Stepping Stones To Sustainability – Green your employment culture in 5 steps
Introduction
Sustainability is increasingly high on people’s agenda and has become a buzz word in business circles. Measurable performance and tangible outcomes are becoming the standard across all sectors.
But what does this really mean in practice, and how do you make your business more sustainable in a meaningful way?
We break sustainability challenges down into manageable chunks to help our clients meet their ESG aspirations and to help them to take action on climate change and social injustice through the way that they operate.
Our Stepping stones to sustainability series will walk you through practical services that we can offer to help you make efficient and effective changes, and ultimately build more purpose and impact into your organisation.
Green your employment culture in 5 steps
Employers will have a key role in driving forwards the UK’s sustainability agenda. Climate-conscious employers can create systemic positive change whilst attracting and retaining the best employees by building a sustainable workplace culture. Green clauses can be used in employee handbooks and contracts to enshrine climate responsibility across your organisation, from board level to each individual employee.
Stepping stones to sustainability Green your employment culture in 5 steps
#1 Green employment culture
Your employee handbook can set the tone for ambitious climate and environmental action involving every employee and be a tool for promoting your organisation’s sustainability commitments. For example, your organisation could introduce:
A sustainable commuting policy encouraging employees to walk, cycle or use public transport to reach the office;
A flexible working policy (working from home and flexible hours have been shown to reduce individual and organisational carbon footprint); and/or
A holiday policy which appropriately recognises employees who choose domestic holiday destinations or use sustainable modes of travel.
#2 Objective Setting
Consider assessing employees against sustainability objectives and targets during performance appraisals. To reward sustainable decision-making, you could introduce performance conditions that provide for part of a share-based incentive award if ESG targets are met.
#3 Knowledge and Development
Consider including information about your organisation’s sustainability targets and practice and employee expectations in the induction process and offering training to all employees in environmental issues relevant to their roles. You could introduce a clause in employment contracts requiring the employer to provide, and the employee to participate in, a range of sustainability education and awareness-raising interventions, which will empower them to actively participate in your organisation’s sustainability ambitions.
#4 Climate Leadership and Engagement
Consider introducing sustainability ambassadors within senior leadership, ensuring accountability, and incorporating environmental considerations into organisational values. You could also introduce an environmental whistleblowing provision to your whistleblowing policy that facilitates reporting of any conduct that detrimentally impacts your organisation’s sustainability ambitions or causes damage to the environment.
#5 Pensions
An employee’s pension is likely to be the biggest investment that they make in their lifetime, and it’s also a key tool to create positive sustainable impact. Having a sustainable pension is one of the most powerful things we can do to protect the planet (and could be 21 times more effective in cutting carbon than giving up flying and becoming vegetarian combined). Consider assessing your organisation’s pension scheme’s investments and, if needs be, switching to more sustainable or ethical investment options.
Bates Wells believes the law should be a force for good. Why not ask our employment team how we can assist your business to enshrine its environmental values in its employment culture by exploring how your HR team and employees can work together to strengthen your organisation’s sustainability culture and meet your net zero targets.
Making a profit is core to all businesses but our goal is to combine this with a real social purpose. Our values are pivotal to us, they shape our decisions and the way we live and work.
We focus on positive social impact as much as we focus on being a successful law firm. Our top tier legal advice is coupled with a real desire to drive change and we were the first UK law firm to achieve B Corp certification, awarded to businesses that balance purpose and profit.
Today, our clients are diverse – from corporate household names, to public bodies, to start-ups. We’re also the firm of choice for thousands of charities and social enterprises. We continue to lead the market we helped to shape.
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