Engaging Employees With Sustainable Initiatives

The best way to introduce, and maintain, sustainability in the workplace is to get your employees involved in your efforts. After all, there’s strength in numbers. However, increasing engagement, especially through giving and volunteer opportunities, can sometimes be easier said than done. To help, we’ve outlined some of our top tips to start or help you keep up engagement for workplace sustainability. 

7 Easy Ways to Increase Employee Engagement in Workplace Sustainability 

1. Start a sustainability committee 

Having a few people volunteer to lead your sustainability initiatives can help ensure that everyone is on track and focused on your company's goals. Creating a sustainability committee also gives employees a chance to take the lead, working toward environmental causes that they’re passionate about and can help increase job satisfaction.

2. CENTRALIZE SUSTAINABILITY communications

Create a designated group or portal (we like Benevity) that makes it simple for communications and social engagement around sustainable opportunities to be shared across your organization.
This will keep employees updated in real-time and give them the freedom to check the latest stats whenever they please. 

3. Have a flexible approach 

When you have a one size fits all approach, employees can sometimes feel excluded or uninterested in your sustainability goals. Customize your programming for your employees and be open to feedback on how your employees would like to participate in a way that best suits them. 

4. SET GOALS AND TRACK YOUR SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE

Tracking and reviewing donations, employee participation, and setting realistic goals for your workplace sustainability program through software like Benevity can assist with measuring employee engagement, while also keeping employees motivated to help make difference. 

5. KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

It’s important to stay updated on the latest sustainability news and keep your employees in the loop as well.
Our monthly Good News! blog posts are a great place to start, delivering global sustainable wins each and every month. 

6. SCHEDULE CONSISTENT MEETINGS

Be sure to hold consistent meetings to keep your team updated on your sustainability initiatives and results. Consistent meetings will ensure that your sustainability projects will stay top of mind and keeping a schedule of weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings will help keep up momentum.  

7. Offer incentives and feedback

Last but not least, offering sustainability incentives for employees, such as an award or point system for achieving green goals, is a great way to keep employees motivated. Celebrating wins (small and large) lets your team know that you recognize and appreciate all of their contributions. 

Creating a sustainability program and keeping employees engaged will not only help make a positive impact on the Earth, but it will also create happier, more fulfilled employees and a positive corporate culture.