Why you should engage your employees for climate action

Oskar Dahl Hansen

Blog

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There can be many powerful benefits to involving your employees more in your sustainability efforts.

The times they are a-changin

In the 2022 Danish parliamentary elections, "Environment and climate action" was the second most important issue for voters. It thus surpassed issues like "Economy" and "Foreign and defence policy" in a time of rampant inflation and war in our backyard.

And it's not just a one-off: over the past few years we've witnessed the so-called "Great Resignation". The Corona shutdowns have allowed people to stop and think about why they work and what they want to get out of it. It has meant that people - and especially the younger generation - are much more actively choosing their future workplace based on things like values, pay and climate action.

At a time of historically low unemployment, companies therefore need to respond much more than in the past to the demands of their employees in order to attract and retain the best talent. One way to do this is for you as an employer to involve and engage them in your climate and sustainability strategy. In the end, they are often the ones who have to implement the various measures anyway.

Improve job satisfaction

When your employees are happy at work, they not only stay with you longer, they have an overall better experience at work. And that's an important point. In fact, it turns out that when you involve your employees in your CSR strategy, including climate strategy, the happiness of your employees at work increases. In fact, almost 90% say they are happier at work if they are involved in their company's sustainability initiatives.

When you engage your employees in actions that impact the world in a positive way, you also foster a culture of purpose, innovation and collaboration. In addition, you'll have happy and positive employees who speak openly and proudly about your company and its values.

Attract talent

66% of job seekers choose companies without a strong climate strategy over those with more ambitious climate targets. This is particularly true for the younger generation of talent in the labour market. This is of course because climate change is by far the most pressing issue in society for young people. Therefore, they want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

It is therefore important that your company's climate action is a clear part of its values when looking for new candidates. When you do this, you also get more applications from candidates who share the same values.

Create a common goal

High on the list of employee concerns is climate change, and there's no sign of that changing any time soon. Implementing strong climate initiatives in the workplace can give your employees a common goal to rally around. You can take the lead as one of the leaders who listens to your employees' concerns and creates a space where you can create change together.

Shared climate goals in the workplace are a unique opportunity to build a community with a common goal that is about something bigger than just sales and profit. That's the most important thing for any business, of course, but many employees want to take part in a higher purpose. That's especially important right now, when 60% of young people are experiencing climate anxiety.

When you take climate action together with your workplace, you join forces to create positive change. This is something that creates employee happiness!

Increase productivity

It's important to have committed leaders in your climate action. However, it is equally important to have committed employees! Research shows a positive correlation between CSR initiatives and employee engagement.

At the same time, it turns out that engaged employees are much more effective: In fact, companies with higher levels of employee engagement achieve "higher earnings per share", according to a study that examined the link between the two across 49 companies.

Boost impact

When you provide resources and help your employees live more climate-friendly lives outside work, you show that you not only see them as employees, but also value them for who they are as people.

At the same time, you show that you are not only thinking about climate action at work, but also at home. In this way, you can drive far more change than you could within the company alone. Your employees' families, friends and acquaintances are also potentially affected by the action when it is taken home - and in this way you have a huge indirect impact across communities and families.

The result of engaging your employees around effective climate action at work and connecting them with a common purpose improves their wellbeing and sense of satisfaction. This in itself is a win 💪

Source list

Pew Research Center

NEEF

WeSpire

People Management

Frontiers in Psychology

Gallup