Sustainability Management Strategies – Create and Deliver a Staff Training Course

A policy and Sustainability Management Program are not really useful unless the employees know about them and can take action to meet the targets. The employees can only do this if they know the targets and the progress towards the targets. 

There is a need for staff training on sustainability management and what the company wants to achieve. 

Staff can only assist in the achievement of the company sustainability program if they are aware of the effects of their actions and the costs and benefits of improving sustainability. 

The implementation of a sustainability management program will have benefits in many areas, e.g., staff relations and motivation, external reputation and improved business performance. This can be maximized by training the staff in what and why the company is doing to improve sustainability. 

Training work carried out by plastics processors in energy management has shown excellent results. Some plastics processing sites have shown a 20% decrease in energy use as a result of simple training but this must be kept going to hold the gains. 

Action:

• Create a short training course (≈ 1 hour) based on the company sustainability policy. A simple staff training course for plastics processors is available as a free download from tangram.co.uk/technical-information/energy-sustainability-topics/.

• Deliver the training session to all existing staff as part of the staff training process and integrate the training session into the standard induction procedures for new staff.

• The training session should always be followed by a ‘go see’ exercise in the trainee’s area to find sustainability projects, e.g., energy, water and waste.

• Deliver the training course again and again to get the full benefits.

Dr. Robin Kent is the author of ‘Sustainability Management in Plastics Processing’, published by the British Plastics Federation and Managing Director of Tangram Technology Ltd. (www.tangram.co.uk), consulting engineers for energy and sustainability management in plastics processing.

Also read:

• Set up a Sustainability Management Program
• Prepare a Sustainability Road Map for your Company
• Map Actions on Materiality
• Review where you are in Sustainability Management
• Top Management Commitment
• Create a Site Sustainability Management Policy