How do you make your team more environmentally responsible?

One should Lead by example: Nothing is more effective than leading by example. You should Implement sustainable practices to demonstrate your genuine commitment to environmental responsibility by practising sustainable habits such as recycling, reducing waste, and conserving energy. Building on this strong moral ground, clearly explain to your team why being environmentally responsible is crucial. You should highlight its potential positive impact on the environment, the community, and future generations. This should be followed by creating a sense of purpose for the team by setting clear environmental goals with adequate resources and periodically rewarding the best environmental performance of individual team members or units.

It's very easy to make the solution be about individual action when the reality is that the biggest polluters and destroyers of the natural world are a small number of big conglomerate businesses. Whilst taking personal action is right, I've noticed a huge disparity in the way environmentalists take personal action in Europe compared with South East Asia. For example, food in Asia is central to culture, so trying to get people to eat less meat is more challenging. So my advice is to try and galvanise voices for change - so that we can drive change from above in regard to regulation, policy and legislation that will really cause big change.

The first sentence is not true. You know what you need to do. It's easy. Use less energy, install true renewable energy or buy your energy from a credible renewable supplier. Don't fly. Don't drive. Don't eat meat. Buy from suppliers that have already reduced their footprint and have a science based target. If your company produces stuff that nobody needs then stop producing it. If your company promotes stuff people don't need then stop promoting it. Vote for political parties that are actually committed to net zero. Don't waste time with audits and aseessments! Just do what you know you should do.

I agree with the assessment as a starting point. For any company it is necessary to evaluate the level of awareness of your team. Saying that ??we?? or ??people?? know what to do is not accurate. We all have a different level on consciousness around this topic. Using survey can reveal disparities across the organization, depending on background, generation, education… Based on that we can build a commun ground and commun understanding of challenges and strat to build on this.

Simple answer...through Leadership. Communication has vital power to change mindsets. Personally i will start from small targets with highlighting importance. Afterall everyone knows that they are part of "Environment" and responsible for "Sustainability". Only need to have attractive start up!

Just like any other area of management, sustainability requires trade offs. In my organization air travel is our largest scope 3 emission, so we set carbon budgets for each leader so they can make their own management decisions on tradeoffs, but they must find the right places to cut air travel to meet our science-based emissions targets.

No. No. No. Set targets in line with what a 1.5 degree world needs. Deep and swift cuts in emissions now. 50% reduction in the next 7 years. Let's say that you had to replace fire safety devices in buildings. All will fail in five years. Some sooner. a fire is likely on failure. People will die. Do you set a target to replace 50% as that is all you think is achievable?

Setting goals and targets are necessary if you want to make changes. Targets will depend on what emission factors, setting 10% on an activity that represents 60% of your emissions will have much significant impact compare to 60% or 70% reduction on an activity that represents 5% emissions. Recycling doesn’t always make sense for various reasons, like ecosystems are not ready, energy used to recycle could be highly carbonates…so it needs to be analyzed holistically through life cycle analysis. In some cases Reuse makes more sense.

SMART objectives are crucial for meaningful progress and accountability. After getting a benchmark through initial assessments, set targeted and time-sensitive goals like cutting energy use by 10% in a half-year or boosting your recycling by 20% annually. Synchronizing these targets with both client needs and your company's broader mission enhances their importance and likelihood of successful implementation. This strategy serves not only to guide the team effectively but also to embed eco-responsibility into your consulting firm's foundational principles and plans.

In addition to SMART goals, it's imperative to establish clear accountability within the team. Designate individuals responsible for each goal and regularly assess their progress. Encourage open communication to address challenges and share best practices. Furthermore, consider incorporating incentives or recognition for exceeding goals to maintain motivation and ensure everyone is actively contributing to the team's environmental objectives.

We've had really good success with developing comprehensive training schedules for all staff. Every member of our company undertakes IEMA Sustainability for the workforce training within their first month. This gives them a grounding in the basics of environmental responsibility. We then offer a development pathway through it Associate status with IEMA and the foundation certificate in environmental management. We've created an internal committee to share best practise across the entire organisation and because everyone already speaks a common language through their basic training we find lots of ideas come from this.

Furthermore, it's essential to cultivate a sense of ownership among team members. Encourage them to identify and implement innovative solutions tailored to their specific roles and departments. Regularly review and update training materials to stay aligned with evolving environmental trends and best practices. Foster a collaborative environment where team members can share their insights and experiences, promoting a collective commitment to sustainability.

In addition to this we could incentivise good behaviour, putting in reward systems for good practice. For example the teams that have demonstrated considerable reduction in their carbon footprint could be celebrated internally and rewarded consistently. Also initiative fun things to encourage participation.

Collective intelligence workshops like Climate Fresk are very powerful tool to engage your team. There is a collective representation of the situation based on what you can leverage and organize brainstorming to identify next steps. In addition to environmental ethics you can include environmental justice as some regions which contribute less on climate change are the most impacted.

I believe awareness is a key first step in this. For example when we look at recycling,most people do not have the awaress of the different ways to recycle different materials and what materials cannot be recycled. One step further is to educated stakeholders on upcycling as well rather than disposing

I have seen some companies where they have incorporated sustainability goals and targets as part of their annual KPIs; both as as individual and at a group level. This in turn will encourage employees to help each other to achieve goals.

Personal incentives never made me want to do better. Maybe instead of prizes, certificate or badges go for the environmentally inspired ideas, have trees planted in people's names so double down on the positive environmental impact message.

This dual approach boosts morale and your firm's eco-friendly reputation. Publicly acknowledging their accomplishments through sharing success stories or nominations for external awards further enhances engagement and fosters a culture of environmental responsibility.

Maybe these should be personalized and based on an annual non-anonymised survey. We are all motivated in different ways - intrinsically or extrinsically - some by prizes and public recognition, some by time off to climb some mountains. I would prefer more days off instead of a nomination.

Ooh! I want a badge!

Take your team on a long hike in a natural protected area and let them enjoy the harmony in Nature. Then go to an area where Nature is being destroyed and discuss the consequences with them. This is all about the personal experience, boosting an individual motivation to include the care for the Planet in every project.

To ensure or to keep team on track. It is easy to start but more challenging to keep the same level of engagement through this long journey.

No, not by example - lead by Sample. You have the reports of your firm's environmental impacts: now go out into the real environment and sample air in a busy street junction. Make a simple water sampler with a rope, step into the muck, go into the drain and walk onto the trash. Dig into the earth to see how far down said trash extends. Sample it. Take the sample to a commercial or academic environmental lab. Understand the results in the context of air, soil and groundwater standards. I promise you, environmental responsibility will permeate every pore of your being.

The suggestions here focus on the actions of the team within their own environment. Whereas most teams have a larger impact through the things they produce. For example, an engineering team could reduce their own paper usage and they would create a larger impact by reducing the material use, biodiversity impacts, and carbon emissions from the thing they design or construct. It's not to say that personal actions are not important. Sustainable behaviour leads to sustainable opinions. Just that initiatives shouldn't be restricted only to these aspects.

As an expert leading large engineering infrastructure development, my organisation now employs rated criteria for procuring design firms. 1?? A rated criteria procurement allows Client's evaluation team to give marks/reward companies who incorporate sustainability measures in their technical proposals, normally referred to as green procurement. 2?? Firms are thus rewarded for their intention to design green facilities. 3?? All firms are also mandated to have Sustainability experts on their team. Additionally, all instructions to tender (ITC) for works construction requires prospective bidders to submit an ESHS MSIP which is a key plan that drives sustainability of works.

In my perception, just set a goal and reward them. As an example, gift them smart watch on any occasion and set monthly goal (calorie burning). Award them if they succeed. Always they'll try to find out every alternate option to meet the goal. Cycle/Walking will be the best alternative. Same way they could maintain their healthy life and work too.

I was fortunate to work for the largest City Council in Northern Australia for 5-years & provide 3-hour Env & Sus inductions once a month to all new starters from Directors to ground staff (safety Orange shirts). I realised that the 'Oranges' are the most critical people to make a difference, not the best made plans (EMP). I then used our primary Paradise lake as the focal point for all on ground activities impacting it & ultimately being the final sink before clean water is released to the coastal waters of our Great Barrier Reef. Only by enrolling all staff as E&S champions will it make a difference.

In line with DanSmith. It starts with becoming aware of one's own small (environment) circle and based on a thorough understanding of (the impacts of) one's activities (whether as an individual or as a team, a department, as part of a company or other organisation), knowledge of existing solutions to avoid/reduce those impacts, consider implementing those or innovatively seek other tools, ways to address the matter. Ideally with a robust system in place, an organisational structure to support all this, the organisation's vision, values, policies, management standards. Leadership as the main element to influence team behavior, defining success in achieving common goals, in line with legal and regulatory requirements, continuously improving.