How can employers behave in an environmentally friendly manner and thus act more sustainably? Are waste separation, reducing the CO2 footprint or replacing company cars with car-sharing cars enough? Occupational psychologists Sarah Rietze, Dr. Clara Kühner and Hannes Zacher from Leipzig University have created a guide that combines scientific findings with practical solutions and will be published as a book at the end of April. Dr. Clara Kühner gives an initial insight into the results.
There are numerous approaches to implementing sustainability in the workplace: Many companies are doing away with flying for business trips within Germany, getting rid of company cars and switching to car sharing instead, reducing paper emissions to a minimum, separating waste and capping heating consumption. What else does it take to become a sustainable employer?
In order to become environmentally sustainable, organizations should implement a broad repertoire of measures. Things like waste separation and reducing paper consumption are an important part of this, but have a comparatively small impact on an organization’s environmental performance. In addition, there are other important fields of action that have a greater impact. For example, organizations can improve their energy balance by switching to renewable energies for heat and electricity and renovating buildings to make them more energy efficient. For ecologically sustainable logistics and infrastructure, it is important to shorten transportation routes through regional suppliers and create low-emission mobility options for employees. In addition, companies should use sustainable raw materials, return recycled materials to the production cycle and develop durable and repairable products. Finally, environmental protection should also be anchored in the corporate strategy by setting sustainability targets and reporting corresponding indicators transparently. These are just a few examples. But it is clear that there are many levers that organizations can use to improve their environmental performance.
In your book, you name leadership approaches to promote environmentally friendly behavior, also known as "green leadership", and explain the role of teams. How can management influence employees and how can processes within teams be designed to encourage more environmentally friendly behavior in the workplace?
Managers can inform their employees about environmental protection, facilitate further training and set an example of environmentally friendly behavior themselves. They can also motivate environmentally friendly behavior by creating opportunities for environmental commitment, rewarding environmentally friendly behavior and creating a team climate in which suggestions for environmental protection are welcome. By making it clear that environmental protection is a high priority, the manager implicitly sets new standards that establish themselves as the environmentally friendly norm within the team. In addition, teams should set concrete environmental goals, support each other in achieving them and strengthen the feeling that they can contribute to environmental protection together.
Not every employee can reconcile a corporate philosophy geared towards sustainability with their private lifestyle: For some it goes too far, for others not far enough. How can this discrepancy be resolved in everyday working life?
Research shows that even people for whom environmental sustainability is less important can be motivated to protect the environment. To this end, it is important to clarify the extent to which environmentally friendly behavior not only serves the environment, but also other personal goals. For example, cycling to work not only reduces emissions, but also keeps you physically fit. Working on an environmental protection project can also be used to cultivate networks within the organization, thereby improving career opportunities and enabling social integration. It is therefore important to understand the individual goals and motives of employees and to link these to environmental protection.
You say yourself that organizational psychology research has only been looking more closely at the topic of sustainability in and of organizations for about ten years. What methods do you use in your research?
Previous research on environmentally friendly behavior in the workplace is mainly based on survey data and experimental studies. In our research, we at the Chair of Work and Organizational Psychology repeatedly survey employees from different professions and industries over several months and years in order to be able to investigate the prerequisites and consequences of environmentally friendly behavior at the workplace over time.
Original publication:
Sarah Rietze, Clara Kühner, Hannes Zacher:
"Environmentally friendly behaviour in the workplace: Designing ecologically sustainable organizations"
published by Springer Nature
ISBN: 978-3-662-70699-2
Publication date: April 30, 2025
Event information:
On Thursday, March 27, 2025, 5:00 p.m., the authors of the book will discuss with experts from the field, among others.
Panel discussion and round table: "Shaping green organizations through environmentally friendly behavior"
Venue: Impact Hub Leipzig, Naumburger Str. 25, Leipzig
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On Saturday, March 29, 2025, 11:00 a.m., occupational psychologist Hannes Zacher will be on a panel at the Forum Unibund at the Leipzig Book Fair as an expert on mental health in the workplace.
Location: Leipzig Book Fair, Hall 2, Stand C301
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