93% of CEOs see sustainability as important to their company’s future success, as found by a UN-Accenture study. But how does one embed sustainability into a company’s core culture? Dr. Stephanie Bertels of Simon Fraser University conducted one of the most extensive researches in this subject. Her findings in the 74-page report are distilled into a core framework diagram. This cheat sheet will guide you through the key points.
How to use the framework diagram? The framework has 4 quadrants. To effectively embed sustainability into your corporate culture, you should have initiatives in all 4 quadrants. See below for an explanation for each quadrant along with example initiatives. If you are starting from zero, plan for small initiatives in all 4 quadrants. If you are already executing your initiatives, check to see if they cover all 4 quadrants and analyze for any gap.
1. Fostering Commitment (Informal-Fulfillment)—Deliver existing sustainability commitments by motivating employees to get involved.
- Host internal workshops and competitions
- Include sustainability messages and success stories in communications
- Include sustainability messages in hiring and reward staff for sustainability contribution
- Share progress widely across the organization
2. Clarifying Expectations (Formal-Fulfillment)—Develop structures and procedures to implement current sustainability commitments.
- Set measurable sustainability goals at organization level, department levels, and personal levels
- Incorporate sustainability into organization’s vision and strategy
- Expand existing roles or create new roles for sustainability responsibilities
- Train staff on sustainable business practices
- Link compensation to sustainability performance
3. Building Momentum For Change (Informal-Innovation)—Develop new ideas and new practices for the road ahead.
- Form cross-functional champions team to seek innovative ideas from all levels
- Crowd-source from suppliers or customers for ideas and collaborations
- Share best practices across internal groups and at external industry events and publications
4. Instilling Capacity For Change (Formal-Innovation)—Formalize learning and process development
- Play an official role in industry conferences and policy development
- Benchmark progress with industry peers
- Incorporate sustainability deeply into business processes and systems, e.g. implement environmental management systems (EMS)
- Design new products and services that achieve industry leading levels of sustainability performance
How do your sustainability initiatives fit in to the framework? Share with us by leaving a comment below. More details of the framework are available at this website.
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How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet http://t.co/pPVjpCL via @AddToAny
How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet http://t.co/zwxvYzT
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How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet | Carbon49.com http://t.co/G6OqYlD
Amazing timing. I was just working on an article about this myself. This chart is an ultra-comprehensive illustration of the work that so many companies still have left to do. Many who have embarked on sustainability are still stuck in the first quadrant. I’m fascinated by the opportunities this lays out for people who want to develop less formal methods for cultural change for sustainability.
How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet http://t.co/03Vsatc
This is exciting — thanks for the summary, Derek. I look forward to reading the whole report.
I’d like to add something.
The role of education is alluded to twice (under 1. “Host internal workshops and competitions” and in 4. “Formalize learning and process development”) without mentioning something quite basic.
People working in the field of sustainable development sometimes forget that not everyone knows the history and “story” of sustainable development, its definition and goal, its principles and processes, and its problems and promise. Many people, if they have any opinion or knowledge about it at all, still think that sustainable development is an oxymoron, or that it means “jobs versus the environment.”
The results of a qualitative research study I did at the community level show that once people learn about sustainable development, they can see the significance of using it as a discussion, planning and decision-making framework. (See http://www.greenhearted.org/sustainable-development-learning-thesis.html for more info.)
As I pointed out at the 2007 International Forum on Applied Sustainable Development at l’Université de Sherbrooke in Québec, I think it’s vital that companies seeking to embed sustainability into their corporate culture teach — very consciously and deliberately — their employees (and possibly other stakeholders) *about* sustainable development/sustainability … and in a way that models the principles of sustainable development in action (see, for example, the Three Hats Strategy: http://www.greenhearted.org/three-hats.html).
I believe this is an important and necessary step in boosting “buy in” from everyone who has a stake in moving a company in the direction of development that is sustainable.
Thanks again for sharing this report!
Julie Johnston, Sustainability Education Consultant
GreenHeart Education, Pender Island, BC, Canada (near Vancouver and Seattle)
http://t.co/4eiHT5W This is outstanding. #green #pmot #business #sustainability
Interesting and useful cheat sheet on How to “Embed #Sustainability into Corporate Culture” http://t.co/80wBDIX #eco #ecomonday #green
[…] for Sustainability 3.0 is engagement. Realization of top level strategies comes when every employee is engaged in the journey. The engagement of stakeholders will allow strategy implementation to be more […]
[…] for Sustainability 3.0 is engagement. Realization of top level strategies comes when every employee is engaged in the journey. The engagement of stakeholders will allow strategy implementation to be more […]
How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet http://t.co/s7j7MgoX
RT @IamSarahDoc: How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet http://t.co/s7j7MgoX