Sustainability as a Change Process
Companies need to improve their environmental, social and management standards in order to meet legal requirements and customer expectations. This can only be achieved if the entire workforce internalizes sustainability and thinks about it as a matter of course in all processes.
For Maren Grondey, sustainability is not a strategy. It’s an attitude to life: “That’s me. I pay attention to where my clothes are produced and where my food comes from. I don’t sit at home in the winter with the heating at 22 degrees. I ride my bike and do without long-distance flights. For me, this is a matter of course because we don’t have a second earth,” says the 47-year-old entrepreneur, who runs the Siemer Verpackung family business from Ronnenberg in Lower Saxony together with her sister Laura Grondey. Since she pays attention to sustainability in every decision in her private life, as a boss she naturally brings the topic into her company as well.
Entrepreneur Maren Grondey wants her employees to internalize sustainability just as she does.
The company, founded in 1906, operates on a climate-neutral basis. It offsets emissions that it cannot avoid with CO2 certificates. “Our clientele can decide which climate protection projects we invest in and follow the progress,” says Grondey. In addition, the issue is a guiding principle in all business areas: “Whether it’s buildings, the vehicle fleet or travel – every decision is subject to the goal of avoiding emissions completely, reducing them as far as possible or offsetting them.”
Management must justify changes well
Naturally, this has an impact on the day-to-day work of the 33 employees and only succeeds if they have internalized the approach just as much as their bosses. The issue of sustainability covers not only environmental aspects, but also social issues and the way the company is managed, summarized under the label ESG (Environment, Social and Governance). Major changes only work if they are not simply imposed on employees, but are well justified, and if management gives them the assurance that their work will not be jeopardized as a result, but rather secured in the long term.
Carmen Hofmann is an editor and ESG officer at Lawpilots, an e-learning provider for legal-regulatory online training. Together with her clients, the 33-year-old goes through the three sub-areas of ESG and examines whether all possibilities have been exhausted.
“When it comes to the environment, there are various factors:
- Can we use material more than once?
- Where do we source our food?
- What cleaning products do we use?
- Do we enable our employees to come by bike or train?
- Can we replace business trips with video calls?
- Do we make sure we save electricity by turning everything off in the evening, i.e., not leaving devices on standby?
Even with seemingly everyday decisions, companies can do a great deal to reduce their carbon footprint by subjecting all areas of their business to a check,” says Hofmann.
In the case of Maren Grondey’s company Siemer Verpackung, for example, that means using energy-saving LEDs and power outlets with switches to turn off electricity, using recycled copier and toilet paper, having a 3,000-square-meter photovoltaic system on its roof, and providing leased bicycles and Fairtrade work clothes and coffee to its workforce.
Appreciation promotes willingness to change
In terms of social factors, Lawpilots’ ESG training can also show companies ways to be sustainable, i.e., to focus on continuity and the long term. Employees who feel valued want to stay and are open to change. “That’s why it’s important to provide sufficient protection and security at work. In addition, the principle of equal treatment applies. Those who feel they are at a disadvantage compared to colleagues from the same department are more likely to quit inwardly and are less motivated to implement innovations,” says the expert. An important indicator of employee satisfaction is also the chance to take action against grievances, even if anonymously. “Effective whistleblower protection is also an indicator of sustainability.”
Make goals and impacts transparent
That leaves the corporate governance factor. Central to the success of additional measures in everyday work is that managers set an example of rethinking. If the boss comes to work by bicycle, employees will find it easier to give up their cars themselves. If the company has adopted a code of conduct, it must not only be followed consistently, but its goals and effects must be made transparent. “The key to a good bond between management and the workforce is that employees feel they are being taken seriously. This starts with involving them in as many important decisions as possible,” says Carmen Hofmann. Accordingly, Maren Grondey and her sister pursue the “employees first” approach. “The calculation is quite simple: if the employees are satisfied, so are the customers,” says Grondey.
However, Hofmann emphasizes that changes toward greater sustainability are most efficient when they are introduced carefully and do not come across as a caesura in which no stone is left unturned. “It is primarily the small things in everyday life that make the difference in the end. They can be integrated step by step into workflows without overwhelming or discouraging anyone.“
How much CO2 does it cost to eat schnitzel three times a week?
Christopher Jahns agrees. Jahns, who holds a doctorate in business administration, is the founder and CEO of the online education platform XU, which targets employees and provides them with further training in the areas of digitization, sustainability and e-mobility. Together with partners, he founded the XU School of Sustainability, an online qualification program that deals comprehensively with the topic of sustainability.
The 53-year-old thinks nothing of pointing the finger or putting pressure on the workforce. “Of course it’s good if the boss acts in an exemplary manner when it comes to sustainability. But he doesn’t have to be a saint. It is more effective if he and the team jointly consider where there is potential for improvement, and then uses concrete examples to illustrate this. How much CO2 does it cost to eat schnitzel three times a week or to leave the lights on in the office and production? That makes it clear and comprehensible.” Multipliers in the company who set an example of change and accompany its introduction are also helpful.
In addition to ecological and social reasons for more sustainability, there are two that leave future-oriented companies no choice anyway: legal regulations and the rules of the market. The latter in particular will ensure that sustainability becomes a natural factor in entrepreneurial activity, Jahns believes. “The turnaround will not come through prohibitions or do-gooding, but because companies earn more money with it. Those who are not sustainable damage their image and scare away customers and young talent.“
Source: Creditreform magazine
Text: Gesa van der Meyden
Picture credits: Siemer
