Green Jujitsu is the Launchpad of Employee Engagement
My green jujitsu approach to employee engagement says forget all the clichés of ‘green’ – the jute bags, the fair trade chocolate and the heart-rending posters – and work to the strengths of your colleagues – their skills, their interests and their habits. So we talk engineering to engineers, finance to financiers, brand protection/enhancement to marketeers.
I often see signs of dismay from sustainability practitioners when I say this – because it often flies in the face of their (and my) worldview of humankind existing in harmony with nature.
Two points:
1. It’s not about us, it’s about them. We should not be preaching to the choir, but to the unconverted, so we have to speak their language and appeal to their wants/habits/fears.
2. You can start to introduce more ‘sustainability-think’ when you get some forward momentum and interest, but if you start off trying to engage people by shouting slogans at them (or appearing to), you’ll get nowhere. They will switch off.
So even if it pains you to let go of your green sacred cows, try to see green jujitsu as the launchpad for engagement. Pragmatism wins in this game.
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