Engaging employees in driving sustainability

October 25, 2021

Why it’s important to engage employees in sustainability activities and how we’re doing that?

Every year, October 24 is the International Day of Climate Action. One day a year to celebrate climate action taking place around the globe. For us at Signify however, every day is a climate action day, as we work tirelessly every day to be a leader in sustainability. In 2020, that hard work resulted in us meeting all of our sustainability targets for that year, including carbon neutrality in our operations. Now we’re stepping up our efforts as we aim to double our positive impact on the environment and society by the end of 2025. On this journey, one thing is certain: we couldn’t have done it without all our colleagues’ passion for sustainability. To continue expanding our positive impact, we rely on them to think and act sustainably and to have fun while doing so.

Employee engagement is making sure employees can mentally and emotionally connect with the value and activities of their employer and their workplace.”

Why is employee engagement on sustainability important to us?

Employee engagement is making sure employees can mentally and emotionally connect with the value and activities of their employer and their workplace. According to recent studies, employees who are more engaged are also more productive and have lower stress levels¹.

Because sustainability is central to our company strategy, it was a no-brainer for us to engage our employees around the topic of sustainability. Since 2019, we have formalized this process with quarterly employee engagement themes and challenges that help employees reflect on and connect their personal values with Signify’s business practices.

Our challenges give colleagues an opportunity to create and share their positive impact. The challenges help to create employee pride, build a great place to work, and make sure that every day, we are walking the sustainability talk.

So how do we put our words into action?

Each quarter, we plan employee engagement campaigns around sustainability topics including Climate action, Circular economy, and Health & safety. Communication channels like Yammer help us raise awareness and generate discussion. It’s also essential to ensure the support of our sustainability champions and our leadership team, who stand behind campaigns and generate support and visibility within their own teams and networks. This is further reinforced by visually attractive content on office TV screens, screensavers and other areas. This multi-channel approach keeps our campaigns top of mind.

In Q3 2021, we launched two campaigns: the Human Race for Climate action and #ShareYourPower about our sustainability program: Brighter Lives, Better World.

The Human Race

The Human Race challenge was organized by the United Nations to remind world leaders to keep their ten-year pledge to spend USD 100 billion on climate action in climate developing countries. We stand strongly by this cause. At the end of August 2021, we encouraged our employees to join this campaign. The task was simple, fun, and healthy: engage in your favorite sport for 100 minutes.

Throughout the two weeks, we received many inspirational posts from all around the globe. Better still, we got to know our colleagues better through their activities, which included mountaineering, kayaking, and Pilates.

The enthusiasm for this campaign showed how linking raising awareness for climate action to our everyday activities is a simple yet powerful and fun way to help a greater cause.

#ShareYourPower

Sustainability requires teamwork. Our achievements are only possible with the support of colleagues from all departments. We organized this challenge to highlight individual contributions as part of our collective power.

In the #ShareYourPower challenge, we asked our colleagues to share a banner or short video explaining how they contribute to our sustainability journey within their job at Signify.

By the end of the campaign, employees from all over the world working in Operations, Communications, Marketing, Human resources, Product Design, and many other departments had shared their power. This illustrates that sustainability is embedded in every job at Signify.

How? Through daily tasks, championing for a cause internally, or volunteering for our CSR program. You can see some of the motivating contributions below

What have we learned along the way?

It has been a fun quarter with important lessons for our future campaigns. First, collaboration is key. We can only achieve success with these campaigns if we work together, in this case with our colleagues from Communications, IT, and our network of Sustainability champions around the globe.

Second, a creative engagement opportunity can transform simple daily life tasks, such as sports, into activities that raise awareness about sustainability and that get employees more engaged. And maybe the most important lesson we learned: at Signify, everyone can contribute to creating brighter lives and a better world.

We’re looking forward to the next campaign!

[1] Hackbarth, N. (2020). 14 Benefits of Employee Engagement - Backed By Research. [online] Quantumworkplace.com. Available at: https://www.quantumworkplace.com/future-of-work/14-benefits-of-employee-engagement-backed-by-research

About the author:

Cristina Calin

Sustainability Reporting Intern

For further information, please contact:

Signify Corporate Communications
Elco van Groningen
Tel: +31 6 10 86 55 19
Email: elco.van.groningen@signify.com

About Signify

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals, consumers and the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings and public spaces. In 2023, we had sales of EUR 6.7 billion, approximately 32,000 employees and a presence in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We have been in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index since our IPO for seven consecutive years and have achieved the EcoVadis Platinum rating for four consecutive years, placing Signify in the top one percent of companies assessed. News from Signify can be found in the Newsroom, on X, LinkedIn and Instagram. Information for investors is located on the Investor Relations page.

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