With warnings about environmental damage becoming increasingly pressing and consumers demanding greater accountability, every business should now include sustainability initiatives in its business plan.
But care must be taken not to use this purely as an opportunity to boost the business’s reputation through empty gestures. Staff, stakeholders, and customers have all become wise to the prevalence of greenwashing techniques.
Key Points
- Employee engagement is vital to the success of sustainability initiatives
- A business’s workforce is its most significant source of intel, data and ideas for improvement
- High levels of engagement – as well as enhanced reputation – will help make sustainability a priority among senior managers
Why should businesses embrace sustainability initiatives?
There are several reasons why businesses should adopt sustainability initiatives. Climate change is already bringing severe weather conditions, natural disasters and threatening resources. This is no longer limited to far-flung countries, but is happening close to home, making it harder to ignore.
Businesses need to respond to issues affecting raw materials, transport, energy and workers, which can all be impacted by global warming.
With pollution of our air, land, and waterways being traced back to business activities, every business must recognise its responsibility to review its processes and reduce its carbon footprint and pollutants.
Businesses must also become more resourceful, limiting the amount of waste they create, seeking alternatives and introducing a reuse or recycle policy where possible. Customers now want to see evidence of such policies, while stakeholders will want to know targets are being met.
With the UK government intent on meeting its net zero target by introducing environmental legislation, businesses are under increasing pressure to play their part.
What can businesses do to gain buy-in for sustainability initiatives?
#1. Employee engagement
The most important way to set the right sustainability goals and achieve them is through employee engagement. A business’s greatest weapon in protecting the environment is its own workforce. A wealth of information is at every sustainability manager’s fingertips in the form of knowledge, data and ideas.
#2. Good communication
Internal communication is crucial for getting employees on board with sustainability initiatives. Businesses must encourage staff in all departments and at all levels to work together to achieve a common goal of helping to save the environment.
#3. Set achievable targets
In addition to common company goals, each employee should be encouraged to set and achieve their own personal goals. For example, the business could set challenges related to recycling or community clean-up operations, offering rewards to the highest achievers.
#4. Keep staff informed
Sharing the company’s findings and being transparent is crucial in achieving staff buy-in. It’s no good getting staff revved up, only to waste their goodwill by failing to provide follow-ups.
An environmental audit is a great way to initiate a company-wide sustainability campaign, as it identifies areas where the company’s weaknesses lie and opportunities for improvement. These findings should be shared with the entire company where possible, encouraging the business as a whole and every individual member of staff to do better in helping the environment.
#5. Training
Another effective way to garner support is to offer training, which could become part of personal objectives and KPIs.
At TSW, we offer a wide range of environmental management courses for staff at all levels, providing your business and its teams with the resilience and expertise needed to work towards a net-zero and green transition.
#6. Prove ROI for stakeholders
By encouraging the collection of data and setting both company-wide and individual targets, any expenditure made on achieving sustainability policies can be justified by demonstrating a return on investment (ROI).
For example, staff surveys could demonstrate levels of staff engagement and achievement, while an environmental audit and regular follow-ups would provide evidence of broader progress throughout the company.
Such evidence of ROI is, of course, most pertinent for stakeholders and budget holders. While environmental issues are important, every business is still run to generate a profit, and any decisions that affect the bottom line must be justified.
Suppose changes are made throughout the company that take a longer time to reap rewards. In that case, it might be beneficial to start by sharing levels of employee engagement and happiness, as well as gathering any consumer feedback on the actions being taken.
Reputation is equally important to senior managers and stakeholders, as it ultimately impacts the business’s profit and future.
Taking Initiative!
Getting all staff behind your sustainability initiatives will ultimately encourage senior management to take environmental issues more seriously. While it should be a priority for every business, many still choose to ignore it or to make pledges which result in minimal action.
To make sustainability meaningful within a business, there must be power in numbers when it comes to support, as well as maintaining regular progress reports containing reliable data and examples of success.
When sustainability becomes a priority at all levels of the business, there is a significantly higher chance that it will be taken more seriously, leading to initiatives that have a greater impact on the environment.
