Building a sustainability culture

With the absence of a clear regulatory framework, Australian businesses have grappled with how best to address their environmental impact.

With growing employee and community expectations about the role of major corporates in minimising their environmental footprint, there is a perception that 'doing the right thing' has to come at the expense of organisational profitability.

However, an important resource often overlooked by many businesses is their people. Employees are one of the primary contributors to the environmental impact of an organisation, but they can also be the key drivers of change.

Capturing the hearts and minds of employees around this issue can benefit the company in achieving both its sustainability goals and in creating a more engaged workforce.

The challenge lies in finding the best way to mobilise your employees to help achieve your sustainability goals. Depending on the scale and geographic spread of your employee base it can be a complex task. However, at NAB we have found five sustainability themes that have resonated with our people.

1.  Harness the passion of your people

By actively engaging with employees you will start to identify specific areas for improvement and as you continue to involve your people in the process, a ready-made team of 'environmental champions' will soon emerge.

This central team of champions is key in creating a ground-swell of support for your sustainability initiatives. This team can be the conduit for information dissemination, motivating the larger group and acting as a litmus test for responses, as well as helping to manage and encourage behavioural changes.

This doesn't mean you can pass the challenge on to them and forget about it. You will need to identify issues and solutions, help the team of champions implement them, be responsible for overcoming any obstacles along the way and continuing to work toward a sustainable workplace.

2. Increase understanding

Knowledge is power and being informed on the issues will help create a smooth transition for your people. This includes opening the lines of communication using a combination of opportunities for question and answers, in addition to information dissemination.

3. Make it simple for people to contribute

While the intention may be there, fulfilling sustainability responsibilities may seem like just another item on the to-do list for some employees, you need to make it simple for employees to contribute. Your people will be the day-to-day owners of the initiatives, but they will look to you to lead by example, inspire and motivate them, provide the necessary support and continue to progress the sustainability program to the next level.

Incentives such as competitions and recognition from senior management can go a long way. Inspiration can also include helping your people lead a more sustainable lifestyle outside of work by creating a car pool system or providing a space for people to store their bikes if they choose to cycle to work.

4. Maintain momentum

Sustainability is not a quick fix issue. It requires ongoing attention to create a sustainability culture.

Once you get started it's easy to be tempted to jump straight in the deep end and tackle a number of areas at once, but start slow and maintain momentum over time.

Taking it one step at a time is key to keeping the attention of your people, not overwhelming them with information and assuring them the business is genuinely committed to sustainability.

5. Connect

Most people only have a small amount of attention for anything extra in their working day. Before reaching out to your people, think carefully about methods of communication your organisation already has that can be utilised and know the kinds of communication they will respond best to.

NAB's carbon neutral story

Bearing those five themes in mind, here's how NAB did it. In 2007 NAB made a commitment to become carbon neutral by 30 September 2010 and in doing became the first bank in Australia to make this commitment. We made this commitment not because we wanted to be the first but because we felt it was the right thing to do for all for all our stakeholders.

To achieve carbon neutrality NAB focused first and foremost on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and emission reduction projects. In Australia a 20% greenhouse gas emissions savings target (46,000 tonnes of emissions against 2006 baseline) was set.

In addition to reducing emissions, NAB committed to purchasing energy from renewable energy sources and offsetting remaining emissions by purchasing quality accredited carbon offsets.

In support of this approach NAB also encouraged long-term behavioural change in its employee base of more than 40,000 across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Asia.

Strategies

To maintain and build momentum over three years to achieve the carbon neutral goal NAB used a four-tier strategy and several communication methods.

1. Harness the passion of your people - NAB invited employees to be ambassadors for the carbon neutral program and actively supported the creation of a voluntary Green Team community to champion sustainable behaviours in the workplace.
2. Increase understanding - NAB provides opportunities for employees to volunteer with organisations that work in sustainability and also has an e-learning program for employees to learn more about sustainability.
3. Make it simple for people to contribute - To inspire employees at work and at home NAB provided a number of incentives such as discounts on solar panels and rain water tanks and installed infrastructure including bike racks, showers and lockers for people cycling, as well as free bike repairs.
4. Maintain momentum - At regular intervals NAB rolled out campaigns through its Green Team focusing on different aspects of the carbon neutral initiative such as energy and paper use.

Communication methods

The Green Team community has been critical to information dissemination and communication throughout the three year carbon neutral process, ensuring information gets to the right place and is heard. By using a combination of electronic, print, face to face communication approaches we kept the content interesting and ensured cut-through.

Highlights included a carbon neutral inbox for questions, video content distributed using a viral email method, an annual survey to gauge feedback and an interactive environment expo.

NAB also drew on its existing communication channels including in-house TV, the intranet, employee magazine, monthly newsletter and provided colourful behavioural reminders using desktop wallpapers and posters around buildings and in lifts.

Outcome

NAB has built unwavering commitment to carbon neutral and sustainability among its employees and the Green Team community has grown to more than 800 employee members.

In the 2010 employee survey:

• Eighty-four per cent of employees said 'supporting environmental causes' is important to them
• 'Carbon neutral' was ranked by employees as the top priority followed by volunteering
• 'Other environmental initiatives' were also ranked in the top five priorities at number four.

NAB has achieved its carbon neutral goal and the savings achieved are a testament to the enthusiasm, commitment and activism of individuals to help make their workplace more environmentally sustainable.

In Australia NAB achieved emission savings of 60,000 tonnes, exceeding its 20% target. This saving is equivalent to the annual emissions of 13,500 cars.

Having reached its goal, NAB now has plans to achieve further efficiencies in water, paper usage and waste reduction.

Gavin Slater's six tips for building a sustainability culture

1. Harness the passion of your people - Empower the environmental champions you already have to increase support and link activities to a common goal such as carbon neutral
2. Be creative - Think about the way you communicate to cut through the noise
3. Increase knowledge - Providing your people with the facts behind the initiatives will help to answer any doubts, include them in the process and possibly even generate more ideas on how to address the issues
4. Inspire and make it simple for people to contribute - Every small change adds up to a lot if we all get on board
5. Maintain momentum - One goal at a time will keep the journey fresh
6. Reward and recognise - Progress reports and recognition of those who are making a difference - competitions, prizes and acknowledgement from senior management will be appreciated

About the author

Gavin Slater is the Group Executive for Group Business Services at National Australia Bank