Viewpoint Employee Engagement
Employee engagement: we ask the experts
In the run up to this year's Sustainability Leaders Awards, SB has delved into the minds of some of sustainability's leading
lights, and asks one of the most prominent questions in the business community; how do you engage employees in
sustainability?
TUI Travel group environment manager James Whittingham
Keep it simple. Make it engaging. The tone has to be right, and it has to be sufficiently engaging to create a call
to action but not by nagging, preaching or being too dictatorial. People have to want to do it because they feel
they can play a part, albeit a small part, in the organisation's overall aspirations to be a more environmentally
responsible business. But there is a fine line between dictating and being engaging.
Carillion chief sustainability officer Tom Robinson
Engagement works best when communication with employees is accessible and relevant (e.g. whether it is spoken
or written it needs to be jargon-free and be something they can identify with). Better still if you can find the
"feel-good factor" by making it fun or benefit something that the employee(s) care about.
Anglo-American head of sustainable development & energy Samantha Hoe-Richardson
Encourage people to tell their own stories. On World Environment Day we asked our employees to complete the
phrase "The environment matters to me because..." and illustrate it with a photo. The response was overwhelming
and inspiring. Reasons ranged from the need to protect native species, enjoying the natural world through leisure
activities and preserving it for their families to continue to enjoy into the future.
