UN research supports environmental employee engagement

image UNEP FI and Global Action Plan's logos

We have contributed to a new report by UNEP FI which highlights the importance of employee engagement in achieving environmental targets.

‘Making Environmental Employee Engagement Happen’, published by the UNEP Financial Initiative (UNEP FI), reveals the views of leading financial institutions around the world including Standard Chartered Bank, Citigroup and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Key findings

The report shows that 69% of financial institutions see employee engagement as a valuable tool to improve environmental performance and 94% already promote it.

Support from top management is number one on the report’s list of success factors for employee engagement programmes.

With management buy-in, employee participation in environmental initiatives increases (one third party study shows an increase from 34% to 58%*) and there’s a higher chance of sustainability being integrated with overall business strategy.

Five success factors

The UNEP FI report recommends five success factors for effective environmental employee engagement:

Support from top management
Clearly linking activity with day to day job
Employee engagement enhances ownerships and levels of participation
Incorporating a competitive element is effective and relatively low cost
Communicating action and encouraging involvement.

Head of Business at Global Action Plan, Amy Wilson, contributed to the report and adds:

This report substantiates what we know from our 18 years of experience in employee engagement. Getting buy-in and participation from senior management shows employees that the business is committed to sustainability issues, and reinforces the message that employees can make a difference.

Download the UNEP FI report

Making Environmental Employee Engagement Happen

Contact Us

Please email us or call 0207 420 4444 to find out more or discuss how we could help you engage your employees and create value for your organisation.

* 19 Ramus and Steger, “The Roles of Supervisory Support Behaviors and Environmental Policy in Employee ‘Ecoinitiatives’ at Leading-Edge European Companies” in Rakowski, Employees engage creatively in environmental initiatives in supportive organizations.