How organisations can stimulate sustainable behaviour

Employees who are concerned about climate change may not know how to translate this into action at work. Berend van der Kolk , Eelke Wiersma and Willemijn Odekerken find that such employees can be stimulated to engage in sustainable behaviours such as recycling and making real estate more durable. And climate-indifferent employees can be nudged to do so too.

After a year of extreme heat, flooding and storms, it is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore climate change. And most scientists agree that conditions will get worse over the next decade. The Global Climate Update from the World Meteorological Organisation predicts that global average temperatures in the next five years are likely to continue at or near record levels.^[1]

Both individuals and organisations contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is unequivocal that “human influence” plays a key role. And since organisations helped trigger this catastrophe, it is worth exploring how they can do their part in preventing or mitigating their future impact on the climate.^[2]

While many citizens have a personal interest in climate change, it is often at work where they feel they can make more of a difference. According to one survey 70 per cent of white-collar employees and 57 per cent of blue collar workers are ready for a green transition. But according to the World Economic Forum , employers face significant barriers to their green business models including high energy costs and financing problems.^[3]

So what can organisations do? We studied actions taken by a Dutch city government “Suntown” (fictional name to preserve anonymity) that is a “green” frontrunner and found effective means to motivate employees to engage in more sustainable behaviour. In particular, we examined the employers’ use of managerial tools and practices and found that they could directly and indirectly impact sustainable behaviour of employees.

The green team

The city government chosen for our study has a reputation of being “green” and ambitious. Our objective was to find out whether employees who were concerned about the environment could be further motivated to engage in pro-environmental behaviour at work. To find out, we developed a survey that was sent to employees who made decisions that impact the environment on a daily basis. Some surveyed employees for worked for the city’s physical domain, making decisions on the use of (recycled) materials for public spaces like parks, while others worked on procurement and could also make decisions that would impact the city’s carbon footprint.^[4]

We particularly paid attention to the role of the sustainability budget, policy documents, and sustainability roadmaps. The sustainability budget, among others, includes carbon dioxide targets for 2030 and establishes by which domains this reduction is to be achieved. Further, each policy document is expected to include a justification of what the impact of the policy, proposal or project is on sustainability.

With the Suntown Sustainability Roadmap, the municipality shows which goals Suntown has set to reduce CO₂ emissions by 2030 and 2040, how it intends to achieve these goals and what additional activities will be needed to achieve them. One example is that the energy transition team needs to connect over 5,000 home equivalents to a heat network.

More details of these practices and our research method can be found here .^[5]

Key findings

Our research makes three observations.

First, we show that employees who are concerned about the environment often, but not always, engage in more pro-environmental behaviour than their peers. This means that they, for instance, choose to use more recycled materials, and prioritise actions that reduce the impact on the environment. City officials worked hard to create a fixed power infrastructure for festivals, effectively mitigating carbon emissions by transitioning away from diesel generators. This sustainable behaviour is in line with the theory of planned behaviour , which suggests that when people have an intention to do something this increases the likelihood that they will indeed perform that behaviour.^[6]

Second, our findings show that when employees are more familiar with sustainability-related output controls, such as organisational CO 2 targets, the relationship between environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviour becomes stronger. This also speaks to the theory of planned behaviour, as such targets may signal to employees the existence of organisational norms (such as “we care about the environment”). Such norms in turn can stimulate employees to translate their environmental concerns into real action: carrying out their jobs while prioritising sustainable alternatives, such as using recycled materials.

Third, we document that sustainability-related procedures, document formats and action plans can directly impact pro-environmental behaviour of employees, regardless of their level of concern about the environment. This shows that climate-indifferent employees can also be motivated to engage in more sustainable behaviour. The procedures, document formats and action plans can help structure activities and make it easier to engage in pro-environmental behaviour.

Setting

Our study took place in an organisation that is a known as a “sustainability pioneer.” Most employees knew there was top management and political support for sustainable behaviour. While this makes the findings less simple to generalise, it also can help to demonstrate what can be done when support from top management is present.

Our findings suggest that communicating to employees about sustainability targets can help them understand that their organisation takes the topic seriously. It can help create the conditions in which employees feel able to make pro-environmental choices. As a result, employees who are already concerned about climate change can be pushed to engage in more “green” behaviour.

A final finding is that the norms and values that are present in a department impact individual behaviour. Or, to put it in simpler terms, that colleagues matter. When climate-concerned individuals have the feeling that they are alone in this concern, they might be more reluctant to translate their concern into sustainable action. When colleagues have similar concerns, individuals will be more willing to engage in more sustainable behaviour.

Managerial implications

Employees who are concerned about the environment can be helped to engage in sustainable behaviour at work. Our research suggests three ways in which managers can stimulate sustainable behaviour among employees.

First, managers can communicate organisation-level CO 2 targets and sustainability budgets to employees, to create awareness of the organisation’s green ambitions.

Second, sustainability considerations can be embedded in templates and document formats, helping to remind employees of the potential impact of their choices on the environment.

Third, through their own choices and behaviour, managers can help cultivate norms and values that support sustainable behaviour.

This blog is based on Stimulating Pro-Environmental Behavior Using Management Control: Survey Evidence From a City Government , Public Administration Review, forthcoming.^[7]

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