by Benoit Montet.

There are a variety of reasons why employees may not be engaged in sustainability in their own companies. Some of the most common reasons include a lack of understanding of the importance of sustainability, a lack of incentives or recognition for sustainability efforts, a lack of resources or support from management, and a lack of clear goals or objectives for sustainability initiatives. Additionally, some employees may feel that sustainability initiatives are not relevant to their job or that they do not have the necessary skills or knowledge to contribute. Finally,

One way to engage them through their own initiatives is to provide them with resources and support to help them achieve their goals. This could include providing them with access to mentors, providing them with educational materials, or offering them opportunities to participate in activities that are related to their interests. Additionally, it is important to listen to their ideas and feedback and to provide them with a platform to share their ideas and experiences. Finally, it is important to recognize their efforts and celebrate their successes.

Are your employees also doubtfull about your Sustainability report?

Adopt the damtower methodology to engage from the bottom-up and accelerate the adoption of your Sustaianble strategy

The topic of sustainable development in companies has become THE main priority for all stakeholders. In parallel, a silent revolution has taken place. Companies have refocused on their core business. They outsourced a large part of their operations and the share of service providers increased by double digits in all industries in Europe and the US. From now on, companies operate as a network, managing purchasing, production and distribution in project mode. In the computation of added value, certain subcontractors, service providers or partners have become strategic. Losing one of them can have more impact than losing a few good employees. 

Despite this new context, traditional HR is still too often focus on employees, those who have an employment contract. As a result, everything external escapes the HR department. However, HR itself has contributed to reducing its own scope by outsourcing payroll, accounting, IT and many other services. It is now purchasing that hand over in the relationship with third-party employees, with all that this implies. 

It then becomes easy for HR to show a nice scorecard on social issues, but this is an illusion. In the company's new obligations, sustainable development encompasses three major concepts: environmental, social and governance. As social is one of the components of the whole, HR should be linked to sustainable development.

Have a look at a nice article from CB Bhattacharya , who in 2018 yet was covering the topic.

Companies that are winning the sustainability battle have created the conditions for their stakeholders to own sustainability. In these companies, sustainability is not someone else’s problem.

Contact us to know more about our methodology.

How to Make Sustainability Every Employee’s Responsibility (hbr.org)

Ask an old Amsterdam citizen what he thinks of his city by asking him in his street. He will tell you that the quays are collapsing due to lack of maintenance that the city is rotten with tourists, that everything is artificial, that the streets stink of weed.... Take this same Amsterdam man and put him in Dijon. Ask a Frenchman to ask him the same question. His answer will be, that Amsterdam is the heart of the world, a city that is easy to live in, free of car pollution, where everything is easily accessible, where there is more freedom than elsewhere.

What happened? In the first case, by transposing, it is the opinion of an employee in his company, who talks to his colleagues, in the second case it is the same employee who talks about his company to his family, friends, customers or suppliers. The goal of damtower is, through the workshop, to recreate the conditions for the recognition of the pride and belonging reflex of employees by giving them societal tools and arguments.

Another transposition. Almost all the readers of the sustainable development reports of large companies are carried by the communications department. It emerges that these reports are perceived as advertising and promotional tools, which are not necessarily very credible and even encourage greenwashing by employees. Yet the company has often invested time and money in these measures. Those who are most keen to talk about it are those who have participated in its development and have taken the initiatives.

damtower's proposal is to ensure that these initiatives are owned by as many people as possible through the workshops.

By Benoit Montet

Labels are a way of categorizing people, objects, and ideas. They can be used to describe a person’s identity, their interests, or their beliefs. Labels can be helpful in providing a sense of belonging and understanding, but they can also be limiting and damaging. The benefits of labels are that they can provide a sense of belonging and understanding. Labels can help people identify with a group or community, and they can provide a sense of security and comfort

What are the drawback of obtaining a certification or a label?

Obtaining a certification or label mean cost associated with the process. Obtaining a certification or label can be expensive, as it often requires hiring a third-party auditor to assess the product or service. Additionally, the process of obtaining a certification or label can be time-consuming, as it requires a significant amount of paperwork and documentation. Finally, certifications and labels can become outdated over time, as standards and regulations change, requiring companies to continually update their certifications and process.

Even after all those eforts, a certification does not guarantee the quality of a product or service. A certification is a way to demonstrate that a product or service meets certain standards or criteria, but it does not guarantee that the product or service will be of a certain quality.

A quality assurance clause should be added to a certification to guarantee a service or product quality. This clause should outline the standards of quality that must be met, as well as any procedures that must be followed to ensure that the service or product meets the specified standards. Who more that the employees themselves, can testify that the process followed, conduct to a qualitative result? Indeed it imply many biais, but in sustainability, client feedback and third party are even less reliable due to a lack of documentation and transparency. If collected internally for improvement purpose, employee testimonials, like the output of an engagement survey are a hight quality mectric.