Creating a long-term strategy that implements both ethical and environmentally friendly targets will help your organisation achieve a greener future. Consumers and employees looking to live more sustainably want this, so when it comes to your corporate sustainability, you should consider:
At a glance
- Organisations that openly share sustainability data and values can strengthen trust with customers and employees, helping to drive change across all levels of the business.
- Employee engagement and workplace sustainability initiatives can also influence energy-saving behaviours beyond the office.
- Embedding sustainability into workplace culture helps organisations achieve environmental goals while encouraging employee engagement, innovation and long-term organisational change.
Sustainability is being about transparent and genuine about your impact on the environment, while shaping the future of your organisation. Creating a positive environment for sustainable behaviour change or improving is an important challenge to address.
To limit the environmental damage of the climate emergency, governments around the world are creating carbon reduction initiatives and net zero policies that could affect organisations. Some companies have their carbon emission data and sustainability values available for consumers to see, thanks to development and feedback from staff at every level.
A big part of addressing net zero will involve convincing people to adopt more sustainable behaviours and habits. Two ways to do this are through:
- Visible positive behaviours that can inspire consumers.
- Digital tools to help accelerate the uptake of sustainable behaviours and smarter technologies.
Businesses need to identify solutions that can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of their office and fleet operations, as well as inspire sustainable behaviour change in their workforce.
These changes can help the wider business achieve sustainability targets in addition to increasing energy efficiency in employee homes.
What does corporate sustainability have to do with behaviour change?
1
Effectiveness
Developing an effective corporate sustainability strategy might sound like a daunting process. The are several moving parts including carbon measurements, constant revision, stakeholder engagement and achievable yet ambitious targets. But it’s important to get it right.
2
Employee engagement
Getting your staff on board with your sustainability goals should be a priority and a core part of your strategy. Driving behavioural change from within the organisation may increase employee retention rate and help develop new energy efficiency initiatives.
3
Future planning
It’s not just the UK’s 2050 net zero target you should be thinking about. The sooner you can achieve net zero for your company, the better, especially with new green policies from governments becoming more common.
4
Transparency
Improving the energy efficiency of your organisation should open the way to better inform stakeholders and customers of your environmental goals.
Corporate sustainability should be part of everything your organisation does.
You need change your organisation’s behaviour at all levels, enabling your employees to lead more sustainable lifestyles – both inside and outside of work.
Creating a culture of sustainable behaviour may also help influence ethical consumers looking for products or services. Major consumer brands like are looking into carbon footprint labels for its products as consumers look for more sustainable options. Carbon footprint labelling ultimately shows consumers how many greenhouse gases were emitted during the product’s lifecycle, including:
- sourcing raw materials
- manufacturing
- transporting to stores
- end of life
Cracking down on emissions and being transparent in your communications about your commitment to sustainability could positively influence the rate of ethical purchases even further.
Best ways to spark behaviour change
Different messages will resonate with different people. But once you have your organisation’s sustainability strategy outlined, you should get employees involved. Some great ways to do this include:
- Promoting energy efficiency to get them thinking about their own work practices.
- Creating sustainable policies such as flexible working to reduce long commutes.
- Promoting energy efficiency through your internal communications and training.
Discover more tips for engaging employees with sustainability.
According to Healthline, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for someone to form a new habit, including a sustainable one. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, since some habits are easier to form than others for different people. But as long as you’re supporting your employees with sustainability, they’re more likely to achieve a positive outcome.
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