Employee engagement with the business is a critical factor in long-term business succcess and organisational sustainability. An organization full of employees who believe they belong – is an organization on a mission! Possessing a workforce that feels valued, inspired and alive — in other words, engaged. These engaged employees are more productive and better performers.
Many organisations are seeking to integrate environmental compliance and management processes into their ways of working. Others are attempting to drive a sustainability culture into their DNA! To achieve this, they are enlisting a new group of employees – the environmental or sustainability specialist – as change managers. Many are having spectacular success in altering the organisational beliefs, ways of working and the mindset of their colleagues. In the course of which they deliver a new lease of commercial life in their sectors and marketplace, but others are failing as they become dispirited with entrenched leadership attitudes, lack of accountability and on occasion evidence of organisational acceptance of illegal or unethical practices.
No company is perfect, They all have flaws, quirks and established ways of working brought in through thier owner, leaders and workforce. When working with established businesses and organisational leaders it is common to encounter resistance to change and suspicion of new management models such as responsible management or sustainability leadership. In some organisations, the change management activities that are required to embed sustainability issues and strategic thinking can be challenging. In one daunting food manufacturing company it would have been easier to drain the Atlantic Ocean with a recycled Starbucks coffee cup than change one executive opinion of environmental issues. That is why I was surprised in one recent mentoring session on how dismayed a young sustainability adviser was with her career choice.
No one said entering the environmental profession would be an easy one or a free pass to career success. You are after all trying to bring in a new mindset to business. You are in a vocational race to alter traditional mindsets before they cumulatively impact on the lives and prosperity of society and the environments hey inhabit globally! The challenge and the excitement of the role is ultimately why you are working within business, and why most of us get out of bed each morning.
We analysed some of the problems she faced. We then took them apart to examine the specific issues that were causing her so much grief in detail:
But in a couple of situations, the issues were clear and the challenges she faced were significant. Despite her best endeavours, there were several key sustainability issues where she felt that her efforts were being purposely disregarded, where the context of sustainability claims was being manipulated for greenwashing/marketing purposes without organisational evidence. Whilst these indicated a lack of responsible leadership or management in those above her, ultimately our conversation had to address a cruel set of questions that only she could answer:
Ethics and strong social values underline an environmental or sustainability professional’s career choice. Many of us remain optimistic and hold an altruistic view on how business can work in economic and social partnership with the rest of society for the economic betterment of all. Your work is integral, not only to how you see the world, but how your chosen sector or employer actively improves their environmental or sustainability performance into the future as a core business strategy.
So, when your employer makes headlines for the wrong environmental reasons or continues to act in an unsustainable manner contradicting its stated policies should you look for a new role with a new employer? To figure that out, you need to closely examine your emotional relationship with your work and with your employer:
Depending on your answers you may not need to leave, many companies weather small environmental scandals and they are often a golden opportunity to enhance changes in behaviour – simply put don’t waste a crisis but be aware of how such situations could damage your reputation.
At the end of the day and to repeat the starting paragraph – An organization full of employees who believe they belong is an organization full of employees who feel purposeful, inspired and alive — in other words, engaged. And these engaged employees are more productive and better performers.
Ultimately you must consider your own job satisfaction, your well-being, career prospects and future development if you stay. If the company’s actions (or inactions) violate your moral and professional code of conduct, then you may need to take a professional stand and move on.
If you do decide to leave, be ready to answer the obvious question ‘Why did you leave your last employer from the next HR or recruiting manager. Prepare an answer in advance that acknowledges the organisational risks you identified, the actions you sought to take for that organisation’s benefit, how you personally felt your values and ethics were being compromised by the management responses received and seek to distance yourself from their behaviours. Turn it back on the recruiter as a first step in what sort of professional they are hiring – How would this company deal with such an issue? It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
At Leading Green, our approach to sustainability in business consulting encourages our clients to look closely at their own internal leadership strengths and goals. Helping them adopt an inquisitive state of mind and supporting them in how sustainability can support their long-term business strategy.
We provide a unique series of short training courses that we design with IEMAs Sustainability Skills Map in mind to assist CPD requirements and overall leadership development. In addition, we have courses that address specific issues across 4 core areas: Sustainability in Business, Sustainability Leadership, Environmental Leadership and EIA leadership . These are delivered in-house or through advertised training days within the UK and internationally.
In addition, we offer confidential mentoring and coaching services to new and experienced professionals seeking to enhance thier performance, skills and employability.