These days, more corporations and businesses try to present themselves as eco-conscious entities. At times, though, they don’t exactly know what to do, which may result in their getting labeled as greenwashing.
Getting that label isn’t the most pleasant, especially if one does try to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Well, experts state that to implement and integrate sustainability, the culture in the business should embrace sustainability.
Purpose, shared values, mission, and clear vision shape corporate culture. It is then supported by employee policies and practices that reinforce and mirror these values. In turn, that shapes how employees work, make decisions, and treat one another.
Therefore, culture that supports sustainability in a workplace is important; and experts say that those who are heading in that direction should create it.
Now, some of us who care about creating such culture might not be in a position or role that can control culture. According to experts, there is actually a lot to do to influence or encourage it.
Here are some tips.
Place sustainability in vision, mission, and values
Having a culture update and new vision that promotes sustainability is always welcome. However, such aspirational ideas for the next ten or fifteen years should have a sustainable future embedded in it.
Let’s take a look at McCormick & Co., a global spice and flavor company. The vision of the company states, “A World United by Flavor — where healthy, sustainable and delicious go hand in hand.”
This vision highlights a goal of achieving harmony across three elements.
As we know, the company’s mission should be the roadmap for how it wants to achieve the vision. So, once the updated vision is set, the next step would be to create an environment where employees are encouraged to prioritize sustainability goals alongside financial goals.
In addition, the new company values should act as a strong motivator for employee engagement in sustainability.
Here’s another example: in 2018, Patagonia, the American retailer, changed its mission statement.
Before, it was “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
Now, it has changed to a clearer mission, and it’s more purpose-driven with “Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.”
In situations where one isn’t directly responsible for the company’s codes, one can promote it by highlighting to leadership how internal ethics improve trust and credibility with stakeholders.
Such ethics also improves the ability to build relationships to drive sustainability goals forward.
Moreover, unsustainable behavior as a result of the failing establishment of a sustainable culture can come at a cost.
For instance, in 2019, Carnival Corp. and its subsidiary Princess Cruises were fined by the U.S. Department of Justice for continuing to dispose of plastic and other waste overboard after its first conviction 2 years prior.
In its values statement, Carnival described its workplace as “an environment where safety, hospitality, teamwork, and respect for the environment and each other are essential.”
However their actions were unethical and contradicted these values, which may be caused by the lack of new work culture establishment or implementation. And that cost them $60 million.
Examining and managing culture change
It’s important that businesses or companies understand how employees think about sustainability and how they’re involved or engaged in it. One can do this with a survey that’s well-designed.
Another example is Trane Technologies which defined its sustainability goals in 2020. Then, it used this opportunity to revitalize and refocus its culture.
Afterwards, the company developed a survey to regularly assess how employees feel about workplace topics including ethics, manager support, and work-life balance.
Then, employees need training to design and implement those sustainability initiatives.
To implement such initiatives, one can just simply hire talent specifically for sustainability purposes. However, to speed things up and change the culture at scale, training existing employees is essential.
Here are three training areas to assess and provide training to fill any gaps:
Firstly, all employees should be aware of the material ESG issues for their sector, such as climate change impacts on real estate.
One can work with standard setters like the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board or the Global Reporting Initiative. Another way to do it is bringing in external trainers or working with university partners.
Then, employees need systems thinking. It’s the ability to understand the interconnectedness of sustainability work culture.
Experts say that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s “butterfly diagram” visualizes how systems thinking can provide new business insights into the circular economy.
Finally, employees should understand how to map and manage key stakeholders, and how to negotiate win-win solutions with them.
Let’s take a look at Nespresso. It engages with stakeholders to improve the sustainability of coffee production by working with Rainforest Alliance.
With that collaboration, Nespresso aims to define and implement regenerative agriculture techniques. In addition, it works with coffee suppliers to provide ongoing data on the sustainability performance of the farmers.
The BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) has developed a useful guide to stakeholder mapping and engagement.
Moreover, The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business offers additional guidance in its “Practitioners’ Guide to Embedding Sustainability.”
It also offers a free, online self-paced course, “How to Embed Sustainability Core to Business Strategy and Drive Competitive Advantage.”
We can also take a look at practices that the EV industry adopts to help with their efforts and initiatives. That is, practices that eventually promote more eco-friendly practices from common folks.
EV industry practices
We’re all aware now that to improve the climate change, the automotive sector has shifted its focus towards electric vehicles with the hope that it can reduce its environmental footprint.
Dinesh Arjun, CEO and cofounder of Raptee (a high voltage electric motorcycles company), highlighted that EVs lower greenhouse gas emissions significantly when compared to traditional vehicles.
But as mentioned, this shift also highlights the need for more sustainable practices within the company itself.
What makes India geared towards better greener practices is that the EV industry is fueled by government initiatives and private sector innovations. The industry is committed to a greener future as it has adopted several sustainable practices.
For example, the sector promotes and encourages public transport as well as shared mobility.
Other than producing eco-friendly vehicles, the EV sector in India is promoting sustainable mobility solutions like shared mobility services and good public transport.
For instance, electric buses are steadily coming up to be a good alternative to conventional diesel buses. Several Indian cities have integrated electric buses into their public transit systems. This has resulted in cleaner air and reduced traffic congestion.
EV manufacturers have also partnered with delivery companies to integrate EVs to their services.
Recently, Zomato, a leading food delivery and ordering platform in India, stated its commitment to achieving 100% EV-based deliveries by 2030.
According to Zomato’s chief sustainability officer Anjalli Ravi Kumar, the transition to EV-based deliveries is crucial, since over 90% of their emissions stem from last-mile deliveries.
Zomato’s commitment is a significant step to the company’s goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2033.
We can see that in cases like this, an industry can in fact push for more use of EVs. And when it’s coupled with support from the government, green initiatives can lead to an improvement.
In India’s EV sector’s case, it isn’t just reducing CO2 emissions but also improving air quality. Its success also means that when sustainability culture is embedded and well-implemented within the company, the result can speak for itself.
Sources
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/here-are-3-ways-cultivate-your-sustainability-culture
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