How Can a Sustainability Program Benefit Your Team?

Businesses want to get the most out of their employees at work. Businesses with the right mindset will do this by making work an enjoyable and safe place for their employees, practicing good corporate governance.

Exceptional businesses understand that employees don’t just want to enjoy their work — they want to be proud of the company for which they work.

In a recent survey, approximately 78% of American employees reported that they wanted to play an active role in helping the company for which they worked achieve goals in relation to sustainability.

The findings went on to report that 71% of employees expressed the desire for the company for which they worked to provide opportunities to help them make a positive impact socially and environmentally. 58% of employees reported to take a company’s social and environmental sustainability policy into consideration when deciding on their place of employment. Additionally, 55% said they would pick a company with a more meaningful commitment to social responsibility over another company, even if the pay was less. And 51% declared that they would not work for an organisation which did not have strong social and / or environmental commitments.

With over 50% of employees wanting to make some contribution towards positive social and environmental impact through their organisation and with predictions that this number will increase as more and more millennials enter the workforce, companies are being encouraged to adopt sustainability policies, not only as the right thing to do or as a marketing strategy, but as a way to see more from their employees. According to a meta-analysis of 1.4 million employees conducted by the Gallup Organisation, employee engagement boosts productivity by 22%.

The key factor in engaging staff in sustainability practices is ensuring that staff are actually aware of your organisation’s sustainability practices. Providing a mechanism for employee feedback is also critical as your team must be part of the sustainability journey. It is also important to provide opportunities for staff engagement in programs. Basic actions like providing recycle bins is a great way to start. Along the journey, you can start to implement other processes such as staff volunteering days in lieu of professional development or team-building days.

A commitment from sustainability must start at the top. If you want to see your team engage in economic, social and environmental sustainability practices, the senior staff in the organisation must be the first to engage and lead by example.

If you want more information about how to engage your employees in your sustainability program or if you want assistance in developing your sustainability program, contact us today!

This article was originally published on the Strategic Sustainability Consultants website.