6 Practical Steps To Engage Employees in Sustainability

Just like you can’t run your day-to-day business operations without your team being on board, trying to meet your sustainability goals without buy-in from your team isn’t going to work either. Engaging your employees in your sustainability goals is critical to your success. 

Everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to setting, implementing and achieving your targets. But it can be hard to excite employees about sustainability – especially if you are talking about slightly abstract things like reducing carbon emissions.

Tell Your Employees Why You’re Focused On Sustainability

You’ll get more buy-in from people if you can clearly explain why you are implementing the changes and measures you have decided on. Be careful not to preach too much – no one likes being told they are doing things wrong. Use concrete information and clear figures and targets to make it simple for your team to understand.

For many businesses, sustainability initiatives also have a knock-on effect on efficiency and the bottom line, so explain that side of things too. This can give employees a more tangible result to look for, rather than environmental outcomes, which can sometimes be a bit abstract.

And remember, your employees aren’t being selfish if they ask what’s in it for them. You are asking them to make some extra effort, so combining sustainability initiatives with moves that also benefit your team is a win-win situation. For example, having employees working from home benefits them and helps to reduce carbon footprints.

Create Sustainability Champions

Do you have staff members who already have an EV or an e-bike? Maybe there’s one person in your office who’s always asking to take the coffee grounds home for compost?

If you have those among your team, ask them to become Green Champions for your organisation. 

Employees are often inclined to listen more to colleagues than they are to directives from management so these Green Champions can create excitement for your changes from the ground up with their own enthusiasm for and knowledge about sustainability. And If you can place champions in different teams, they may even create a little friendly competition like who can recycle the most over a month.

Engage Employees Early (And Keep Them Informed)

Before you finalise your sustainability goals and policies, ask your team for their concerns and views. This ensures your initiatives align with your team members’ values. Plus, no one knows their roles better than the people who actually do them, so they can give you valuable insight into what might and might not be possible. For example, if one team has to keep printed records as part of policy, asking them to reduce paper usage isn’t going to be attainable.

Once you have started your sustainability journey, make sure you are measuring your progress.  Keep everyone updated regularly and ask for feedback on what’s working or what needs to be tweaked for better results. 

Offering recognition, whether it’s in the form of a small reward or a simple public acknowledgement, to individuals or teams who have made a contribution can also help to retain higher engagement levels.

Reduce Barriers To Participation

Often, employees want to get involved but can’t because they don’t have the right resources and can’t provide them personally.

Removing barriers to participation helps everyone join in. We provide free public transport and have an e-bike loan scheme to help our staff get to work while contributing to our effort to lower our carbon emissions. But you can scale your support to match what your business can afford. It could be as simple as providing recycling bins around your office space to make it easy for people to recycle, or giving everyone a reusable cup for their daily coffee runs to reduce single-use cups.

You could also think about organising training sessions from third parties to help your team learn more about how they can be sustainable at work and at home.

Create Opportunities For Community Work Where Your Team Can Immediately See Results

A lot of businesses focus on being more sustainable within their workplace. But you can also make a difference in your local community. This helps the wider environment and gives your team a chance to see the impact they can have.

Set aside time during work hours to take part in a team activity like

• Tree planting
• A cleanup around your local beach, river or park
• Supporting a social impact charity like your local food bank or food rescue hub

Bonus – these are also great team building activities.

Lead From The Front

You can’t expect your team to be doing their bit, if you aren’t doing yours. If you are seen with a keep-cup in hand on the coffee run, heading to the recycling bin or biking to work, it shows your employees that everyone is making an effort.

When everyone is pulling in the same direction, you’ll meet your sustainability goals quicker and reap the rewards as a team.