: You need to make sure that all employees are aware of the importance of sustainability, the reasons why the company is engaging in sustainability, and the actions they can take to help. Employees should also be made aware of what will be expected of them, what they should look out for, and where they can report any issues (i.e., leaking taps). You could also include sustainability training into on-boarding to ensure that new employees are educated on the company’s initiatives. For existing employees, particularly current and emerging leaders, consider sustainability leadership training.
- Offer incentives: Provide employees with incentives and rewards for getting involved in sustainability initiatives. For example, staff that switch from cars to bikes for their commute could be given points that they redeem for cash or credit at the company café. Or the department that reduces their energy consumption the most wins a team meal. If you’re a smaller business, you could also offer a whole team prize. For example, if the office reduces waste or reduces energy usage by 25%, the company will host a company picnic or take the team to a sports game.
- Ask employees for suggestions: Asking employees for suggestions on how the company can improve its sustainability performance promotes a sense of shared ownership. This could be as simple as asking staff to email in suggestions, sending out surveys, holding monthly or quarterly meetings, and running competitions to find the best ideas.
- Set up a green team: Consider creating a group made up of employees from different departments and at different levels of seniority to champion sustainability in the workplace. The team’s role could include identifying opportunities to reduce energy usage, reminding others about initiatives, organising events, and holding leaders accountable. You could even go one step further and let green team members dedicate 5-10% of their time to sustainability.
- Celebrate sustainability champions: Another way of engaging employees is to recognise the ones who have made the biggest difference. You could start by creating an annual award for the most sustainable department or employee. Sharing stories of what some employees are doing can help inspire others.
- Lead from the top: Leaders’ involvement in initiatives is crucial to demonstrating that the company is serious and genuine about sustainability. Research suggests that stakeholders (including employees) can be sceptical of a company’s motives for becoming more sustainable, but they are much more likely to embrace sustainability initiatives when they see leaders demonstrate sincerity through their actions. Employees want to see that leaders practice what they preach!
- Measure and communicate progress: All stakeholders, including employees, want to see what progress the company is making and what effect their contribution is having on the organisation’s sustainability goals. You need to set clear metrics and goals, such as tracking energy expenditure or avoiding single-use plastic items. These metrics can demonstrate how individual actions add up overtime and help overcome the feeling that environmental issues are too big.
- Explain the economic case for sustainability and the company’s long-term goals: Helping employees see the connection between sustainability and the financial long-term success of the organisation can help inspire them. For instance, a manufacturing company might explain to employees how adopting sustainable production processes, such as using renewable energy sources and reducing waste, can save the company money and appeal to consumers who prioritise environmentally responsible products.
- Encourage healthy competition: An effective way to increase employee engagement is to create a culture of healthy competition. Some ways to do this include having a competition between different departments on who can save the most energy, or what team can come up with the best idea to reduce water usage. Competition stimulates creativity and often results in employees coming up with good initiatives.
- Participate in local community initiatives: Supporting the local community, such as participating in a beach clean-up, provides a sense of relevance for employees and allows them to make a personal connection with initiatives.
The key to a successful sustainability strategy in the workplace lies in maintaining employee engagement. Without it, even the most well-planned strategies can lose their effectiveness over time.
Engaging employees in your sustainability strategy
The key to creating a thriving and sustainable company is to get all employees – from the C-Suite to the frontline – engaged in everyday sustainability efforts.
Companies often have good intentions when it comes to sustainability, but they sometimes struggle to connect employees’ support for sustainability with their daily work and the company’s operations. According to researchers at Stanford, to solve this problem companies need to create an alignment between personal and corporate values in three areas: formal, psychological and social.
This means making sure that sustainability is included in job duties, training, and bonuses. It also means rewarding and recognising employees for their sustainable efforts, and having a company culture that aligns with the company’s stated values and practices.
Initiatives to help SMEs achieve this alignment:
- Educate employees: You need to make sure that all employees are aware of the importance of sustainability, the reasons why the company is engaging in sustainability, and the actions they can take to help. Employees should also be made aware of what will be expected of them, what they should look out for, and where they can report any issues (i.e., leaking taps). You could also include sustainability training into on-boarding to ensure that new employees are educated on the company’s initiatives. For existing employees, particularly current and emerging leaders, consider sustainability leadership training.
- Offer incentives: Provide employees with incentives and rewards for getting involved in sustainability initiatives. For example, staff that switch from cars to bikes for their commute could be given points that they redeem for cash or credit at the company café. Or the department that reduces their energy consumption the most wins a team meal. If you’re a smaller business, you could also offer a whole team prize. For example, if the office reduces waste or reduces energy usage by 25%, the company will host a company picnic or take the team to a sports game.
- Ask employees for suggestions: Asking employees for suggestions on how the company can improve its sustainability performance promotes a sense of shared ownership. This could be as simple as asking staff to email in suggestions, sending out surveys, holding monthly or quarterly meetings, and running competitions to find the best ideas.
- Set up a green team: Consider creating a group made up of employees from different departments and at different levels of seniority to champion sustainability in the workplace. The team’s role could include identifying opportunities to reduce energy usage, reminding others about initiatives, organising events, and holding leaders accountable. You could even go one step further and let green team members dedicate 5-10% of their time to sustainability.
- Celebrate sustainability champions: Another way of engaging employees is to recognise the ones who have made the biggest difference. You could start by creating an annual award for the most sustainable department or employee. Sharing stories of what some employees are doing can help inspire others.
- Lead from the top: Leaders’ involvement in initiatives is crucial to demonstrating that the company is serious and genuine about sustainability. Research suggests that stakeholders (including employees) can be sceptical of a company’s motives for becoming more sustainable, but they are much more likely to embrace sustainability initiatives when they see leaders demonstrate sincerity through their actions. Employees want to see that leaders practice what they preach!
- Measure and communicate progress: All stakeholders, including employees, want to see what progress the company is making and what effect their contribution is having on the organisation’s sustainability goals. You need to set clear metrics and goals, such as tracking energy expenditure or avoiding single-use plastic items. These metrics can demonstrate how individual actions add up overtime and help overcome the feeling that environmental issues are too big.
- Explain the economic case for sustainability and the company’s long-term goals: Helping employees see the connection between sustainability and the financial long-term success of the organisation can help inspire them. For instance, a manufacturing company might explain to employees how adopting sustainable production processes, such as using renewable energy sources and reducing waste, can save the company money and appeal to consumers who prioritise environmentally responsible products.
- Encourage healthy competition: An effective way to increase employee engagement is to create a culture of healthy competition. Some ways to do this include having a competition between different departments on who can save the most energy, or what team can come up with the best idea to reduce water usage. Competition stimulates creativity and often results in employees coming up with good initiatives.
- Participate in local community initiatives: Supporting the local community, such as participating in a beach clean-up, provides a sense of relevance for employees and allows them to make a personal connection with initiatives.
The key to a successful sustainability strategy in the workplace lies in maintaining employee engagement. Without it, even the most well-planned strategies can lose their effectiveness over time.