Ecological transition, energy balance, CSR, carbon footprint, waste recovery… All terms that make most of us dizzy. And yet, this is one of the major challenges of this century. We need to take it into account in our day-to-day decisions. And what is valid in our private circle is even more so in the corporate world, which has a fundamental role to play in turning the world around.
In the company, the steering of this transition is assigned to the Human Resources department. As the Alexandre STOURBE General Manager ofLe Lab RHthe service has been propelled to the rank of ” conductor of the ecological transition “. A genuine environmental culture needs to be created within the company, and this needs to be implemented and managed by the HR department.
HR's role in access to information
Media overexposure to environmental issues has multiplied the sources of information, sometimes to the point of making it difficult to assimilate. This overabundance can even have a counter-productive effect, by dampening individual determination to act in favor of the environment.
In this context, the role of human resources takes on its full meaning. The HR department assists employees in accessing information, helps them sort through content and facilitates their understanding of environmental issues. In this way, it plays an essential role in relaying information to teams.
This mission begins with the integration of new employees, with training dedicated to the company’s environmental policy and the best practices to adopt on a daily basis.
In a company where machine operators, environmental technicians, account managers and accountants work together, it is essential to adapt messages to the realities of each profession. This approach fosters a better understanding of the issues and a broader awareness.
The arrival of a biodiversity advisor has also enabled us to develop training courses for all our staff. These sessions cover biodiversity, the causes of its decline and the ecosystem services it provides. This knowledge can encourage employees to adopt behaviors that are more favorable to the living world.
From awareness to action
Information and awareness-raising are an essential step in the ecological transition. They provide a better understanding of the issues at stake, and give meaning to the actions implemented.
However, in the face of today’s environmental emergency, raising awareness is no longer enough on its own. It must be accompanied by action. The challenge is to transform the knowledge acquired into concrete, sustainable practices. In this way, every employee can become a player in the company’s ecological transition.
Introducing employees to the ecological transition
As Cleopatra says to Amonbofis in the film: “That’s the problem, you always do what we always do!
The HR department’s first action is to get the company’s departments and their employees to think about the ecological transition and how to support it. For HR, the first challenge is to change mindsets and internal practices.
It’s all about simple but essential gestures:
- Print only what you need
- Prefer double-sided printing
- Sorting waste in the office
- Using electricity wisely
- Adopt the principles of eco-driving
Concrete actions to reduce environmental impact
Over the past four years, the HR department has undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at limiting the company’s environmental footprint. These include the dematerialization of pay slips. It also includes the implementation of a time management tool. This eliminates the need for paper-based vacation requests, individual interviews and time tracking.
This approach has also led to the distribution of water bottles to all employees, in order to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
The role of the HR department is also to support and relay the initiatives taken by other departments, such as the dematerialization of discharge slips, the use of recycled paper and the generalization of waste sorting, both in administrative offices and on operating sites.
Training employees to meet new challenges
The ecological transition also requires skills development. To support this evolution, several training courses have been deployed within the company.
In particular, employees are trained in IT tools, in the use of business software to facilitate the dematerialization of exchanges, and in the integration of clean vehicles into the company fleet.
HR’s role is to ensure that everyone has the knowledge and tools they need to contribute fully to this transition.
HR, a key player in environmental strategy
In addition to supporting teams, the HR department contributes to the effectiveness of the environmental management system, which is the guiding principle behind the company’s actions.
For ECT, whose business is based on the circular economy through the recovery of excavated soil, the ecological transition is a major challenge. This ambition is reflected in the formalization of a CSR approach, the implementation of an action plan in favor of biodiversity, the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and the definition of a trajectory for reducing these emissions.
The success of these commitments depends to a large extent on the men and women who carry them out on a daily basis. Human resources thus play a central role in the concrete application of the company’s environmental policy and in the sustainable support of its ecological transition.
