Sustainability is about more than just a title

Hello,?

When a large survey of UK businesses of all kinds finds that almost one in three has no one dedicated to sustainability, should we be downhearted and/or surprised? The report published last week by recruitment group Hays, quizzed 3,200 businesses and identified that 88% of those with fewer than 50 staff had no dedicated resource. There are different ways of interpreting this data, as with most statistics.?

Not having a named human tasked with driving forward a sustainability programme needn’t be a cause for concern – so long as that ethos and mission is embedded in everything the team does. Equally, when 17% report that they don’t know who’s in charge of managing sustainability in their business (most acutely in larger businesses), this is balanced by the 27% who said there’s a main board director in their business whose sole responsibility is sustainability. You don’t have to have ‘sustainability’ in your job title, in fact, it can potentially have a negative impact – giving colleagues the (false) impression that responsibility rests with that individual and it’s not necessarily anyone else’s business.?

Interestingly, according to LinkedIn data 'sustainability manager' is the second fastest growing job title in the UK. So, whether you're looking to support someone newly appointed in that role or have a team keen to make it their business, check out our comprehensive calendar of training events.?

Employees want to work for mission-led businesses and to feel like they are part of a purpose-driven organisation. Appointing an individual with (recyclable) name badge and fancy job title is one way of doing it that many have found to be successful; but it’s definitely not essential, whereas making it everyone’s business, most definitely is. And if you’re looking for an organisation with the word ‘Sustainable’ in its title to provide you with dedicated support and guidance, well, we like to think we’ve got you covered.?

Have a great weekend.?

Team SRA?

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