Impacts of Culture at All Stages of Adopting Sustainability

How important is culture to your strategy to adopt a sustainability strategy? We believe it is fundamental to the success of the strategy. And not only is it crucial to foster a culture of sustainability to achieve your goals; most organizations that have managed to transform themselves into sustainable ones did so by first identifying and leveraging the grassroots efforts of their employees.

Just ask Vijay Kanal, Director and Global Head of Technology Practice at BSR. In his recent report, "Five Stages on the Sustainability Journey",  he analyses the steps various organizations have taken to reposition themselves as sustainability leaders. His findings show that most organizations begin their journey well before any formal strategy is conceived in the following stages:

• Grassroots: Your existing culture of sustainability is doing the work for you. Small, siloed groups of employees are organizing green initiatives, largely on their own time with no formal support. While small and often isolated, these are incredibly important as they represent a way for employees to get involved and empower themselves towards a broader goal.
• Functional: One or two business units or functional teams have begun to incorporate sustainable practices into their strategy and operations, still of their own initiative, and often invisible to senior management.
• Strategic: At this point, the CEO or Executive Team begins to see the value in a coordinated push for sustainable business practices, and gets on board to direct the efforts of various business units. An overarching strategy is designed to support a specific sustainability mission. People feel comfortable trying out new ideas, knowing the Execs have adopted this budding culture of sustainability.
• Ecosystem: The organization now looks to its external stakeholders, eager to find ways its partners can support its push towards sustainability.
• DNA: Sustainability is now a fundamental part of every facet of the organization.

Regardless of your company’s stage of readiness, culture is a critical part of developing and integrating sustainability into your business. And it can also be a way of inspiring, engaging and empowering your employees to champion sustainability within their own areas of responsibility. Encouraging and empowering your employees to lead their own initiatives is a critical first step. It’s only after they’ve already taken ownership of the sustainability vision, that you should step in and provide strategic direction.

What are your employees doing to advance sustainability in your organization?

We would enjoy learning your thoughts or experiences.