Training Employees on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Topics: Closing the Sustainability Skill Gap Across All Departments

Initiating sustainable transformation and reducing emissions should be a priority for companies in view of the climate crisis. It is no longer just about following legal requirements, but also about remaining economically competitive and appearing as an attractive employer. Because transformation can only succeed with a sustainable work force. In addition, according to the World Economic Forum, most new jobs are created in the areas of technology, digitalization and sustainability.

It is therefore important for employees to be knowledgeable in these areas. In the context of sustainability, this means that employees should, on the one hand, have basic knowledge of climate change, its consequences and solutions to current challenges, and on the other hand, it is important to understand how the sustainable transformation affects their own job role and to acquire the new skills that come with it

Sustainability: learning needs for all areas

Contrary to the idea of ​​​​some employers, it is not just the CSR or sustainability managers or the business areas that cause direct emissions that are responsible for sustainable transformation, but all areas and employees. This means that HR, the marketing team, procurement management, IT, finance and legal departments and many more should also be trained and involved in sustainable transformation. Only if all employees are on board can positive change in the company be successful in the long term. The question therefore arises as to what learning needs the various departments have and which sustainable skills will be indispensable in the future.

Basic knowledge is essential

All employees can initiate changes and provide positive impulses in their respective departments. However, before we get into the specific skills for certain job roles, solid basic knowledge must be built up. That’s why training courses on topics relating to the environment and climate should always include general facts. Employees need to understand the effects of climate change, how emissions arise, how they can be reduced and more. In this way they learn about the urgency of the situation and the responsibility of the company and at the same time understand that they can actively make a contribution.

Once the basics are covered, employees can focus on learning and applying the most important sustainable skills for their role. These can take on different dimensions in common company departments.

Sustainability skills for different departments at a glance:

It department

Digital services, large amounts of data and hardware cause emissions. Understanding how exactly these emissions are created is the first step to reducing them. In order to act sustainably when it comes to hardware, for example, employees should be familiar with the circular economy system and pay attention to sustainability criteria when purchasing. If the IT department programs itself, it can introduce sustainable software development practices and use energy-efficient algorithms, for example.

HR

The HR department is directly involved in the sustainable transformation in the company because it helps prepare and support all employees for their tasks. In addition, sustainability is increasingly playing a role in the search for personnel, because for employees this can be the deciding factor for or against a new employer. At the same time, HR professionals need to know which new jobs are emerging as part of the sustainable transformation and how they can best be filled.

Marketing

Marketing employees have tasks throughout the entire product life cycle. Accordingly, they can also promote sustainability in a wide variety of areas. Whether it’s about establishing sustainable packaging, introducing environmentally friendly advertising materials or avoiding greenwashing; They need knowledge about climate-friendly measures and solutions in various areas in their changing everyday work.

Procurement management

Buyers play a key role in sustainable change in companies. The company’s purchases have a significant environmental impact and involve emissions. In order to understand these and keep them as low as possible, training courses are necessary that deal particularly with indirect Scope 3 emissions and in which procurement managers can learn what they need to pay attention to when purchasing sustainably and in supply chains.

financial department

In the long term, the costs of climate change are higher than the investments in sustainable measures that counteract it. Finance departments need to be aware of, calculate and weigh these relatively new costs. Investments also play a major role, for example. Investments in environmentally harmful areas impact the sustainability of the entire company. At the same time, investments in renewable energy or reforestation can offset CO₂ emissions in other areas. How a company invests its money can have a major impact on its sustainability goals.

Legal Department

Climate liability plays a particularly important role for the legal department in a company. This refers to determining a company’s liability for damage caused by climate change. This can involve operating licenses for energy production and coal mining, but also unfair eco-advertising or EU regulations. Such processes require specialist knowledge, which is urgently needed in legal departments in order to be prepared for any developments and to provide prevention.

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