As a business leader, you may have set ambitious sustainability objectives within your business. However, most of these will only come to fruition if your employees are completely engaged with your mission.
It’s common knowledge that businesses are expected to be leaders when combating climate change and its devastating consequences. Firms need to be unequivocally committed, and there’s no room for half-hearted attempts.
You must follow all the latest sustainability laws and regulations. However, you should also take initiative to take it a step further. Going beyond the minimum requirements is essential and says a great deal about the character of yourself and your company.
Of course, all of these achievements are a group effort. You must unite your business and rally them around sustainability efforts. Keep reading for some tips on how you can achieve this.
Take a Course
Authority often comes with being informed. Once you have information on your side, creating effective strategies and inspiring your workforce will be an easier endeavour.
You can learn sustainability practices in business with an online course. Drive social responsibility across your organisation’s value chain, explore marketing and communication roles, and understand how technology, design, and innovation can facilitate sustainable business practices. Upon completion, you’ll be able to relay what you’ve learnt to your team and articulate the importance of sustainability.
The best leaders are also learners. They keep advancing their skillset and respect that they need to keep up with the evolution of their industry. Enable your wisdom to flourish and share crucial insights with your team once you’re more knowledgeable in sustainability issues.
Consider that your workers will have more confidence in you as a leader if your strategies all have a solid educational foundation. Nobody wants to follow a manager or CEO if they rely on guesswork to succeed, even if they have good intentions. Get informed first, then act decisively with precision.
Assess Other Companies
Seeing other businesses implementing sustainability initiatives more successfully than you can be intimidating. However, sometimes a reality check is needed to make significant progress.
Research everything other companies are doing to meet their eco-friendly goals. For example, some departments are being held financially accountable for emissions. Others feature their eco-credentials as part of their recruitment drives, hiring only the best employees committed to the same goals. Of course, both of these incentives are great ways to keep employees enthused about sustainability.
By exploring the work that your competitors and other companies in the corporate landscape are doing to help with sustainability, you can find innovative new ideas that you might not have considered previously. Also, you can review the customer feedback and participation in specific schemes to see if they will bring the engagement that you expect.
Invite Employee Feedback
When employees can pitch their own ideas for improving sustainability, they feel like they are integral to the process. More responsibilities may stimulate them in their roles and boost motivation.
Chair a series of meetings where each department can discuss these issues openly. Create an environment where each person in attendance can feel compelled to speak at any given time. Open the floor with questions like:
- How are we doing? Different departments of your business may have their own methods of ensuring eco-friendly operations. Get an overview of all the various measures people are employing and gauge which are most effective.
- Do you feel the business is doing enough? Some honest feedback may cancel out any tensions in the workplace. You could be seen as a strong leader, inviting constructive criticism for the betterment of all.
- Would anyone be willing to volunteer? Passionate workers may be willing to monitor the sustainability activities of your business. Appoint them as a lead in monitoring these efforts. Their commitment could inspire others.
- Has anyone read anything interesting? Updates on developments in sustainability frequently circulate in the media. Allow people to share their impressions of the latest headlines and data, and let business-related ideas be brainstormed from there.
Employees may be more engaged with eco-friendly activities when they can see your seriousness about them too. They may turn down better job offers if they aren’t as serious about sustainability as you are. Feedback is a great way to provide a daily reminder of your own attitude. From there, employees may follow your example and build a more proactive work culture in the process.
Sustainability initiatives should not only be focused around the benefits it can create for your business but the positive impact it could have on society as well.
An increasing amount of businesses work hand-in-hand with their communities, facilitating community development funds or having staff volunteers that help out with local initiatives. Employees need to see that you are willing to explore opportunities beyond the immediate confines of your business.
Workers are becoming less inclined to work for purely profit-driven corporations. Employees are perhaps hoping to work for entities that care for the health and well-being of their employees and surrounding communities. Sustainability may not appeal to employees if it is done to simply tick boxes or appease lawful regulations. Your actions should show that you genuinely care.
Combine this approach with that of your sustainability- focused meetings. Ask your employees if there are any causes that are near and dear to their hearts. This could provide a great opportunity to connect with your employees and show them that your priorities align. It will drive further engagement, and closer links could be established between your business and the community.
Set the Right Tone
There is a lot at stake with the eco-friendly efforts of businesses. The news around the topic is often bleak, which can create unwanted negativity in your workplace.
Your employees will work best when they are as positive and proactive as possible. This is the type of environment you should be endeavouring to foster. Every initiative you launch should be an uplifting experience, so that your team can feel invigorated and ready to do some good for the planet.
Try to frame your company’s sustainability efforts around a sense of fun at any opportunity. You could offer fun-filled incentives, orchestrate friendly competitions between colleagues, and attempt to inject everything with an air of informality. That way, people may feel more inclined to get on board with what you are trying to achieve, even if they are apprehensive at first.
For example, a carpooling scheme could work effectively. Employees could commute to work together, develop a strong rapport with one another, and cut back on their emissions simultaneously. Chart who carpools most, and reward them for taking the initiative. In the end, these smaller incentives can add levity to the situation.
You can improve employee engagement with sustainability by expanding your knowledge, improving communication, expanding outreach, and developing exciting projects and incentives to get fully immersed in.
