#13: 7 Easy Steps to Embed ESG into Your Business Culture

Key Takeaways

• Start with leadership storytelling—connect ESG to your company’s origin.
• Weave ESG into daily rituals (meetings, recognition programs).
• Train managers as ESG champions—not just compliance officers.
• Use existing channels (Slack, town halls) for bite-sized learning.
• Celebrate small wins publicly to build momentum.
• Assign ESG accountability in job descriptions.
• Measure culture shift with simple pulse surveys.

“ESG fails when it’s a PDF buried on your website. It wins when the intern asks how to reduce waste in their project.” If your ESG efforts feel like a checkbox exercise, you’re not alone. 68% of employees can’t name their company’s ESG goals (McKinsey, 2024). But culture change is simpler than you think, start here:

Step 1: Rewrite Your “Why” (Hint: Use Stories)

→ Action: Have leaders share 3-minute stories at all-hands meetings linking ESG to:

• Your founding mission (e.g., “Our founder started this in her garage to solve X—now ESG helps us scale that impact”)
• Employee pain points (e.g., “Remember last year’s supply chain delays? Ethical sourcing prevents this”) → Pro Tip:

“Stories stick 22x longer than data. Connect ESG to customer complaints or employee feedback, make it personal.“

Step 2: Bake ESG into Daily Routines

→ Examples:

Tie 1 goal to ESG (e.g., “Saved X kg of paper”)

Step 3: Equip Managers as ESG Coaches

→ Training Focus:

• How to give feedback on ESG behaviors (not just outputs)
• Facilitating “green idea” brainstorming sessions
• Translating global goals to team-level actions → Avoid:

“Never make managers ESG police. Reward curiosity, not perfection.”

Step 4: Hijack Existing Channels

No new portals! Repurpose:

• Slack/Teams: Weekly #ESGWin channel
• Payroll Stuffers: “This month’s ESG hero: [Name] reduced energy use by 15%”
• Town Halls: Spotlight ESG-focused teams → Data Point: Companies using existing tools see 4x faster culture adoption (Gartner, 2023).

Step 5: Celebrate Micro-Wins Publicly

→ Try:

• “ESG Shout-Out” of the week (voted by peers)
• Badges for completing training modules
• Team photos with impact stats (e.g., “Procurement saved 200 trees!”)

“Visibility breeds momentum. Celebrate the first 1% reduction in waste like a 10% win.”

Step 6: Redefine Job Accountability

→ Add to Role Descriptions:

• All Staff: “Identify 1 annual ESG action in your workflow”
• Managers: “Coach teams on ESG problem-solving”
• Leaders: “Sponsor 1 cross-departmental ESG initiative”

Step 7: Track Progress with 2 Questions

→ Monthly Pulse Survey:

• “How has ESG impacted your daily work this month?”
• “What’s one ESG idea you tried?” → Pro Tip: Share anonymous responses at leadership meetings.

Overcoming Pushback

Share competitor wins (e.g., “Company X cut turnover by 30% with ESG”)

Takeaway

Embedding ESG into culture isn’t about grand gestures but micro-habits. As Maria López, Head of ESG at Natura &Co, summarizes:

“Forget ‘awareness training.’ Focus on action-tracking. When employees see their ideas implemented, culture builds itself.”

Bottom line: Pick 2 steps. Start this quarter. Don’t focus on spreadsheets but measure stories.