Clean Botswana
vation and pollution control. • Provide management sponsors for leadership and resources to implement the improvements (with external specialists where necessary). • Enable champions to suggest and implement product improvements and innovations. • Encourage champions to document their sustainability journey or story. Include measured savings with metrics. • If you are the champion/s, research possible savings, efficiencies and strategic advantages and build these into a compelling ‘business case’ for sustainability. Present to top management to formalise sustainability into the mainstream of the business as a corporate objective.
What role does wider employee education play? • Provides an understanding of the changed world/ eco/economic picture and why it is important to stay abreast of the changes for business as well as personal reasons. • Provides the common language and mental models that enable staff to share and innovate on environmental improvements together. • Empowers staff with the technical skills to make ecoefficiencies pay. • Enables staff to articulate sustainability values underpinning the company to customers and suppliers.
How do you keep change agents and employees motivated? • Provide incentives for best Enviro-suggestions / best Enviro improvements. • Hold monthly/quarterly green queens or kings awards. • Let them know that increasing their green commitment, awareness and contributions is a sure way up the career ladder. • Build environmental performance into their KPIs. • Give them leadership positions. • Highly motivated staff, if their concerns are met, are more likely to stay with the company and vastly increase their productivity.
How can a company drive environmental behaviour across the industry? • Get own house in order first – plan and implement your sustainability journey. • Report on own sustainability performance as part of triple-bottom-line reporting (and in line with King 3 requirements), and to JSE Sustainability Index, Carbon Disclosure Project, whatever is relevant and leading in their sector. • Sponsor awards and lead peer-to-peer best practice learning/sharing initiatives. • Lobby their industry associations to set Enviro standards (e.g. Green Building Council). • Lead and advocate government for better industry standards. • Innovate and market greener products and services successfully as examples to peers in their sectors. Hugh Tyrrell helps companies gain returns on their sustainable investments by providing strategic services in management, marketing, and communications.
Tel: +27 21 44 88 123 info@greenedge.co.za www.greenedge.co.za
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