You’re looking to create a culture of sustainability in your workplace. What are the best ways to start?

It’s not just about impact, it’s about priority setting. You can’t do everything at once. And you can’t do everything full stop. You need to figure out your core values and core ambitions and assess where you are in relation to them and build a realistic plan to get there.

How do you know where you're going if you don't understand where you're starting? Assess where you are today. While you will identify gaps or deficiencies, don't forget to identify processes or practices that are already working well! It's easier to replicate strong efforts in other areas than start from scratch. Clearly define where you want to be in the future. From there, you can build a plan consisting of actions and timelines to bridge the gaps between present and future states.

A good starting point is an analysis of the status quo. What we tend to see is that companies (SME in particular) do a lot from a sustainability perspective without even being aware. Making their achievements transparent can be extremely motivating. Especially in the case of companies that, all of a sudden, have to abide by regulatory requirements. Knowing that they are not starting from scratch can be very positive. The second step (if not the first) should be to discuss why sustainability is a value we want to be an integral part of our corporate culture. It is key to define what it means to be part of a company making sustainability a top priority and how this translates into observable behaviours, etc.

Get personal! Start with your own purpose, passion, or interest in the sustainability space. Then think about how you would apply your current skills and those within your job description to advance this cause. Perhaps you are organizing events and one thing you can do to contribute is host an event to gather people in your field and your company. Perhaps you are strong in data analysis and can inquire or informally gather information on the employees' attitudes towards sustainability as a company value. There are many ways to lead or manage up even if you are not in a leadership position and chances are, your proactivity in this passion area with thoughtfulness to your current role will get notice from leadership.

É preciso primeiro compreender seus pontos fortes e fracos. Assim, a organização pode desenvolver estratégias direcionadas para mitigar os impactos negativos, capitalizar oportunidades sustentáveis e estabelecer objetivos realistas. Essa abordagem (que precisa ser baseada em dados!) fornece um sólido apoio para iniciar a jornada rumo a um local de trabalho mais sustentável, alinhado com os princípios sustentáveis da organização.

Building sustainability culture starts with education. It's essential to foster an environment where learning about environmental impacts and sustainability practices becomes a part of the daily conversation. Utilizing tools like Climate Fresk can be incredibly effective. This collaborative workshop dives into the causes and consequences of climate change and is quite fun to participate in. Other tools that I used are: monthly webinars about sustainability, e-learning, sustainability related conversation starters (small post-its) in the kitchen, upcycling workshops during off-sites.

The best way to weave sustainability into the fabric of a company is to build excitement among teams who will own and drive your goals. Forming a collaborative committee to assess areas for growth is a great place to start. Allow your sustainability committee to own and develop targets that are both ambitious and motivating. Their passion will naturally spread the message across the organization, leading by example. Backing your teams’ excitement for sustainable change with supportive messaging from top leaders keeps the momentum going. The ultimate goal should be for everyone in your organization to understand how they contribute in some way toward a larger vision.

Again and again I encounter the fact that, although seemingly omnipresent, sustainability and the danger posed by climate change and the violation of planetary boundaries are not yet truly understood. Therefore, from my experience, it is essential to create a common understanding between everyone involved. This then forms the basis for developing real solutions, tackling cultural change and acting together.

Another great method to train and educate about sustainability is the social, experiential game-based learning approach. This works 90% better for knowledge retention than the traditional training. People must understand first-hand how their day-to-day decision can impact the drive for 'Net-Zero'.

Building a culture of sustainability involves a collective effort, clear strategy, and ongoing engagement with employees. By defining purpose, fostering awareness, encouraging involvement, recognizing contributions, integrating sustainability into performance metrics, communicating progress, and creating employee sustainability communities, organizations can embed sustainable practices into daily operations and drive lasting positive change. These strategies align with the evolving approach towards Engagement where employee education and engagement on sustainability are strategically embedded in corporate culture for impactful results.

Change needs to be actively managed. Telling people to do things a certain way only goes so far. Invest in change expertise and create a change plan guiding all stakeholders through the change journey to support the sustainability culture shift.

As mudanças precisam ser graduais. Uma medida inicial eficaz pode ser a introdução de práticas de reciclagem no local de trabalho. Disponibilizar estações de reciclagem para papel, plástico e outros materiais demonstra o compromisso da organização com a redução de resíduos. Além disso, incentivar a conscientização dos funcionários sobre a importância da reciclagem contribui para uma mudança de mentalidade e promove a participação ativa de todos na iniciativa sustentável. Essas mudanças iniciais não apenas têm um impacto imediato, mas também estabelecem uma base sólida para futuras iniciativas de sustentabilidade na organização.

Celebrate your successes! But also consider sharing your learnings from things that didn't work. Like when LEGO shared how they chose to abandon their oil-free bricks when it proved to be be more carbon-intensive. When communicating, be sure to state the facts to avoid greenwashing or greenhushing.

It's hugely important to communicate success internally as well. Bringing your employees along the sustainability journey is vital for it to succeed. Sustainability can be a galvanising force and is usually an emotive and popular topic in teams, keeping everyone updated with wins gets momentum started which can lead to innovative ideas, greater productivity, better enaggement and other benefits for the company. The method of communicating internally needs to be refined for each individual company to be most effective.

In recognition of sustainability being a journey rather than destination, it isn't just wins that should be communicated, but setbacks too. Lego recently demonstrated this with their forced roll back on a key sustainability challenge to remove oil-based plastics from their bricks. This was communicated internally first to ensure the employees understand the company's position. They displayed humility, respect and transparency, all ensuring the brand value remained high and the effort towards sustainability was authentic. Employees in my experience understand that this will not always go positively. Pretending it does will only create mistrust.

O ser humano preza por uma comemoração no sucesso. Então, a implementação de programas de reconhecimento, como bônus ou cartões-presente, pode não apenas impulsionar o moral dos colaboradores, mas também criar uma competição saudável para a adoção de práticas mais sustentáveis na organização.

Sustainability in businesses is indispensable. Companies must lead by example when it comes to raising awareness on important issues such as sustainability and diversity. Simply creating awareness is not enough; implementation programs must be firmly ingrained in the corporate culture. This is best achieved by incorporating these values into both corporate and career goals.

IMO, To engage teams while building a culture of sustainability, following can be explored. - Encourage Employee Involvement: Empower employees to contribute ideas, suggestions, and solutions towards sustainability initiatives by establishing cross-functional teams or committees. - Communicate Progress and Celebrate Milestones: Regularly share updates, metrics, and success stories to keep employees informed and engaged in sustainability initiatives. - Establish employee sustainability communities to democratize sustainability work across all roles, fostering a culture of sustainability that attracts top talent and unlocks innovation.

Creating a culture of sustainability in the workplace begins with leadership commitment to sustainable practices and policies. Educate employees about sustainability's importance and how their actions make a difference. Implementing eco-friendly office practices, such as reducing waste, encouraging recycling, and saving energy, sets a practical example. Offering incentives for sustainable behaviors can further motivate employees. Regularly communicate achievements and challenges in sustainability efforts to keep the momentum. By integrating sustainability into the core values and daily operations, you foster an environment where employees are empowered to contribute to a sustainable future.

With 86% of employees prefering to work with companies that care about the same issues as they do (PWC 2023), communicating sustainbaility success is vital. This filters into talent acquisition and retention, investor value and many other key metrics of success for companies. it is worth spending the time to create a targeted strategy of updating staff on wins and setbacks. Tech and data should be used to ake this nore efefctive. Tech can provide the platfrom, data the points to communicate.

IMO, To engage teams while building a culture of sustainability, following can be explored. - Encourage Employee Involvement: Empower employees to contribute ideas, suggestions, and solutions towards sustainability initiatives by establishing cross-functional teams or committees. - Communicate Progress and Celebrate Milestones: Regularly share updates, metrics, and success stories to keep employees informed and engaged in sustainability initiatives. - Establish employee sustainability communities to democratize sustainability work across all roles, fostering a culture of sustainability that attracts top talent and unlocks innovation.

To both empower yourself and learn more about sustainability and your impact, you can: 1) connect with groups and communities in this space, 2) attend conferences or climate weeks in your city, country, or state and 3) start writing about your impact - there is no greater mover speaking aloud your contributions and evidence-based thoughts on the topic!