Go Beyond Events & Overcome Green Fatigue

How do you get meaningful, sustained engagement of employees in sustainability?  Studies show that to "sustain" sustainability, it must be embedded into the organizational culture through flexible, informal and formal processes that are championed (at the very least acknowledged) by the CEO and supported at the grassroots level.

Yet, many organizations struggle with getting meaningful engagement that is aligned with the organization's sustainability objectives.

Does your organization find any of the following challenges?

• Managing your regular workload and leadership of employee engagement initiatives
• Gaining focus and "buy-in" for employee engagement for sustainability actions
• Skeptical employees who think that the company's sustainability program is "window dressing"
• Being caught in a trap of "employee engagement by events" (many activities but success is hard to measure
• Difficulty in keeping multiple office sites connected and pointing in a common direction
• Declining engagement in sustainability initiatives due to "green fatigue" (always the same people coming out)
• Running out of new and interesting ideas to engage Green Teams and staff
• A feeling that Green Team initiatives are a "nice to have" not a "need to have"

If you said "yes" to any of these, this course will give you insights and tools to get on the right track.

Learning Objectives

Using SLC's exclusive Employee Engagement Planning Toolkit and collaborative working group sessions you will:

• Develop a customized 6 step draft plan for a meaningful and measurable employee engagement program connected to the long-term sustainability goals of your organization.
  • Diagnose your culture of engagement and engagement strategy.
  • Examine, evaluate and design a method for determining how & why employees want to be engaged in sustainability initiatives. 
  • Identify the corporate commitment & objectives for sustainability and how that relates to specific measures within the Green Team and employee engagement.
  • Complete a employee engagement campaign plan which ties into these objectives.
  • Identify communication, branding and reporting strategies based on best practices in other companies.
  • Design reward and recognition programs based on best practices used in your organization and other companies
• Examine and evaluate tools used by other companies to sustain engagement in sustainability.

Bonus Experiential Learning:

Learn how the Zoo can inspire your employees to embrace your sustainability program.  Experience first hand the impact of making connections and understanding the state of global systems, weakened eco-systems and threatened species.

During this course we will gain first - hand, behind the scenes insights on the impact of our current unsustainable practices on the planet and its inhabitants. Learn how to connect your sustainability program with the deep values of your employees.

Also, gain full access to the Sustainability Learning Centre's Community of Practice, a depository of learning materials and learning forum for all our courses.

Please note: Animal encounters may be subject to change due to availability.

Kathryn A. Cooper, B.Sc., MBA, M.Ed. (Sustainability & Environment)
President, Sustainability Learning Centre

Kathryn is a sustainability educator bringing Green Core Competencies® to sustainability practitioners within business and government.  Her research on Whole Employee Engagement and Green Core Competencies® is helping to redefine sustainability's role in achieving competitive advantage in this new era of sustainability.  In 2010 she designed the Learning Engagement Model to integrate theories of sustainability, learning and engagement.  She has also adapted the principles of Community-based Social Marketing for applications in employee engagement for sustainability 

Kathryn has worked with numerous companies to design and roll out employee engagement for sustainability programs. She has provided training in this area for nearly 20 years.  She continues to co-create, collaborate and learn with Employee Engagement & Green Team Leaders within companies such as:City of Ottawa, Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Town of Caledon, Memorial University of Newfoundland, McInnes Cooper, Fonterra Australia, Walmart Canada, Stantec,City of Pickering, Suncor Energy Inc., Summerhill Group, AMEC, Ecovox, Farm Credit Canada, and Office Kuki.

This course will be of value to Sustainability Coordinators, Sustainability Team Leaders and Members, Sustainability Coaches and Champions, Municipal Sustainability and Communications leaders; Marketing and Corporate Communications Managers; business managers/owners and anyone planning to lead the development of a sustainability strategy within business, government or the not-for-profit sector. Bring your entire "green team" and use this workshop as a kick-off to your sustainability initiative.

Regular Rate: $ 425 plus Tax , Regular Student Rate: $ 148.75 plus Tax

Late Rate (less than one week before the course): $ 525 plus Tax

This program is part of SLC's Green Core Competency Certification. Completion of this course provides 6 units toward a Certificate of Sustainability Education.