Action for the climate crisis. The business change programme we need to embed and fast.

Sarah standing in front of a chalk cliff wearing a white floral dress.

It’s been a joy to work on business, culture and behavioural change programmes over the past 20 years. I’ve seen the positive impact these programmes have for business and employees, when they’re delivered strategically and with purpose. So, it got me thinking about what could happen if we applied the principles of change to help businesses play their part in tackling the climate crisis. Could we achieve the urgent collective shift that’s needed?

Every business transformation project has a set of specific goals and desired outcomes, and so the strategies we design will vary from project to project. One thing remains consistent though. Our trusted framework of principles that support the co-creation of change with employees, by listening and involving them and then creating impactful and effective resources so they feel empowered throughout the transformation journey.

Educate and raise awareness

Change begins with an understanding of why we need to change, and how it will affect each person. As a founder or leader, you have an opportunity to inform and educate your employees and supply chain about the climate crisis, its causes, and the impact of not acting as a business. Think about how you can share this information in a way that’s accessible, straight talking and honest, so it doesn’t scare anyone off, before they’ve had a chance to feel involved. In this short Ted Talk communications strategist, John Marshall shares 3 strategies on how to talk about climate change effectively. It’s a good place to start. Remember that your employees don’t know what you know yet, and for most people, the climate crisis can feel like a very overwhelming topic at first!

Set measurable and realistic goals

Behavioural shifts are more likely to happen when we have clear and simple goals to work towards. Encourage your employees and supply chain to set personal climate goals, whether that’s reducing energy consumption, minimising waste, or driving less. Small, achievable steps make the larger goal of slowing climate change seem much less daunting and much more achievable. It's easy to start doing this by using a platform like Giki Zero to track your carbon reduction as individuals, and collectively as a business. You could create some challenges around reduction targets and get everyone involved!

Cultivate a culture of trust

Business change is ultimately driven by individual and collective behavioral shifts. Before anyone considers testing new ways of working, or adopting the business changes you are making for the planet, they need to feel safe and supported to try new things. A straightforward way to begin cultivating trust is to encourage two-way communication. Create space and time for listening to your employees, instead of just sharing your transformation from the top down. Encourage and empower them to share any ideas and fears openly and talk about how you can come together to drive solutions as a business. You never know who might be sitting on a brilliant sustainability idea or solution. Involve everyone in your sustainable business decisions, be open and transparent, and celebrate your learnings and wins together as you go.

Communicate with purpose

Why, who, what, where and way? It’s a communication strategy classic! Be clear about why you are changing. Consider the different journeys for your employees, supply chain and all other stakeholders and how it impacts them in their role. Agree consistent and key messaging for each group, and then carefully consider and plan the timing of your different comms activities. Consider aligning with global celebration days like World Earth Day to amplify messaging. Remember to use a mix of accessible communication channels that work for each group too, such as Workplace/Teams, face to face and online sessions. We’re in this together and need to spark curiosity and interest with as many people as possible.

Normalise talking about climate change

How can you introduce the topic into everyday work life? Set up a Teams or WorkPlace channel to share recommendations on ways you can be a ‘better’ business. Host a monthly Q+A or climate conversation or simply include sustainability as a regular topic on your existing meeting agendas. Remember to make it relevant and purposeful for everyone, and balance important and serious climate change updates with more light hearted conversation and topics like book recommendations on climate change and action. Climate Science Breakthrough is doing this brilliantly. Warning - it’s a bit sweary but very impactful and have seen it shared widely on social media, so it’s working!

Share and celebrate the good stuff!

It’s important to talk about your progress and wins as an organisation, and share the positive climate news happening around the world. You may need to dig a bit deeper to find the good news stories as they can get lost in the ‘doomism’, but us humans need the good stuff to keep us motivated and working towards our collective ambition for systems change.

Share feedback and reward action

Feedback and rewards are powerful tools for driving behavioural change. Encourage and reward action with recognition. It could be as simple as a thank you call from the CEO, or a mention at the team meeting for reaching certain sustainability milestones. AG employees receive a sustainability bonus once a year if they achieve their personal social and environmental goals. Climate action is ingrained into our business strategy and impact goals, it’s how we do business now!

Addressing the climate crisis in the workplace isn’t just about adopting new ways of working or creating new policies. It’s about fundamentally transforming the way you currently do business, by creating behavioural shifts across the organisation and disrupting societal norms. If every business designed and embedded a change programme to help their employees, supply chain and clients to make better choices – the collective impact would be huge and would make a significant contribution to the fight against climate change. Are you in?