In one of my client workshops, a manufacturing operative, straight off the factory floor and still wearing his dirty overalls, put it bluntly:

“We’ve got these stickers on the machines telling us to switch them off. But there’s nothing in the standard operating procedures about it. It is hammered into us from day one to follow the SOPs, so, if we’re not sure, we ignore the stickers. If you want it to happen, it should be in the SOPs.”

You can take several lessons from this one statement:

• Your sustainability programme must be integrated into core business processes, not seen as an added extra.
• If you want to test this integration, ask your target audience for anomalies. If there’s a problem, they’ll soon tell you about it.
• Consistency of the message is essential – cognitive dissonance in this case led operatives to retreat to their comfort zone.
• You should be trying to tap into the culture that is already there – in this case the fact SOPs are seen as gospel.

In a different project, I have been helping a major plc develop sustainability training packages for recent newcomers. Again a key success factor we have identified is to ensure the message in the training is reflected back at the workplace – eg awareness posters should be in the same format and give the same message as the training so inductees see consistency between what they have been taught and their working environment.

I like Marks & Spencer’s approach for their famed Plan A sustainability programme where they use the same celebrity models to promote Plan A as they use for their general marketing and advertising. This gives two strong messages – sustainability is mainstream, and that it is glamorous and fun.

Like the proverbial stick of rock, your message must be integrated and consistent all the way through.