How Employee Engagement is the Missing Piece in Achieving Sustainability Goals
Sustainability is no longer just about meeting external targets; it's about embedding long-term, meaningful change within an organisation. While many companies focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to gauge progress, a recent Reuters report emphasises that prioritising internal education over metrics can lead to more authentic and lasting impact.
Engaged employees are not only better equipped to contribute to sustainability goals but also play a pivotal role in addressing the often-overlooked Scope 3 emissions.
Why KPIs Alone Fall Short
KPIs provide valuable benchmarks but often fail to capture the human element behind sustainability efforts. An organisation may meet its recycling targets or reduce energy consumption, but without buy-in and participation at every level—from leadership to entry-level employees—these efforts may lack longevity or miss untapped opportunities for innovation.
Waste for example is an easy-access sustainability target – every employee makes a decision about which bin to put their waste in. If you have waste diversion KPIs but aren’t educating your employees, you’re missing a key opportunity to make a positive impact.
Insight from Reuters: Internal education programs that prioritise equipping employees with knowledge and skills can drive behaviours that inherently support sustainability KPIs, creating a culture of accountability and collaboration.
Employee-Centric Education Takes Centre Stage in Sustainability Initiatives
In a recent Reuters webinar, "From Planning to Action: Accelerating Sustainable Business Outcomes in 2025," a compelling slide highlighted the growing emphasis on employee education over traditional KPIs in sustainability efforts. This shift underscores the importance of fostering company-wide collaboration and equipping teams with the knowledge needed to contribute meaningfully to sustainability goals.
A bar chart presented during the seminar revealed key insights into organisational priorities:
Educating the board on sustainability risks and opportunities: 41% prioritise this, with 15% marking it as a top priority for respondents, with another 14% identifying it as a secondary priority, and 12% marking it as a third-level focus.
Engaging employees in developing new sustainability initiatives had slightly more ore focus as a secondary priority (17%), indicating an ongoing need to involve employees in shaping sustainable practices.
Training programs for employees to implement sustainability initiatives were well-distributed, with 14% assigning them top priority, 16% secondary, and 13% third.
Educating employees on sustainability strategies emerged as a leading focus, with 24% marking it as a top priority—showcasing a strong drive to align employee understanding with organisational goals.
This data reinforces the necessity of a dual approach: building awareness at leadership levels while ensuring employees across all tiers are equipped to contribute. For a deeper dive, you can view the webinar recording here
Tackling Scope 3 Emissions Through Employee Engagement.
Scope 3 emissions, which encompass indirect emissions such as those from commuting, home energy use for remote workers, and supply chain activities, make up the majority of a company’s carbon footprint. Engaging employees on these issues—whether through awareness campaigns or tailored training programs—empowers them to make impactful changes both at work and in their personal lives.
As an employer, you cannot tell your employee how to travel to and from work, or how they should manage their energy supply at home, but with education, resources, and engagement, you can give them the tools to make that decision themselves.
Why People-First Strategies Outperform KPI-Driven Approaches
Organisations that focus on educating employees rather than immediately chasing numerical goals often find that KPIs naturally improve as a byproduct of enhanced engagement. For example:
Leadership Buy-In: Leaders who actively participate in sustainability training inspire employees at all levels to follow suit.
Tailored Messaging: Programs that differentiate between leadership-focused strategies and front-line employee education ensure messages resonate with each audience.
Feedback Loops: Encouraging employees to contribute ideas fosters innovation and ownership.
A bottom-up approach complements top-down initiatives, enabling companies to achieve both cultural and environmental transformation. Employees work on your processes, systems and operations every day. They can give you key insights in areas that could benefit from sustainable change – a space where leaders aren’t likely to recognise.
Actionable Steps for Employee Engagement in Sustainability
To build a people-first strategy that prioritises education over metrics, companies can:
Develop Interactive Training Modules: Use engaging formats like gamified learning, quizzes, and workshops.
Create a Culture of Recognition: Celebrate employees who make meaningful contributions to sustainability goals.
Implement Accessible Resources: Provide toolkits and clear guidelines for employees to integrate sustainability into their roles.
Encourage Collaboration: Establish cross-departmental green teams to drive initiatives across the company.
Conclusion
By focusing on empowering employees through education and engagement, organisations can create a robust foundation for achieving their sustainability goals. KPIs will naturally follow as a reflection of these deeper cultural shifts.
If your organisation is ready to take its sustainability initiatives to the next level, we can help. Whether it’s creating interactive training modules or developing bespoke employee engagement strategies, let us partner with you on this journey.