Stop planning, start doing

Stop planning, start doing

By Alex Robinson, 13th November 2024

So, you’re ready to create a new sustainability strategy? You’ve seen the playbook: set a goal, outline the steps, build the business case, and rally the troops. But is that the best approach?

We know that staff engagement is key to successful sustainability strategy roll-outs. Companies whose employees saw a genuine commitment to sustainability have a 16% higher engagement rate. But only a minority of people believe their employer is doing enough to address climate change and sustainability. And, more than ever, they want to have their say: 64% of 18–40-year-olds believe they have the power to drive change in their organisations.

Power of the people

A growing number of the businesses we work with are turning their sustainability strategy on its head by centring it around their people. They're encouraging sustainable behaviours like cycling to work, defaulting to plant-based catering, or adopting reuse in production. Then, they're using the insights from these behaviour change trials to shape their sustainability strategy.

That’s exactly what we did with Pets at Home. In 2022, we worked with them on The Big Listen, an active listening research project involving over 17,000 colleagues. By crowdsourcing ideas and feedback, we uncovered a wealth of solutions that could be scaled across the company.

Here's why it works:

1. You'll increase buy-in: In the short term, implementing a sustainability strategy can impact budgets and increase workload - and this can spark resistance. But when people make sustainable choices and benefit from these choices (by saving money, for example), it helps them to care. And when employees are actively involved in shaping the strategy, they're more likely to support and champion it.
2. You’ll uncover insights you wouldn’t otherwise have found: By testing behaviours and gathering real-world feedback, you can identify the most effective strategies for your business. Plus, crowdsourcing can help you discover creative solutions that you may not have considered.
3. You’ll learn how to communicate your strategy: By involving your team in the process, you'll create a group of advocates who can communicate the strategy from their own experiences. Which in turn, will help you tailor your communications to resonate with your team, clients, and customers.

So, if you want to get going, start by trialling some ideas. Luckily, we’ve got some suggestions to get you started, just in time for Christmas.

It's preloved actually

Office Christmas. Love it or hate it, it’s a season with traditions ripe for disruption. And it’s also a season that can create a whole lot of waste. Take Secret Santa, for example: in 2022 we spent £280 million on Secret Santa gifts for our colleagues - but two thirds said their gifts were no good, and some people didn’t even take their gifts home from the party!

So, we’re asking you to make your Secret Santa secondhand, and while you’re at it, shake up a few other festive traditions. It may seem small, but it adds up to a big impact - not just a bunch of plastic tat saved from landfill, but a cultural shift towards celebrating more sustainably.

Three ideas to get you started:

1. Secondhand Santa: Host a Secondhand Santa instead of a Secret Santa. It’s simple – preloved or homemade gifts only. Last year, I got a James Brown LP from a very thoughtful colleague - win.
2. Thriftmas Jumper Day: Put a sustainable spin on Christmas Jumper Day. People can opt for swapped, secondhand or saved from the depths of the wardrobe - anything but new.
3. Sustainable Christmas party: Check the sustainable swaps party checklist. Our team have pulled together loads of tips for simple Christmas party swaps to keep your celebrations lower carbon, lower waste and (probably) lower cost too – think carpooling, veggie wellingtons and crowdsourced Christmas decorations.

You can find all the resources here – or forward this page to your office elves.