Who should lead your sustainability strategy?
One of the first steps in implementing sustainability initiatives is deciding who should be in charge of them.
Firstly, it’s important to note that there are no set rules about who should be responsible for ensuring progress on sustainability, but leaders are often in the best position to oversee change.
We’ve found that CEOs and executive teams are in a unique position to drive sustainability forward and encourage team collaboration.
Take for example UKOS plc, a stationery and office equipment supplier, whose sustainability journey has been driven by its CFO after he took a personal interest in the topic after joining the “Hertfordshire Resource Efficiency Club”.
You could also consider creating a voluntary steering group. Steering groups offer one of the best chances of success because workloads can be shared, they keep going even when employees move on, and they demonstrate long-term commitment.
Ideally, a steering group would consist of five or more people with representation from across the business and at different levels of seniority. Typically, the group should aim to meet every 3 months. You can read about how Companies House formed its environmental working group.
Top Tips:
- Training: It might be the case that someone or a handful of people in your team need E&S training. There are a number of free resources to help, but we’d recommend starting with Microsoft’s series of free modules and those provided by the SME Climate Hub.
- Employee Engagement: Don’t forget that sustainability is an everyday task and the best way to ensure success is to engage all employees. All employees should be given the opportunity to suggest new ideas and feedback on changes. This could be as simple as asking employees to email in suggestions, having team strategy sessions, or creating a free survey with Survey Monkey or Smart Survey (which allows for anonymous responses).
Who should lead your sustainability strategy?
One of the first steps in implementing sustainability initiatives is deciding who should be in charge of them.
Firstly, it’s important to note that there are no set rules about who should be responsible for ensuring progress on sustainability, but leaders are often in the best position to oversee change.
We’ve found that CEOs and executive teams are in a unique position to drive sustainability forward and encourage team collaboration.
Take for example UKOS plc, a stationery and office equipment supplier, whose sustainability journey has been driven by its CFO after he took a personal interest in the topic after joining the “Hertfordshire Resource Efficiency Club”.
You could also consider creating a voluntary steering group. Steering groups offer one of the best chances of success because workloads can be shared, they keep going even when employees move on, and they demonstrate long-term commitment.
Ideally, a steering group would consist of five or more people with representation from across the business and at different levels of seniority. Typically, the group should aim to meet every 3 months. You can read about how Companies House formed its environmental working group.
Top Tips:
- Training: It might be the case that someone or a handful of people in your team need E&S training. There are a number of free resources to help, but we’d recommend starting with Microsoft’s series of free modules and those provided by the SME Climate Hub.
- Employee Engagement: Don’t forget that sustainability is an everyday task and the best way to ensure success is to engage all employees. All employees should be given the opportunity to suggest new ideas and feedback on changes. This could be as simple as asking employees to email in suggestions, having team strategy sessions, or creating a free survey with Survey Monkey or Smart Survey (which allows for anonymous responses).