Sustainability - the Newest Pillar of Employee Wellness

In light of the great resignation, generous maternity and paternity leaves, egg freezing, fitness memberships, flexible work from home policies, diversity and inclusion training, and mental health resources, are now table stakes when it comes to employee wellness. You can thank large tech companies with deep pockets like Google and Facebook who started the trend to attract and retain the best talent while maximizing productivity. For many companies today, staying competitive when it comes to talent satisfaction means that employee wellness is likely their fastest growing cost center, and rightly so. According to Forbes, direct and indirect costs to employee turnover accounts for $1 trillion in costs to American businesses.

But perhaps the age-old saying is true; the best things in life are free, or rather, money isn’t always everything. Beyond fancy perks, work satisfaction and purpose are increasingly important to workers. One area of rapid growth in the job market? Climate and sustainability jobs. Workers are leaving high paying jobs for a chance to help solve one of the largest global crises according to the Financial Post. Millennials are even willing to take a pay cut for work related to climate, according to Fast Company and The Green Business Bureau.

The good news? Companies now have a unique opportunity to ride the wave of purposeful work in climate by encompassing sustainability at the workplace through employee wellness. All parties win. Employees will learn new topics and skills that they can take home, enriching their personal lives. Productivity and company loyalty could increase. And let’s not deny, the planet could use our help. If you haven’t heard of the most recent IPCC report released in 2021, it’s not too late. This summary from The Guardian sums it up nicely, although the outlook is not what most people would call nice. Incorporating sustainability as a pillar of employee wellness can yield a low cost win-win-win for employees, companies, and the planet.

Here are four ways to make sustainability a pillar of employee wellness at your company

1. Have sustainability-themed employee events and gatherings

Who doesn’t love free lunch on the company, happy hours, and volunteer events? Employees get to engage with coworkers “outside” of work and also give back to meaningful causes.

Sustainability-themed events are easy, fun, and can add extra meaning to get-togethers. A vegan-themed potluck or catered lunch, sustainability-themed documentary happy hour, eco book club, and volunteering for a planet-friendly cause are some great ways to start.

Most of these are low-cost, low-calorie, and high reward. For more ideas, see this list.

2) Offer sustainability-centric employee benefits

If you have some budget, allowing employees to expense a home energy assessment (to help reduce energy consumption and electricity bill costs), ride share programs like Getaround or Citibike (to reduce individual vehicle ownership), a National Parks Pass or hiking subscription (which hits on sustainability and wellness), or carbon offsets (to help “neutralize” an individual’s carbon footprint), could help foster loyalty. If you’re feeling bold, providing an annual budget for purchasing waste-free feminine hygiene products like a menstrual cup or period underwear could significantly increase the ever-dwindling average employee tenure. For more ideas on company benefits, see this list.

3) Allow employees to take ownership and spearhead initiatives

Not only do employees get to enjoy sustainability benefits, allowing them to get involved in selecting and planing initiatives will provide a new sense of job satisfaction and purpose. At DocuSign, I was given the autonomy to organize the Veganuary Workplace Challenge for the London office. I formed a committee with other enthusiastic employees and we planned out various events throughout the month of January including a vegan bake off and a lunch trip to grab vegan burgers, to name a few. It was so much fun and some of the most fulfilling work I did. Veganuary even wrote an article that featured DocuSign’s senior leadership.

4) Weave sustainability into the company fabric

Support for sustainability starts at the top. Having your CEO endorse and engage employees and senior leadership on sustainability initiatives is key. Here’s an easy way for a CEO to start. Reviewing the UN Sustainable Goals during a company all-hands is also a feel-good and low-cost activity. Companies like Pantys have taken this a step further and publicly mapped their corporate initiatives to the UN Development Goals on their website. Even something as simple as adding some travel tips and guidelines into your business travel policy manual can be effective and helpful. If you’re ready to take the plunge, adding sustainability into the company values is the ultimate power move. Companies like Salesforce have also created a supplier exhibit, mandating their vendors reach specific climate-related goals or face penalties.

I don’t like sustainable companies. -No prospective employee or customer ever

No surprise here. If company A and B were eye-to-eye from the perspective of a potential employee or customer, the organization that had a greater focus on sustainability initiatives could easily be a deciding factor. In fact, in some cases, it could also make up for potential shortcomings because being kind to the planet and combating climate change is personal and profound. You’ll also be finding that your customers will increasingly have sustainability requirements in the coming years, so why not get ahead of the game?

If you’re convinced that sustainability as a pillar for employee wellness is good for employees, retention, and business in general, here are some tips to get started.

1. An easy low calorie activity is to start a sustainability chat channel or forum. This is a place where employees can share articles, recipes, and tips on all things sustainable.
2. Second, start a sustainability committee or employee resource group. They can meet regularly to discuss the next sustainability themed happy hour, volunteer event, and more.

If you want more ideas and an all-encompassing free framework, check out Clever Actions, created by yours truly. It’s a collection of over 80 ideas, ranging from low to medium level of effort, aimed at helping companies embrace sustainability.

Remember, don’t let good be the enemy of great. Start simple and let your employees help you proliferate your programs. Here’s to a win-win-win for employees, companies, and our planet.