An important part of executing sustainability initiatives on the ground is employee training. Training employees in sustainability ensures that initiatives are carried out correctly, that employees feel empowered to participate, and that initiatives are supported and accepted even if this means changing the way they normally do things. Examples of what these initiatives might look like are placing organics, recycling, and waste in their respective bins; shutting off taps or equipment when not in use; or spending additional time searching for suppliers that provide sustainable products.
Effective training is not just about showing employees how to do things, but why it’s important and how they are contributing to something bigger.
Below you'll find a list of guidelines to facilitate employee training:
Explain why it's important. When training employees on a new initiative, be sure to explain why the initiative is important (consider environmental, social, health, reputational, and financial factors). This will help encourage acceptance and support.
Make the training visually engaging. Whenever possible, use presentations, images, one-pagers, or demonstrations to explain initiatives. This reduces the risk of misunderstandings and increases engagement.
Ask and welcome questions. When delivering training, ask participants questions to make them feel like they are part of the process. For example: what initiatives are you aware of at the organization? Or, where do you think we could have the biggest impact on the environment? Ensure that they are also given the opportunity to ask questions and have their voices heard.
Training should start early. In terms of timing, general sustainability training should be provided during onboarding, followed by department-specific sustainability training by managers (as applicable). The latter is essential if employees are to understand the impact of the initiatives on them and their day-to-day work.
Training is ongoing. When new initiatives or processes need to be implemented, changes must be communicated to affected departments and they should be trained accordingly. This could be via a sustainability committee (best practice) that meets regularly and contains a representative from each department who can relay new information back to their teams.
Digitize the process. If you want to take it a step further, you can create your own online sustainability training course using platforms such as Thinkific, Coursera, or TalentLMS. This allows you to add presentations, videos, and other training materials.
Bring in the experts. Consider inviting subject matter experts to the premises to give presentations on specific sustainability topics. This reinforces the importance of employee involvement in sustainability initiatives and shows how they are contributing to improving the local environment and community.
What are some of the strategies you have used to effectively train your employees on sustainability? Share in the comments section below!
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