As humans it is in our nature to become accustomed and familiar with the well known; habit requires no special effort. It is better to stick with the known, at least it is more certain than what the substitute might be. Something new implies a gamble, a risk few people want to take.
This is what I have encountered so far in my career as a sustainability consultant. Companies, who otherwise wax eloquently about encouraging innovation, creativity and risk taking balk visibly and dither over key decisions that imply a change. Everyone loves the benefits of change but the chance of failure spooks the most seasoned managers. True, change is difficult, time-consuming and costly but it is also necessary as it offers tremendous potential for improved performance and other goodies that follow.
This is one of the most important points that emerge out of the second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group. The Study offers an interesting insight into how different companies are approaching sustainability and in the process has identified two distinct groups of companies, the first, places sustainability high on its agenda seeing it as a core strategy imperative for long-term growth and the second views sustainability through a narrow lens and are cautious about going further than energy cost savings, material efficiency and risk mitigation.
As companies try to respond to the challenges posed by sustainability, some try to approach the whole process in a vaguely superficial manner, at a minimum cost, exhorting managers to do their best with minimal or reduced resources. This gives a clear signal to managers and their reports down the value chain that they are not really expected to do anything other than the bare minimum. It is pretty simple to understand this, say for instance, if you want a new product to have a significant effect on the organization, you develop it as a special project with dedicated resources, it is the same with sustainability.
The changes associated with incorporating sustainability within a company's DNA means change at a most fundamental level. In almost all cases managers simply refuse to understand that bringing about a change within a company implies that they have to change personally themselves.
This is where engaging with every single employee makes a huge impact. Take Walmart's My Sustainability Plan, an internal program that encourages all Walmart employees to explore what sustainability means to each one individually, not necessarily from the business perspective, but from a personal point of view. This gets them to think about their personal priorities that range from leading a healthy lifestyle (that include eating healthy, exercising, giving up smoking to getting smarter about your energy consumption) to managing personal finances, getting involved in community activities and spending more time with loved ones. Once This understanding of what is good for sustainable living help employees connect to sustainability in the work place and eventually they are able to extend their understanding externally and get external stakeholders to buy into the sustainability agenda.
So this is how it works:
- Engage with employees to help them understand the core values of sustainability and how it relates to their personal lives
- Encourage them to explore how they can then employ these core values in their day to day work environment
- Once they begin the process of integrating sustainability within their own work processes it becomes imperative for them to reach out and engage with external stakeholders to join the remaining dots.
This is what I have encountered so far in my career as a sustainability consultant. Companies, who otherwise wax eloquently about encouraging innovation, creativity and risk taking balk visibly and dither over key decisions that imply a change. Everyone loves the benefits of change but the chance of failure spooks the most seasoned managers. True, change is difficult, time-consuming and costly but it is also necessary as it offers tremendous potential for improved performance and other goodies that follow.
This is one of the most important points that emerge out of the second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group. The Study offers an interesting insight into how different companies are approaching sustainability and in the process has identified two distinct groups of companies, the first, places sustainability high on its agenda seeing it as a core strategy imperative for long-term growth and the second views sustainability through a narrow lens and are cautious about going further than energy cost savings, material efficiency and risk mitigation.
As companies try to respond to the challenges posed by sustainability, some try to approach the whole process in a vaguely superficial manner, at a minimum cost, exhorting managers to do their best with minimal or reduced resources. This gives a clear signal to managers and their reports down the value chain that they are not really expected to do anything other than the bare minimum. It is pretty simple to understand this, say for instance, if you want a new product to have a significant effect on the organization, you develop it as a special project with dedicated resources, it is the same with sustainability.
The changes associated with incorporating sustainability within a company's DNA means change at a most fundamental level. In almost all cases managers simply refuse to understand that bringing about a change within a company implies that they have to change personally themselves.
This is where engaging with every single employee makes a huge impact. Take Walmart's My Sustainability Plan, an internal program that encourages all Walmart employees to explore what sustainability means to each one individually, not necessarily from the business perspective, but from a personal point of view. This gets them to think about their personal priorities that range from leading a healthy lifestyle (that include eating healthy, exercising, giving up smoking to getting smarter about your energy consumption) to managing personal finances, getting involved in community activities and spending more time with loved ones. Once This understanding of what is good for sustainable living help employees connect to sustainability in the work place and eventually they are able to extend their understanding externally and get external stakeholders to buy into the sustainability agenda.
So this is how it works:
- Engage with employees to help them understand the core values of sustainability and how it relates to their personal lives
- Encourage them to explore how they can then employ these core values in their day to day work environment
- Once they begin the process of integrating sustainability within their own work processes it becomes imperative for them to reach out and engage with external stakeholders to join the remaining dots.
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