How to keep sustainability relevant when the business is in crisis

Businesses are facing many challenges at the moment, with spiking energy prices, strike action, political musical chairs, climate change and a cost-of-living crisis. So how can you keep your colleagues engaged in your sustainability strategy when there are other pressures dominating the business?

On return to work-as-normal following the worst of the pandemic, people started to question who they were working for – did they have a purpose beyond just making profit? How do they look after employee wellbeing? Do they have initiatives that bring value to the communities that they operate in? Do they disclose their gender pay gap? Are they taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint?

Sustainability is increasingly being seen as a draw for new employees and a motivation to stay with the business. According to a 2021 survey, over half (53%) of the UK’s workforce say sustainability is an important factor in choosing a company to work for[1] . Further to this, according to McKinsey,?72% of employees say their company’s purpose should receive more weight than profit[2] . However, when morale is low and colleagues are feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated it’s difficult to keep them engaged and inspired in the businesses’ mission.

Sustainability might seem like the last thing on their mind, and you don’t want to unintentionally add unwanted pressure to your teams. But keeping colleagues in touch with your ambitions and achievements helps unite the business and progress against your goals.?

Ultimately, as a business you can’t put sustainability on the back burner, you must continue to progress against ambitious targets to avoid greater risk further down the line. Taking your foot off the pedal could mean missing out on opportunities and exposing your business to risks that can’t be easily overcome. As stated by the IPCC, “The evidence is clear: the time for action is now. We can halve emissions by 2030.”[3]

At Lexington, we work with clients to help engage and inspire employees on sustainability – whether it’s showcasing your own strategy or delving into sustainability issues more broadly.

Here’s a few tips to think about when you want to bring colleagues onboard:

1.??????Use senior spokespeople

Creating interest and engagement around sustainability starts by building awareness and expertise at the senior levels. Seeing senior leaders talk the talk and walk the walk shows that the business is taking it seriously, and that accountability sits at the top – not just at the feet of those delivering the change needed.??

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2.??????Simplify the messaging into bite sized goals

Whether you have a complete sustainability strategy or the beginnings of one, it’s important to distil your communications into a few clear consistent messages or ambitions. Avoid being corny or disingenuous, and strive for a tone that motivates colleagues and makes them feel like they are part of a shared mission.

3.??????Keep it relatable

Sustainability won’t mean the same thing to everyone. Procurement teams will have different resonance to marketing for example, so department-specific comms can be valuable. For front line employees a more emotive strategy should be adopted alongside powerful spokespeople, examples of good practice, clear call to actions and a message to demonstrate how integral employees are to you reaching your ambitions. Additionally, providing a clear way for colleagues to feedback to decision makers and input into KPI setting is crucial to ensuring the work is actionable and delivered.

4.??????Give them tools

You can’t expect colleagues to read an email or watch a video and feel like they can take that information forward into their day-to-day roles. Providing training assets like factsheets and toolkits and hosting them on an accessible platform can help extend the information lifespan and enable colleagues to put the content into practice. For example, sales and procurement teams having conversations with key stakeholders can refer to these tools as needed. These can also be useful to include in new starter welcome packs.

5.??????Get creative

Finally, sustainability comms can be an opportunity to have some fun. Whilst it’s an ever-increasing gloomy topic, keeping the content inspiring is important. Think about what format you digest information easily and try to replicate that to your colleagues. Is it a short and snappy video Q&A? Or an animated clip? Could a series of colourful posters work or an interactive online report?

Lexington has a strong track record working with leading businesses to upskill and communicate internally to drive positive change in the business.

If you’d like to find out more about this topic or how we can help you, get in touch at [email protected].

[1] Research Reveals Sustainability Is Vital for Employee Attraction and Retention , Anthesis Group , 2021

[2] Purpose: Shifting from why to how , 麦肯锡 , 2020

[3] The evidence is clear: the time for action is now. We can halve emissions by 2030 , IPCC , 2022

Image credit: @mackaycartoons