The business environment, sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern — it is central to strategy, risk management, talent attraction, and brand equity. Stakeholders, from investors and regulators to customers and employees, are placing increasing pressure on organisations to address their environmental impact. And while many firms have developed sustainability roadmaps, those that drive internal engagement, particularly at the employee level, are better positioned to turn their ambitions into measurable results. Employee engagement in sustainability initiatives is more than just a nice-to-have. It is a force multiplier.
According to a 2023 Bain & Company study, organisations that actively involve employees in environmental programmes are over twice as likely to meet their sustainability goals than those that rely on centralised action alone. As we explore how businesses can harness the collective energy of their workforce to build a culture of environmental responsibility — one that is deeply embedded, resilient, and owned from the ground up.
A company’s environmental impact is not limited to supply chains and operations — it extends to the behaviours, decisions, and daily actions of every employee. Engaged employees are more likely to reduce waste, suggest greener processes, advocate for responsible sourcing, and act as ambassadors of corporate sustainability both inside and outside the workplace.
Moreover, today’s workforce increasingly demands it. A global survey by Deloitte (2023) found that nearly 50% of Gen Z and Millennial workers say they would leave their job if they felt their employer was not taking meaningful action on sustainability. Engagement is no longer just a productivity metric — it's a proxy for brand trust, purpose alignment, and retention.
“When sustainability becomes everyone’s responsibility, it becomes an embedded part of how value is created.”
— PwC ESG Leadership Report, 2022
Culture is the soil in which sustainable practices grow. Without a supportive culture, even the most well-resourced ESG initiatives can flounder. Creating that culture requires a blend of clear leadership, shared values, and supportive infrastructure.
Key practices include:
Case Study – Unilever and Accenture
Unilever’s sustainability strategy, "The Compass," goes beyond top-down objectives. With Accenture’s support, the company embedded sustainability KPIs into individual performance appraisals, introduced environmental training modules, and launched company-wide employee engagement campaigns. As a result, the organisation has seen both increased employee advocacy and a tangible reduction in carbon intensity per unit sold.
Bottom-up engagement transforms sustainability from a compliance requirement into a source of innovation. Some of the most impactful environmental solutions emerge from those closest to the work — front-line staff, logistics managers, facility operators — who see opportunities for change every day.
Successful approaches include:
Case Study – Salesforce and McKinsey
Salesforce’s internal sustainability platform, designed in collaboration with McKinsey, crowdsourced over 1,000 ideas from employees globally, ranging from green commuting incentives to server optimisation. Several ideas were integrated into broader corporate ESG strategies, helping reduce Scope 2 emissions by 12% and improve internal engagement scores. (McKinsey Quarterly, 2023)
Incentivisation is a powerful behavioural tool. Employees are more likely to prioritise sustainability when it is meaningfully connected to their goals, reviews, and rewards. Leading organisations are aligning performance management systems with environmental outcomes.
Implementation strategies include:
Case Study – ING Bank and KPMG
ING Bank worked with KPMG to embed ESG-linked KPIs across its operations, ensuring that sustainability targets were owned not just by executives but by product managers, relationship teams, and operations staff. The result: a measurable uplift in employee participation in ESG training and a shift in capital allocation toward greener investment vehicles. (KPMG, 2023)
As with any transformation initiative, engagement needs to be measured. ESG dashboards that only track emissions or compliance don’t capture the whole picture — what’s needed is visibility into how employees are participating and what impact that participation is having.
Suggested metrics:
Case Study – IKEA and PwC
PwC supported IKEA in launching a cross-market ESG engagement dashboard to monitor sustainability initiatives and participation levels. The system tracked metrics like volunteer hours, campaign involvement, and individual carbon-saving pledges. Insights were shared with local leaders to tailor communications and support, resulting in a 20% increase in grassroots sustainability participation across Europe.
Organisations often focus their sustainability efforts on reporting, target-setting, or technology adoption. But without meaningful workforce engagement, these efforts are unlikely to generate lasting change. Leaders play a critical role in bridging this gap.
Our role includes:
By leading and managing the organisation unlock the potential of their people, we enable sustainability to move from the margins to the mainstream — not just a strategy, but a movement that lives in every action.
Fostering a culture of environmental responsibility is not a communications task or a compliance initiative — it’s a systemic shift in how people think, act, and collaborate. The most successful sustainability strategies are not simply executed — they are lived by employees at every level of the organisation.
As companies face increasing pressure to deliver on ESG commitments, employee engagement represents one of the most powerful — and underutilised — levers of transformation. For leaders looking to embed purpose, unlock innovation, and build future-fit organisations, empowering their workforce is not optional. It is essential.