Managing For Sustainable Employee Engagement
Most people can agree that sustainability in the workplace is important. But unfortunately, most people also feel that it isn’t their responsibility.
Out of the 600 largest American companies, only ⅓ have implemented systematic sustainability management at the highest level.
Why is this?
Most organizations understand the importance of integrating sustainability into their business practices, but no one seems to want to take ownership.
Read on to discover the biggest hurdle in managing for sustainable employee engagement.
Ownership means to feel connected to a person, idea or a company.
Research has shown when employees feel ownership in their workplace, it can lead to greater productivity, engagement and job satisfaction.
If an employee feels organizational ownership, they are more likely to invest in their workplaces sustainability practices. This is because they feel like their actions have purpose. They are achieving something towards the collective good, in this case combating environmental harm.
To start this process, a company should define what sustainability in the workplace looks like.
Then, define and outline the sustainability goals, with measurable steps.
This is important because it helps employees and the company feel aligned in their sustainability priorities, and identifies concrete opportunities to take action.
The next steps should be to express the importance of committing to workplace sustainability to employees across all organizational levels.
To encourage employees to take ownership in the sustainability plan, phrase it as something that forwards the company’s goals and contributes to the good of society.
Be aware of the audience you’re speaking to, for example for some it may be more convincing to rationalize the importance of sustainability (finance managers, line managers, etc), whereas others may be more persuaded by appealing to emotion.
To ground sustainability in the workplace, you should outline the financial incentives and the career advancements, as well as the gains in competitive advantages to encourage employees to be committed.
To appeal to emotions you can demonstrate the ways in which sustainability impacts all aspects of our lives to show the importance of having bigger goals than just financial gains.
After conveying the importance of sustainability in the workplace, proper training and systems will help employees feel prepared to implement sustainability into their daily routines.
Successful implementation of sustainability in the workplace will be apparent once it has become routine for everyone. Giving employees autonomy over measuring their sustainability goals, and providing safe spaces for feedback will develop their commitment to sustainability.
Consider healthy competition:
Consider making it a competition between employees to encourage motivation and pride in their sustainable actions!
Using our mobile app can be your solution for employee engagement and team-building activities for work.
It is a gamified learning experience that can educate and empower your team to make real changes.
Create a Private Group just for your closed community and compete.
- Measure your company’s impact with a custom carbon report
Sustainability should be implemented at all levels and departments of a company.
It is important for everyone to understand their role in contributing to sustainable workplaces.
Small actions lead to systemic change. It is everyone’s responsibility to contribute.
We hope these resources help you in managing for sustainable employee engagement!
Whether you’re looking for new ways to make a positive environmental impact or are looking to accelerate internal change, our offerings are the perfect fit.
We’ve curated all the tools you’d need to grow a green, eco-friendly team – even when they’re miles apart!
With our custom packages, we can help companies implement, track, and report on environmental and sustainability initiatives to help companies reach their corporate sustainability goals.
Get Our Free Employee Engagement Toolkit - For Sustainability
Source: HBR
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