Engaged employees i.e. those who share business' values and objectives deliver almost 20% better results that their competition. Yet, on average only 17% employees in the UK and 13% worldwide are fully engaged at work. Introducing sustainability into such environment can prove challenging, to say the least. How to ensure that your sustainability programme will turn into a lasting cultural change?

1. Engaging employees
on sustainability
Green Business Conference
Roundtable Discussion
To n b r i d g e , 1 9 t h N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3
Monika Maciejewska
Sustainability & CSR Strategist

2. Agenda
 UK workplace engagement ratio
 Defining engagement
 Towards sustainable engagement

3. World-class engaged business are ...
More productive (↑18%)
Absenteeism ↓37%
More profitable (↑16% )
Safer (Incidents ↓49% )
Source: Gallup, Employee Engagement, What’s your engagement ratio?

4. UK engagement ratio
 17% engaged employees in the UK *
 57% not engaged employees in the UK*
 £50 bn eliminating active disengagement would add to the
UK’s economy *
 9.1 days average sickness days taken by UK
employee
 3.5 days less sick days taken by engaged
employees
* Gallup, State of the Global Workplace Report 2013

5. Employee engagement
“Being positively present during
the performance of work by
willingly contributing intellectual
effort, experiencing positive
emotions and meaningful
connections to other”
CIPD

6. Types of engagement
 Engaged –
loyal, psychologically committed to the
organization, more productive, more likely to stay with their
company for at least a year, less likely to have accidents on the
job, and less likely to steal, have most of their performancerelated workplace needs met
Not engaged -
may be productive but they are not
psychologically connected to their company, more likely to miss
workdays and more likely to leave, have their performancerelated workplace needs met but have many needs unmet
Actively disengaged -
physically present but
psychologically absent, unhappy with their work situation and
insist on sharing that unhappiness with their colleagues, have
most of their performance-related workplace needs unmet

7. “To win in the marketplace you must
first win in the workplace.”
Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell’s Soup

8. Sustainability
Sustainable Development development that meets the
needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own
needs”
UN & Brundtland Report

9. 3 pillars of sustainability
 Environment (Planet)
 Example initiatives: reduction of use of water,
heat and electricity, CO2 (travel), waste
minimisation
 Social (People )
 Example initiatives: charity fundraisers,
volunteering in the community, apprenticeship
programmes, skills enhancement, development
programmes, community outreach
 Economic (Profit)
 Innovation, Resource efficiency, Risk
management, sustainable sourcing policies,
human rights

10. Journey towards engagement
Sustainability is a journey
Preliminary
stage
Need for
change
Strategy &
Vision
•Ad-hoc projects
•Driven by key people within an organisation, often with a personal interest in the topic
•Not repeatable or scalable
•Market opportunity
•Business risk e.g. Social, supply chain
•Financial gains e.g. Savings, new revenue streams
•Social and cultural change
• Establishing a sustainability leadership team
•Creating sustainability vision
•Developing sustainability strategies , setting goals and measureable targets

11. Journey towards engagement
Awareness
& Knowledge
Connection
Commitment
Action
• Employees feel fully informed about Company’s sustainability goals and understand the reasoning behind it
• Sustainability leadership team is the role model for the expected behaviour and attitude - leadership by
example
• Employees share Company’s vision and values
• Employees have sufficient knowledge about sustainability
• Employees are starting to relate to the topic at home and at work
• Key business processes and sustainability objectives are being aligned
• Short-term wins are becoming visible and provide sense of achievement
• Time to reward people who made the wins possible
• Employees show interest & initiative in sustainability
• Sustainable innovation is being fostered
• Eliminating processes, structures and policies that don’t fit with the vision
• Time to identify develop, promote, nominate sustainability champions (change agents)
• Injection of fresh energy into the strategy by starting new projects and forming theme focused working groups
• Employees are actively participating in sustainability related activities and initiatives
• Mid and long -term objectives are being met
• Time to engage clients and suppliers on sustainability agenda
• Celebrate successes & think about progression
• Leadership development

12. Why new initiatives fail
Lack of vision
Lack of leadership
Wrong people for the job –
sustainability champions
Insufficient communication
Failing to create short-term wins
Lack of praise and recognition

13. Summary
Develop a sustainability
vision – what are you
trying to achieve
Get people involved in
defining sustainability
strategy

14. Summary
Talk to your team about
sustainability
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION of VISION
Simple
Explain what & why
Frequent
Use examples
Multiple forums
Two way

15. Summary
Training & Passing on
knowledge is important but
not enough to create lasting
change
Leadership (!)
Lead by example
Motivate

16. Summary
Indentify your champions
Look beyond roles & job functions
Search for passion and real interest

17. Summary
Recognise achievements
Always praise is public

18. Summary
Ensure high standard
&
Think about progression

19. Summary
Keep it interesting
Sustainability can be fun!

20. About us
Our Mission
To provide our clients with a peace of
mind allowing them to grow their
businesses in an ethical way

21. Contact us
Monika Maciejewska
Sustainability & CSR Strategist
e: info@monikamaciejewska.com
w: www.monikamaciejewska.com
t: @majooski
in: www.linkedin.com/in/mmaciejewska