‘Building back better’ and reaching sustainability goals within the workplace

News

'The unprecedented economic shutdown presented a silver lining in the form of a positive effect on environmental conditions and pollution levels – and the experience firmly proved that dramatic behavioural changes can be achieved at scale.’ IWFM CEO Linda Hausmanis in Government Business magazine

2020 has been the year of COVID-19, social distancing and lockdowns, and the myriad impacts will continue to be felt for some time; however, it has also been a time of lessons, which we can use to reassess our priorities and prepare to ‘build back better’ when we emerge from the worst of the pandemic.

In a strange sense, COVID-19 is almost the best thing that could have happened to the sustainability agenda. The momentum behind embracing sustainability goals, which has gathered pace in recent years with help from the likes of Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, has been bolstered by both evidence and a sharpened focus.

Industry’s impact on the environment came under the spotlight as we saw dramatic improvements to air quality during lockdown; a welcome result of unwelcome pressures on business and the economy, perhaps, but clear evidence of what could be achieved nonetheless.

Meanwhile, wellbeing – a key element of the agenda - has never been more prominent in the public consciousness due to the psychological effects of the pandemic. If some employers didn’t believe it before (according to research by Group Risk Development, more than one in ten employers do not believe in supporting employee wellbeing), they now have proof that nurturing employee wellbeing is key critical to individual and organisation success, not least during times of stress.

Linda Hausmanis, CEO of the IWFM, has touched on both of these aspects of the broader sustainability agenda in a feature for Government Business magazine, where she discusses the opportunity to put sustainability at the centre of the ‘build back better’ agenda. Please click here to visit Government Business and read the article.