Four (4) Key Steps to more Sustainable Workplace Strategies
Based on a recent CoreNet Global & Tarkett study, it was determined that employeees are emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic with a renewed sense of purpose, and have a strong desire to make a positive social implact. The four areas defined above will help organizations form their mindset to put sustainability back to where it belongs: at the center stage of the discussions.
Step 1: While progress is relative and companies must be careful, there is a genuine need for education in order to move forward. The wider stakeholder community simply won’t tolerate superficial sustainability claims in the intensely competitive times to come.
Step 2: Activists are on the hunt for those that don’t ‘walk the talk’ and that’s a scary place for businesses that are striving to do good, investing in change but inevitably still have a way to go. Collaboration is not about the collective “feel-good” factor, it’s a ‘must’ for industries to move forward.
Step 3: Real Estate strategies should lead initiatives in the re-purposing of interior office spaces: design firms have seen an increase to creatively repurpose existing spaces to a new set of needs, without wiping everything out and starting from scratch. Of course - every building is unique and will each take a specific approach based on its design and operation. However, if space can be repurposed without having to heavily invest in building MEP infrastructure and new structural walls, it offers exciting scope for more sustainable development in highly desirable city centre locations.
Step 4: And now, there is a need to manage the speed of transition. It’s important to have a long-term plan but to also celebrate the short-term wins. Adopting and this circular economy model into every aspect of the operation (impacting process, production, construction, procurement, and personnel decisions) has to have stages. Manufacturers need to learn new materials and make product changes that have an inevitable effect down the supply chain. It is the most audacious of goals and remaining cost-competitive takes multidisciplinary task teams. So far the construction industry has escaped scrutiny. But in a post-pandemic world, there are calls for a greener, more equal economy to emerge. As academic, business and industry insiders concur, it will be a journey and it won’t be without its struggles. But it will be worth it…
