Being a sustainable company also means adopting good habits and promoting environmentally friendly action among employees.
It is not sustainable to focus primarily on how to reduce energy waste and organize environmentally friendly production if those working within the company are not in line with this intention.
Therefore, it is extremely important, both for the environment and for your image as a green company, to ensure that employees embrace this cause and help promote environmental sustainability.
But how can employees be encouraged to adopt greener habits within the company? Here are some of our tips:
Set a good example
Adopt a top-down approach: start from the top when making sustainably changes. This will make employees more likely to adopt environmentally friendly habits at work: it might not stick if a company to asks employees to perform certain actions if managers do not.
All it takes is small gestures: make sure waste is sorted, reuse paper whenever possible, use non-disposable coffee cups, and anything else that can be adapted to your company reality.
Incentivize employees to use bicycles or public transport
A sustainable company cannot neglect employee travel into the office. For this reason, it is important to provide facilities for those who choose to travel to work by environmentally friendly means: incentivize the purchase of a season train ticket or organize group travel for employees from the same area.
You can also enter into an agreement with a bike-sharing company to make it as easy as possible to use bicycles. If possible, set up an area in the company where bicycles can be kept safe.
Involve employees in sustainable initiatives
Employees tend to be more satisfied and work more enthusiastically if they are involved in company decisions and feel that their opinion is valued.
One way to involve them in company decisions is to ask employees to think about what actions they could take in the workplace to improve sustainability, and then discuss them.
By listening to their ideas, you may discover solutions to put into practice that you never thought of: employees will feel more important by seeing their initiatives implemented and, at the same time, contribute to making the company more sustainable.
Provide for an employee handbook
To help your employees adopt sustainable habits in the workplace, you can consider drafting a handbook, to guide them in the actions and behaviors you want them to adopt in the company.
This will also make it much easier for new employees to understand how to participate in corporate sustainability and align themselves with the company’s values.
Facilitate the implementation of sustainable behavior
The easier it is to perform certain actions, the more likely they are to be performed: for example, if you ask your employees to sort waste, make it an easy task. Make recycling bins easily accessible everywhere in your company. Even with small measures like this you can achieve impactful results.
Conclusion
Sustainability is an important commitment, both at home and at the office.
Several surveys show that younger generations are increasingly determined to work at organizations that share their values, inspiring them to be more enthusiastic and productive at work.
Helping and involving your employees in making your company more sustainable has many advantages: in addition to helping the environment and improving the company’s reputation, it contributes to a peaceful and positive working environment.
AWorld, as a solution for employees’ engagement, can help. We work to activate your employees as a key part of your company’s sustainability transition, ensuring everyone is involved.
If you would like to know everything about this topic, don’t hesitate to read our article on employees’ engagement in sustainability.
