What defines a company’s culture is about much more than what it says in your mission statement. It’s about how your teams communicate, what they believe is important, and what guides your decision-making process at every level of the company’s operations. Company culture isn’t something you write down – it’s something you feel and something you cultivate in the minds of your ground workers all the way to the top.
Creating a sustainable culture intentionally is hard work, and requires everyone to be on the same page as to what your duty is as a company. If sustainability is all about your bottom line, it likely won’t catch on with anyone but the C-suite. However, if you make employees feel good about the ways in which they’re creating an eco-friendly work environment, your sustainability culture will spread rapidly.
Below are # different ways you can empower your staff to take initiative and feel connected to sustainability-centric company culture:
Start on the ground floor
The best way to engage your staff in the sustainability effort is by making it relevant to their daily lives. If they can talk to customers about the eco-friendly packaging you use or tell friends how your company is creating more green space on the facility, you can help them see how their work impacts the environment for the better.
Educate the right way
Education on environmental issues that impact your industry can go a long way toward helping your team understand the importance of creating a more sustainable work culture. However, facts and frightening statistics often fall on deaf ears and can make people actually less enthusiastic about your mission. Instead of lecturing, show how your actions as a company can help clean up a local habitat, reduce plastic pollution within your community, or help the next generation have better outdoor air quality. These tangible results can make people see the good in their actions instead of trying to avoid the bad.
Lead by example
If you want a truly sustainable culture that does more than look good on paper, you need to start by educating your upper management on sustainability efforts in your industry. If they can use this information to make better decisions for your brand, you show your employees and customers that sustainability is a top priority.
Sustainability is good for the planet, good for your community, and good for your bottom line. If you want to take the first step by installing energy-efficient upgrades into your facility, give MaintenX a call today!
