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Drew Wilkinson wants to make sustainability part of everybody’s job. And he has a very compelling argument. Drew was one of the co-founders of Microsoft’s 10-000 member employee sustainability community, who helped reconfigure the climate goals of one of the world’s biggest tech companies.
Through this experience he saw first hand the power that regular employees have to take climate action – and how much more successful that action is when it’s supported from the top. These days he spends his time teaching businesses the benefits of harnessing their workforce for good.
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“When I talk to clients about why employee engagement is needed on this, many initially respond with: ‘We’ve already got a sustainability team, we've got commitments, we've got targets, we’re spending money on this.’ They don’t want to bother engaging the rest of the workforce on it,” says Drew. “That represents a really old fashioned and outdated model of what it's actually going to take to transform companies. I find there's a gross underestimation of the level of change that is actually required to tackle the climate crisis. Harnessing the energy and skills of your entire workforce just makes sense.”
Here he shares three compelling reasons why employers should consider greenskilling their workforce.
1. Avoid risk by channelling energy for good
Risk is one of the first things Drew talks to all employers about. The risk that comes from inaction is big. “We know that gen-z and millennials want to see climate action in their workplaces,” says Drew. “And if you don't channel that energy or give it a productive place to go, it's like a tea kettle that boils over and you get what happened at Amazon five years ago: walkouts, shareholder resolutions, negative press, and unsatisfied employees.”
2. You can achieve your climate goals faster
If you have set climate goals and want to achieve them faster, you are much more likely to do so if the entire workforce is contributing. If every employee in a company views their job through a sustainability lens, you will not only get where you want to go faster, you reduce the chance of facing regulatory action over greenwashing.
“I try to talk about scale,” says Drew. “For example, even at Microsoft – a best case scenario – between 2020 and 2023 we saw a 10x increase in the number of full-time sustainability jobs that were created and hired for. But even after that explosive growth, the number of people with full-time sustainability jobs was still less than 1% of the whole company.”
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Despite huge changes, the same basic structure remained: a tiny but mighty team was somehow expected to change every part of the company and every part of the supply chain. Drew says he has never seen this approach work. “If you're serious about sustainability and you're investing in these resources, why would you not want to get the other 99% of your workforce engaged in some meaningful way? That doesn't mean it's their full-time job, it's just a lens they have on their work. You already have the employees, so engage them. This way you are much more likely to achieve the goals and transform your company culture simultaneously – this ensures sustainability continues to be resourced long into the future.”
If business is serious about this, we need everyone on board. “If you're going to do this, we need more helping hands on a problem that's bigger than any of us. It's purely just like a math equation,” says Drew. More minds working towards a solution just makes sense.
3. You will attract and retain talent
This is a big motivator. With Gen Z on the verge of outnumbering Baby Boomers in the workplace, understanding that climate action is important to this cohort will help attract and retain talent. “All companies care about hiring and retaining talented individuals,” says Drew. “And there is an ever growing mountain of data suggesting that climate action at work is a major indicator of employee loyalty and success – and employers should be very concerned about this.”
The numbers on this don’t lie. The World Economic Forum found that 25% of employees say climate is non-negotiable when considering the values of a potential employer. And according to research from Deloitte, 42% of young workers say they have changed or will change jobs due to climate concerns.
Disengaged staff has real-world implications, with a recent survey finding that low engagement in the workplace can result in a 21% loss in revenue.
“If you want to remain competitive and innovative in a climate-changed world, you have to give people an opportunity to work on this,” says Drew. “Unfortunately, this message hasn't landed in HR departments yet, so I’m spending a lot of time reminding companies that giving your people the opportunity to work on sustainability is actually a competitive differentiator.”
As not to put additional pressure on sustainability teams, Drew encourages businesses to set up an employee engagement program for environmental sustainability – something that could be run by the HR department in partnership with sustainability teams. “Employee engagement is not a new thing, it’s been around forever,” he says.” It's just communicating to your workforce what matters to you and what you want them to be doing, and then engaging them in it. What is new is engaging employees on sustainability, specifically. We just need this to be the new status quo.”
Drew Wilkinson provides consulting services for employee engagement, helping organisations make sustainability part of everybody's job. Learn more on his website or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Want to make sustainability a part of your job? The WorkforClimate Academy gives you the tools to take climate action in the workplace, no matter what your job title. Head here to register for the next cohort, kicking off February 2025.
