Employee communications & training
When managers talk (engagingly) to their people, policies work as they are meant to and employees act as effective ambassadors.
Context helps companies train and engage employees on sustainability issues – from company ethics policies, to climate change. We develop innovative internal communications and bespoke training to suit employees at all levels – from senior leadership to the shop floor.
Communications
Sustainability communications cover serious subjects such as climate change and human rights. But that doesn’t mean the messages should be dull.
We help companies create communications that engage, excite and inspire:
- Intranet sites – straight talking, engaging intranet sites on broad sustainability issues and microsites on specific topics, such as ethics or climate change.
- Newsletters - journalistic features on sustainability for in-house magazines.
- Games and quizzes - imaginative interactive ways to capture employees’ attention and help them understand the complex sustainability agenda, especially why it matters to the company and to them.
- Awareness campaigns – multi-channel communications that explain company policies and encourage employees to change their behaviour.
Training
Our “Sustainability 101” training sessions help employees to speak confidently and knowledgeably about sustainable development and what it means to the business.
Whether it’s the CEO addressing a high-profile industry conference, an investor relations representative talking to financial analysts or a brand manager brainstorming with an advertising agency, a working knowledge of the sustainability agenda is critical.
Sustainability 101s are interactive sessions led by senior Context directors and our affiliates Mark Wade (UK) and Lloyd Timberlake (U.S.A.), all highly experienced in working with corporations to develop and enhance sustainability programmes.
Training is available from boardroom to beginners and is always tailored to your company and industry. For more information, please contact Simon Propper (UK) or Peter T. Knight (U.S.).
Case studies
Why Bloomberg invests in employee communications
Five thousand clear plastic trash bags connected and inflated into a giant sculpture at the New York HQ illustrate how simple changes to office life could improve the environment.
A blog by an employee in Milan, Italy, describes how he uses the city’s public bicycles, called BikeMi, to visit clients.
Five women from Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg – self-named the Dashing Divas – are among the winners of an oversubscribed international team competition to photograph green travel ideas.
A packed lunchtime lecture theatre in London hears the producer of The End of the Line, a documentary charting the decline of fish stocks and how to choose sustainable fish (which is the only fish ever on the menu at Bloomberg), talk about the making of the film.
Bloomberg is an information, software and media company, headquartered in New York City with offices around the world. In 2009, it introduced environmental, social and governance (ESG) data to its 300,000 terminals used by the global financial community for essential investment information. Its internal sustainability program is called BGREEN.
The company is data driven and has a clear strategy to shrink its environmental footprint in a highly methodical, business-led manner. Bloomberg’s internal sustainability communications strategy, supported by Context, uses a combination of exhibitions, artworks, activities and competitions. These are based around environmental themes, which change every quarter. A lively, entertaining and informative intranet site, called BGREEN<GO>, provides an information base and acts as a launch pad for activities.
Bloomberg uses the BGREEN blog to keep a conversation going with colleagues. They find it very useful to tell the sustainability team if they’re not doing enough. After all, employees are the team’s biggest critics and strongest supporters.
CEMEX's monthly briefing
Headquartered in Mexico, CEMEX is one of the world’s largest producers of cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates.
Since 2008, we have provided regular support on sustainability strategy and communications projects to CEMEX’s operations in Europe. Examples of this work include writing briefing notes, position papers and case studies, and carrying out research and benchmarking to inform the company’s approach in the region.
We also compile a monthly briefing on sustainability issues that is widely distributed internally to keep employees up to date on emerging issues, best practices and regulations.
From our New York office, we facilitate CEMEX’s sustainability panel, a network of experts who provide advice and assurance for the company’s annual Sustainability Report. Context helped establish the panel’s terms of reference, recruit the members, chair the meetings and facilitate the production of the final statement.
Communicating climate change at Vodafone
Climate change is a key sustainability issue for Vodafone and changing employee behaviour is essential to reducing the company’s climate impact.
We helped create a climate intranet site to engage Vodafone employees and motivate them to be more climate-friendly at home and at work. This included the Vodafone Climate Challenge, an interactive game, that tests employees on their climate knowledge and shows them how to reduce their carbon footprint.
Putting employees in the picture at United Technologies
Good communications don’t have to rely on the written word. We helped United Technologies Corporation, the global technology group based in Connecticut, raise employees’ interest in sustainability issues through a photo competition. Employees submitted photos that captured UTC’s commitment to the environment. The winning entries were widely used and a calendar was produced and distributed internally as well as to customers.
Contact Beckie Herbert for more information about our employee communications services.
Find out more in our publication
CS Excellence in Context.