Sweating the small stuff counts.
In fact, sweating the small stuff is the reason why we’ve continued to smash our ESG targets.
That’s Environmental, Social and Governance, by the way, and over the last decade we’ve accomplished a lot.
From substantially reducing print material wastage, to extending the life of our batteries, to donating our unused equipment to local schools, drama groups and charities.
It’s fair to say we’ve been active.
But, if you’re lucky enough to work at a company like DRPG, then it’s likely your senior leaders will have been mulling over the same two questions: how can we be more sustainable? And how can we keep our people engaged?
And your team may well have come to the same conclusion: why don’t we kill two birds with one stone?
As well as being a great way of improving your company’s image and helping to build your brand, ESG is actually a fantastic way of engaging your employees.
You can do the socially responsible thing while also keeping your team fired up and involved in the conversation – but how?
Survey
Well, it all starts with getting to know your team. Who are they and what do they care about? Working to identify a cause that your employees hold close to their hearts is a sure-fire way of generating passionate work.
Larger organisations have been seen to reach out and gauge interest in ESG through surveys – it helps senior leaders understand any core causes to focus on and the reasons behind them being so important to their teams.
When the research is done and you’ve built up a solid picture of who your employees are, what they care about and why – then comes the real opportunity.
Time out
It’s not unheard of to allow your team time off to dedicate themselves to causes they care deeply about. It could be organising an event to raise funds, volunteering to staff an event, helping to clean a venue or any other number of ESG-led activities.
Allowing your employees time away from their day-to-day roles to ensure they can devote themselves to a cause they’re passionate about not only develops a deeper trust, it also allows your workforce to see that you care about what is important to them.
This time off could also be paid, furthering the companies already visible commitment to ESG and its people. Pay could go towards travel, with many potentially having to cover distance in efforts to help out their selected cause.
On-site commitment
Having said this, employees don’t have to leave the office to make a difference.
In fact, online platforms like GlobalGivingTime give companies and their employees ‘a simple and efficient option’ to volunteer their time and expertise to create real-time impact at nonprofits.
There are plenty of causes in need of website design, social media copy, research and insights, and much more, and your team can lend their time at their own convenience.
It may mean some of them carve out happy hours within their schedules, or even choose to do some volunteering on their lunch break.
Document it
Making sure to keep a tab of everything that happens within your organisation in regard to ESG will have a huge impact where keeping employees engaged is concerned.
After all, it is nice to be nice, and people love to share the good things they have done; it’s a great way of inspiring others and spreading the message.
Having an in-house photographer capture special ESG moments, or even asking your team to send in their own selfies to share on the company social media profiles, will help spark conversation and keep everyone engaged.
More
So, those are some of the ways you can keep pushing forward with your ESG goals but keep your team engaged and involved.
For more on DRPG’s ESG success, or how we can help you with the same, check out our charter.
