HR teams often spend a significant amount of time working to improve employee engagement, and for good reason: without happy and engaged people, there is no business. Engaged employees are more productive, loyal and more motivated. What if your business could tap into a deep spring of motivation: a sense of purpose?
In 2023, the Office of National Statistics recorded the average age of the UK workforce as 40 years old putting many employees firmly in the millennial generation bracket. According to Forbes “some have called Millennials “The Purpose Generation” because of their intense focus on making a difference in the world around them. This attitude carries over into employment, how they spend their free time, how they spend their money and the ideas they identify with.”.
Whilst some purpose-driven companies prioritise employee engagement through wellbeing programmes, benefits packages or encourage social impact efforts through volunteering a more powerful approach lies in directly integrating sustainability and impact into core business functions. This not only fuels the company’s impact strategy but also increases employee engagement. However, achieving this level of integration can be a challenge.
During a recent Greenheart Client Café, we chatted with some of our clients about their real world examples of how they have successfully engaged teams in their sustainability and impact journey. It’s a topic that comes up time and time again for in-house sustainability teams. Their stories, shared below, demonstrate practical strategies that can ignite purpose, and employee engagement, within your own workforce.
Engaging Employees in Net Zero Strategy – Opencast Software
Opencast Software have taken an innovative approach to engaging their workforce in their net zero strategy implementation. They created an engagement plan with the objective of “nurturing a culture of climate action through intentional engagement and the creation of spaces for all employees to learn, act on and lead change.”
This engagement plan has a specific objective to support the annual reduction in emissions towards their near term and long term net zero goals.
In developing the plan they asked the following questions:
- How might we support turning ideas into action?
- How might we support discipline and motivation?
- How might we create safe spaces to try new things and fail, learn and try again?
- How might we create sustained motivation and action year on year?
- How will we track progress against the overall reduction objective?
- What are the different groups in the organisation and what will chime with them?
This led to an engagement plan for the year that includes events, key dates including company meet ups and global events such as Earth Hour. They planned the activities around key net zero milestones and created a programme called ‘squiggling to net zero’ which incorporates “short interventions to promote regular practice of climate action, self-coaching, growth mindset, perseverance.” This approach is in line with the ethos that everyone’s path is different and imperfect but the main focus is to be ending up at the same point.
The engagement plan also features climate IQ sessions (Improving all of the workforces general knowledge and understanding about climate science, climate change and how it relates to them) to upskill the team and there is team coaching with checkpoints and evaluation sessions at every step along the way.
What we love about this approach is that people are co creating and involved in its development, rather than simply being communicated to. The plan also has been designed to appeal to a broad audience to be engaging and inspiring to motivate and support change through people coming together and finding new solutions to challenges.
Empowering Employees and fostering a culture of environmental responsibility – The Garlic Farm
The Garlic Farm has successfully integrated sustainability into its core operations, with employee engagement as a cornerstone. By establishing Green Ambassador groups and implementing regular training sessions, they’ve fostered a culture where environmental responsibility is shared by all.
The farm’s Green Ambassadors, a diverse group representing various departments, meet quarterly to discuss impact measurement and drive positive change. This peer-to-peer approach has proven highly effective in generating enthusiasm and practical solutions. Additionally, an annual compulsory team training keeps everyone informed about sustainability initiatives, reinforcing the farm’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
To measure employee engagement, The Garlic Farm conducts annual satisfaction surveys. These surveys provide valuable insights into employee sentiment and help identify areas for improvement. By demonstrating a commitment to employee well-being and acting on feedback, the farm has strengthened its employee engagement and overall company culture.
The Garlic Farm’s advice to businesses embarking on their B Corp journey is simple yet profound: seek expert guidance, stay true to your values, and tackle achievable goals first to build momentum. This strategic approach has enabled The Garlic Farm to make significant strides in sustainability while maintaining a strong focus on its core.
The farm’s Director, Barnaby Edwards explains:
”Our journey from completing our first BIA through to certification took almost 5 years and our employee engagement process was slow, but thorough as a result. Our sustainability journey so far has comprised a total rework of our farming system from conventional to certified organic and 100% pasture-based, as well as a Living Wage business and B Corp. The formal, audited processes have only been possible because of a motivated and passionate team. The ongoing work to build a fully regenerative pathway is as big a challenge. In every way, the bigger part of the journey is ahead, and engagement at all levels is critical.”
Where employee engagement used to be a top-down approach, it is becoming more employee-led where the co-creation of engagement initiatives is being used to foster more empowerment. The success rate of co-created initiatives is often much higher than those fed down from above. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to engaging employees on your impact journey – it’s about choosing a combination of approaches tailored to your audience. It is, however, a win:win for both your impact strategy and employee’s engagement when done well. Involving employees in the decision making, providing opportunities for skill development and celebrating success, companies can create a sense of ownership and pride. But remember, it’s about progress, not perfection. By taking small steps and learning from others, businesses can build a strong foundation for long-term success.
Let us help lighten your workload with our strategic advice on engaging employees in your impact journey by emailing contact@greenheartbusiness.com
