Supportive workplaces inspire employees to take bigger climate actions
By: Communications
Employees are more likely to take meaningful action on sustainability when they feel supported by their employer and managers, according to new research by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The study, which surveyed more than 400 workers in the UK and US, found that positive workplace relationships play a key role in encouraging environmentally friendly behaviour on the job.
Researchers discovered that support from an organisation as a whole is particularly effective at inspiring larger, more complex actions that can make a significant difference to sustainability goals.
While dependent on the organisation themselves, this could include suggesting new procurement policies for sustainable products, identifying inefficient waste streams or wasteful energy usage in the organisation, creating and embedding cycle-to-work schemes, and lobbying leaders to commit to new green agendas.
Meanwhile, encouragement from direct managers is more likely to promote smaller day-to-day green behaviours, such as reducing waste through recycling or saving energy.
The research, published in the journal Business Strategy and the Environment, also found that employees who feel emotionally connected to and valued by their workplace are more likely to adopt environmentally friendly habits.
Importantly, the effect is strongest in organisations where sustainability is already part of the workplace culture. In these environments, employees are more likely to go beyond simple actions and take part in initiatives that have a wider environmental impact.
The authors say what is termed as ‘employee green behaviour’ is essential for advancing organisational sustainability, yet the role of emotional support mechanisms in fostering this behaviour remains underexamined.
The findings of this new study suggest that businesses wanting to improve their environmental performance should not only promote green policies but also ensure staff feel supported and engaged.
Lead author Dr Duncan Maguire, from UEA’s Norwich Business School, said: “This research helps identify key barriers to green behaviour change and highlights that practical solutions depend on organisations clarifying which types of employee green behaviour they want to promote and what level of support employees require to perform them.
“Even with limited resources, organisations can meaningfully strengthen this behaviour by focusing on low cost relational and cultural levers. For example, taking time to communicate clearly and consistently the environmental goals and the progress being made.
“Highlighting the wins and progress being made alongside how employees are contributing to this, can be small easy ways to start to shift towards onboarding employees on this journey.
“A key priority for organisations is creating a workplace culture where sustainability is visible, valued and actively encouraged. When employees can see that environmental commitments are being backed up by real action, they are more likely to engage in green behaviours themselves.”
This is due to the green organisational climate representing the way employees perceive their organisation to be environmentally sustainable and take this seriously as a part of the organisation's values.
When this climate is paired with strong day to day supervisory support, employees are more likely to engage in simpler employee green behaviour, while broader signals of organisational care help drive more complex behaviour.
“Consistently communicating a genuine commitment to environmental sustainability could reinforces employees’ perception of a strong green climate and possibly further amplify these effects,” added Dr Maguire, a Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and member of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at UEA.
“Combining a positive workplace culture with strong environmental values can help employees play a bigger role in achieving sustainability goals.”
The research was part of Dr Maguire’s PhD, which he did under the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) - a global hub for understanding the crucial role that people play in fighting climate change, based across five UK institutions including UEA.
‘Microfoundations of environmental strategy: how support and climate influence proximal vs. distal employee green behaviours’, Duncan Maguire, George Michaelides and Olga Tregaskis, is published in Business Strategy and the Environment.
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