6 Steps to Embed Sustainability in Corporate Culture

Want to make your company more eco-friendly? Here's how to bake sustainability into your business DNA:

1. Check your current culture

2. Get leaders on board

3. Create a sustainability plan

4. Teach and involve employees

5. Add sustainability to daily work

6. Check progress and adjust

Why bother? Green companies often see:

• Lower costs

• Better reputation

• More loyal customers

• Happier employees

• New growth opportunities

For example, NatWest Group saved 9 million sheets of paper by switching to digital signatures. That's 960,000 gallons of water and 336,000 pounds of wood.

Ready to go green? Let's break down each step:

Remember: Sustainability isn't just nice to have. It's crucial for long-term success.

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1. Check Current Company Culture

Before you dive into making your company more sustainable, you need to know where you stand. Let's look at how to do that.

How to Assess Culture

There's no magic formula for checking company culture. Instead, mix these methods:

1. Employee surveys

Ask your team what they think about sustainability. Try questions like:

• How much do you care about sustainability?

• Are we doing enough for the environment?

• What green practices would you like to see here?

2. Review policies

Do your current rules help or hurt sustainable practices?

3. Check metrics

Look at your energy use, waste, and recycling numbers.

4. Observe behaviors

Are people printing less? Turning off lights? Watch what's happening day-to-day.

Erica Salmon Byrne from Ethisphere puts it well:

"One data set is never going to be your answer. It's all about pulling together the different inputs that tell you what's going on across the business."

List Current Practices

Now, make a list of what you're already doing for sustainability. This shows you what's working and what's not.

Don't forget to look beyond the obvious. New Belgium Brewing found their biggest greenhouse gas source was coal-powered electricity. This led them to switch to wind power, becoming the first wind-powered brewery.

2. Get Leaders on Board

Getting executives to back sustainability is crucial. Here's how:

Convince Top Executives

To win over leaders:

1. Link to business goals: Show how green practices boost profits. Shell Oil tied carbon targets to pay, aiming to cut their footprint 20% by 2035 and 50% by 2050.

2. Use data: Present hard facts. A 2017 study found 87% of consumers buy from companies supporting causes they care about.

3. Speak their language: Tailor your pitch. Talk financials with the CFO, risk with the General Counsel.

4. Show employee support: Highlight how sustainability attracts talent.

"Leadership buy-in isn't just beneficial. It's essential." - WalkMe Team

Set Up a Management Structure

Create a system to keep efforts on track:

1. Form a dedicated team: Bank of America has a Global Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee led by their vice-chairman.

2. Include in reviews: Make sustainability part of performance checks and pay decisions.

3. Create clear roles: Assign responsibilities from CEO down.

4. Report regularly: Track and share progress often.

5. Train leaders: Help executives learn more to guide others effectively.

3. Create a Sustainability Plan

Want to make sustainability part of your company's DNA? You need a plan. Here's how to make one that works:

Make a Detailed Plan

First, figure out where your business is wasting resources or hurting the environment. Energy use? Water waste? Carbon emissions? List them all.

Next, set goals you can actually measure. Don't just say "use less energy." Say "cut energy use by 20% in the next year."

Then, spell out exactly how you'll hit those goals. Who's doing what? When? What do they need?

Lastly, get your team involved. Form a green team. They'll have ideas you haven't thought of.

Match with Business Goals

Your sustainability plan can't exist in a bubble. It needs to fit with your overall business strategy.

Show how being green saves green. Less energy use = lower bills. Simple.

Get everyone involved. Sustainability isn't just for the eco-team. It's for everyone from the factory floor to HR.

Use existing frameworks like GRI or SASB to pick your sustainability KPIs. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Keep track of how you're doing and share the results. Transparency is key.

Here's how sustainability can boost your business:

4. Teach and Involve Employees

Create Training Programs

To build a strong sustainability culture, you need to educate your workforce. Here's how:

1. Start with the basics: Offer courses on energy saving, waste reduction, and resource management. Mix e-learning, workshops, and hands-on training.

2. Make it role-specific: Tailor training to different jobs. Procurement teams might focus on sustainable sourcing, while marketing teams learn about eco-friendly advertising.

3. Use real-world examples: Show how other companies have succeeded. Unilever's CEO Paul Polman aligns employee values with company goals to boost engagement.

4. Keep it ongoing: Sustainability isn't a one-time lesson. Set up regular refresher courses and updates on new practices.

Get Employees Involved

Engagement is key. Try these strategies:

• Form green teams: Create groups to develop and implement eco-friendly practices in their departments.

• Run competitions: Set up friendly contests. Example: offer a company picnic if waste is reduced by 10% in a month.

• Ask for ideas: Set up a platform for sustainability suggestions. This fosters ownership and can uncover innovative solutions.

• Link to performance: Include sustainability goals in job descriptions and reviews. This shows it's a core part of everyone's role.

• Share the impact: Regularly communicate how employee efforts are making a difference. Use clear metrics and success stories.

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5. Add Sustainability to Daily Work

Change Decision-Making

Companies need to rethink their processes to make sustainability part of everyday decisions:

• Green procurement: Buy from fair trade suppliers or zero-waste alternatives. Think recycled office supplies.

• Sustainability as a key factor: Consider environmental impact when making changes. Ask, "How will this affect our carbon footprint?"

• Paperless initiatives: Use cloud computing for file sharing. It cuts paper waste and energy use.

Use Helpful Technology

Digital tools can boost sustainability efforts:

• Sustainability tracking software: Monitor eco-friendly goals and keep everyone accountable.

• Energy management systems: Use smart thermostats and lighting to cut energy waste.

• Virtual meetings: Use video conferencing to reduce travel emissions.

Cooleaf, an employee engagement platform, ran a 'Go Green Challenge'. Employees did one earth-friendly task daily for a week. Result? 50 meatless meals, 16 bags of trash cleaned up, and 11 local businesses supported.

To get everyone involved:

1. Set up a 'green team' for eco-friendly ideas.

2. Host a data clean-up day for digital sustainability.

3. Promote greener commutes with public transport info.

6. Check Progress and Adjust

Measure Results

You can't improve what you don't measure. Here's how to track your sustainability efforts:

1. Pick your KPIs: Choose metrics that align with your goals. For example:

2. Use tracking tools: Get software to collect and analyse data.

3. Report regularly: Share progress monthly or quarterly to keep everyone in the loop.

Keep Improving

Data's useless if you don't act on it. Here's how to refine your approach:

1. Review and tweak: Not hitting targets? Figure out why and fix it.

2. Ask for input: Employees and customers might spot issues you've missed.

3. Stay up-to-date: What worked before might not work now.

4. Learn from others: Take Reckitt's "skip the rinse" campaign:

"We showed consumers they could save 57 litres per dishwasher load. It boosted brand awareness and cut water use by 20%." - Reckitt rep

The key? Keep measuring, keep adjusting, and keep improving.

Conclusion

Making sustainability part of your company culture isn't just good for the planet—it's smart business. Here's a quick recap of the six steps:

1. Check your current culture

2. Get leaders on board

3. Create a sustainability plan

4. Teach and involve employees

5. Add sustainability to daily work

6. Check progress and adjust

These steps help build a lasting, green-focused culture. But what's in it for your company?

Future Benefits

Companies that make sustainability part of their DNA see big gains:

1. Cost savings

Cutting waste and energy use saves money. For example:

• Companies switching to LED lighting can cut energy bills by up to 80%

• A Scottish manufacturer saved £170,000 yearly by updating its ventilation system

2. Customer loyalty

People want to buy from green companies:

• 62% of people want companies to focus on sustainability

• 75% of Gen Z picks sustainable practices over brand names

3. Employee satisfaction

Green companies keep workers happy:

• 25% of Gen-Z and millennial employees say a company's sustainability efforts affect their decision to stay

4. New growth opportunities

Sustainability can open new doors:

• The circular economy could create $4.5 trillion in economic benefits by 2030

5. Better reputation

Green practices boost your image. Here are some examples:

So, what are you waiting for? Start greening your company culture today!

Helpful Tips

When adding sustainability to your company culture, watch out for these common pitfalls:

Avoid Common Mistakes

1. No leadership buy-in: Your CEO and board need to be all in. Without them, sustainability efforts often flop.

2. Surface-level stuff: Don't just go for quick wins. Tackle the big, long-term changes for real impact.

3. Poor communication: Keep everyone in the loop about your green goals and progress.

4. Ignoring staff ideas: Your employees might have great suggestions. Listen up.

5. Weak tracking: Set clear, measurable goals to see how you're doing.

6. Greenwashing: Be straight about your efforts. Don't oversell.

To make your sustainability push work:

• Start small: Kick off with one or two programs to build momentum.

• Make it official: Create a solid plan with clear goals and accountability.

• Use data: Measure your carbon footprint to start.

• Think local: Source supplies and produce nearby when you can.

• Involve everyone: From the top brass to frontline staff, make sustainability everyone's job.

Here's how some companies are nailing it:

Embedding sustainability takes time. But with the right approach, you can make it part of your company's DNA.

"To embed sustainability there are no trade-offs, there's not a separate stand-alone sustainability strategy. It's all-encompassing. There has to be accountability at all levels of the organisation." - Niki King, VP and Head of Sustainability at The Clorox Co.

Sustainability Integration Checklist

Here's a checklist to help you embed sustainability into your company's DNA:

Tailor this checklist to your company's needs. Keep reviewing and updating to stay on track.

"To embed sustainability there are no trade-offs, there's not a separate stand-alone sustainability strategy. It's all-encompassing. There has to be accountability at all levels of the organization." - Niki King, VP and Head of Sustainability at The Clorox Co.

Niki King's words drive home the point: sustainability isn't a side project. It's part of everything you do.

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