There is an important conversation happening concerning sustainability and employee engagement across C-Suite, HR, and sustainability leadership. An increasing body of research is showing a clear connection between a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and its ability to attract and retain talent, especially Millennials. In fact, 35% of Americans would even take a 15% pay cut just to work for a company committed to CSR. But despite the strong reasoning in favour of CSR, a company’s commitment to, and approach for engaging employees in, CSR activities vary dramatically from one organization to the next. Which raises the question, why?
A recent GreenBiz study on sustainability and employee engagement sheds light on the differences between laggard and frontrunner companies when it comes to engaging employees in CSR activities. And the difference between doing CSR-centered employee engagement well and doing it poorly often comes down to how an organization focuses and communicates its efforts internally.
‘Advanced companies’ found effective employee education and communication were key to CSR success.
What’s Stopping Them?
GreenBiz found that for companies just beginning CSR activities – so-called ‘beginner’ companies – the biggest impediments to improving engagement in their sustainability programs included education and communication. Interestingly, ‘advanced’ companies named the same two areas, along with executive buy-in, as the most significant contributors to success in theirs. So what made communication and education a barrier for one and a driver for the other? Simple, the approach each took.
Advanced companies leveraged employee interactions e.g. green teams and employee networks, rewards and recognition, and internal communications campaigns utilizing multimedia. In beginner companies, these education and communication tools were either lacking or non-existent.
Luckily for managers in charge of steering CSR activities, new communication tools, including mobile first strategies, are helping them turn what used to be a pain point into a source of innovation that drives business results around CSR.
Education is out. Training is in.
According to GreenBiz simply informing and educating employees on CSR initiatives is out for ‘advanced’ organizations. To leverage and realize real business value from CSR investments advanced companies are integrating job and role-specific training around CSR, making it a part of core business practices. This shift from generalized CSR education to specific CSR training is being driven by new tools, such as mobile, that allow companies to deliver engaging, effective, and personalized training directly into the hands of their employees.
Interestingly, GreenBiz found that web/intranet-based training modules, which were previously identified as being the most effective in training employees around CSR, are no longer the preferred method in frontrunner companies. In fact, desktop training showed the second largest drop off any method from the previous survey. The need to segment workforces by geography, department, or role and to delivery targeted and formalized sustainability training in a way that is not only convenient, but also familiar, to employees, is making traditional communication tools obsolete.
Unlike old methods, new communication and training tools, such as mobile apps, give senior managers in charge of CSR the ability to track training progress, verify comprehension, and to reward and recognize employees for their efforts. With its ability to solve so many pain points, a strong case can be made that mobile is the perfect fit to become the future for employee-centered CSR communication, engagement and training in frontrunner organizations.
