Employee roles in sustainability transformation processes: A move away from expertise and towards experience-driven sustainability management

Abstract

Corporate sustainability management usually relies on innovation experts ‐ that is, it relies on top-down and staff-unit approaches. Seeking out the involvement of employees from all company departments can substantially contribute to corporate greening. “Ordinary” employees are not trained as sustainability experts, yet it is precisely their experience within their own field and within the organisation that can give rise to knowledge that is essential for transforming the economy towards sustainability. Hence, employees need to be empowered by appropriate structures and organisational culture. Transferring practical experience to expertise can prove very helpful in assisting and stimulating sustainability transformations in various business fields.Although ordinary employees are typically regarded as an important stakeholder group for enhancing corporate sustainability, they are seldom seriously addressed in business or research practice. To learn from the practical experience of what takes place at workplaces, we analysed four transdisciplinary research projects all aimed at initiating, accompanying and analysing processes of sustainability transformation within companies, but which focused on different sectors and organisational contexts. Based on the assumption that ordinary employees can hold three different roles in processes of sustainability transformations (implementers, ambassadors and recipients of corporate sustainability practices), we compared the findings from practices of employee involvement within the four projects. Based on these findings, we examined the implications for companies and highlighted future research needs.

Práticas ambientalmente sustentáveis em unidades de alimentação e nutrição hospitalares

“…A promoção da sustentabilidade em UANs constitui uma construção coletiva que perpassa pela capacitação de todos os envolvidos no processo de produção e consumo de refeições. Neste processo, os profissionais de nutrição devem atuar como influenciadores do desenvolvimento sustentável na UAN fazendo com que a gestão de recursos humanos assuma o seu papel estratégico para a promoção da sustentabilidade e que os colaboradores e clientes da unidade sejam capacitados regularmente (Süßbauer et al, 2019).…”

“…Em todas as UANs hospitalares avaliadas, o cardápio era planejado por nutricionistas e, durante este processo, eles buscavam reduzir as sobras alimentares. Neste sentido, a presença e a atuação adequada do nutricionista no planejamento do cardápio são primordiais para a adoção de ações determinantes para a promoção da sustentabilidade no estabelecimento (Süßbauer et al, 2019). Verificou-se que 25% das UANs participantes não dispunham de ficha técnica de preparo (FTP) de alimentos (Tabela 2).…”

Negotiating attachments to plastic

“…It certainly needs persuasion’. Therefore, Robert encouraged me to be in touch with the employees while different options were tested, as the employees influence the possible success or failure of implementing new measures (Süßbauer et al, 2019). Procuring a replacement means dealing with the object to be replaced, including the attachments associated with it: What is the function of the wrap and how do employees use it?…”

“…Actors involved in innovations must reflect their own positions and limitations in the course of navigating innovations. Hence, sustainable innovations cannot be simply planned and implemented top down, but require situational adaptations and trustful collaborations that must be habitualized in the corporate culture (Sattlegger, 2021; Süßbauer et al, 2019).…”

Schwierigkeiten und Potentiale der Verpackungsvermeidung – eine Arbeitsethnographie im Lebensmittelhandel

“…The very specific affordances of applying, collecting and reusing the strings, contrast the plastic wrap as a flexible and protective cover that is habitually used for all kinds of product pallets. Hence, supplementing and avoiding plastic wrap affords the consideration and support of everyday work practices and of employees' skills and views (Süßbauer et al, 2019).…”