Sustainable Leadership Forum - Dallas

Engaging Employees to Make an Impact

on Sustainability

Business Environmental Leadership Council

Sustainability: From Compliance to Engagement

From Regulation and Compliance…

…to a New Business Case for Sustainability

Critical to Corporate Sustainability Success: Employees

From Compliance to Engagement

• Key to biggest benefits & savings

• Employee engagement

contributes to:– Bigger efficiency savings– Stronger customer relations– Greater innovation– More effective supply chain

management– Stronger community ties– Happier employees

Make an Impact: Employee Engagement

• Founded in 1998 to bring together business leaders, policy makers, scientists, and other experts to provide credible information, straight answers and innovative solutions to address global climate change.

• As of Nov 9, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change is operating under a new name and funding structure: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)

• Founded in 1998 to bring together business leaders, policy makers, scientists, and other experts to provide credible information, straight answers and innovative solutions to address global climate change.

• As of Nov 9, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change is operating under a new name and funding structure: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)

Make an Impact Overview

Empowering individuals and communities to take meaningful action to save energy, save money, and live sustainably

Make an Impact Overview

Make an Impact: Workshops and Community Engagement

• 8,000 people engaged over 15 schools in 4 states

• 14 million lbs CO2 and $1.7 million potential savings

Energy Efficiency Schools Challenge

Make an Impact: Schools’ Challenge

Quantifying Success

Make an Impact: Metrics and Reporting

• Reporting essential to Make an Impact

• Online metrics

• Website traffic, calculator registrations, potential and committed CO2

lbs avoided, potential and committed dollars saved, social media

engagement, e-newsletter signups, etc.

• Offline metrics

• Event attendance, volunteer hours, media mentions, etc.

• 8,900 Calculator Registrations• 29,447,000 Potential Pounds of CO2 Avoided• $7,467,800 Potential Dollars Saved

• 4,090 Calculator Registrations• 24,078,370 Potential Pounds of CO2 Avoided• $5,836,842 Potential Dollars Saved

• 1,807 Calculator Registrations• 6,591,814 Potential Pounds of CO2 Avoided• $2,891,490 Potential Dollars Saved

Make an Impact: Program Results

Creating Effective Engagement

Building a Successful Program Lifecycle

MAI: Creating Effective Engagement

Support from the top to develop & scale

Identify core messaging & metrics

Engage using multiple strategies to educate & empower

Measure to demonstrate

success & adapt

Delivering a Successful Program

From Compliance to Engagement

EducateEmpowerEngage

ENGAGE Through a Variety of Approaches

From Compliance to Engagement

• Create a culture of

sustainability

• Emphasize sustainability on

all fronts • Utilize all available

communications channels

• Be flexible to adapt and use

new strategies

EDUCATE with Effective Language and Messaging

From Compliance to Engagement

• Information available and

accessible

• Find the right message– “save money at home”– “make for a cleaner community”– “live happier and healthier”

• Use “responsive chords” to connect with the audience– Associate an idea with something

the target audience already believes

EMPOWER by Making Employees Part of Solution

From Compliance to Engagement

• Create meaningful

opportunities for employees

• Share business progress on

sustainability

• Show how employees can

contribute

Employee Engagement: Overcoming Challenges

Challenges Solutions

Competing time commitments & priorities

• Easy to use, integrated, and tangible benefits• Visible buy-in from leadership

Varying interest & sophistication

• Range of engagement – from easy to intensive• Messaging on energy efficiency and dollar savings

Geographic diversity • Localized resources and programming – online/offline

Limited resources • Focus on practical and affordable

Difficulty tracking behavior change & impacts

• Comprehensive metrics and monthly reporting• Ongoing engagement and follow up

• Lesson 1: Get C-Suite Buy-In• Lesson 2: Make It Relevant• Lesson 3: Plan for Ongoing Engagement• Lesson 4: Make It Measurable

Employee Engagement: Lessons Learned

Katie MandesMandes@C2ES.org

www.c2es.org

Sustainable Leadership Forum - Dallas