GEF Institute Offers Sustainability Courses for Corporations
Walpole, MA, October 9, 2014 (Newswire.com) - GEF Institute announced today a custom offering of its popular Introduction to Sustainability course which teaches individuals about sustainability and why it’s important. Although the term sustainability has been around for a while, many people still don’t know what it means, according to a survey of more than 200 educators conducted by Green Education Foundation, sister company of the Institute, in 2013. Survey respondents correlate it to the term green which refers to the environment but sustainability is much more complex than that, encompassing both social and economic imperatives as well. The Introduction to Sustainability course is just one of many of the Institutes online sustainability courses and certificates that can either be taken directly from its’ website or ported to a company’s own learning management system. “Providing customization tailored to a company’s brand, initiatives and messaging only makes sense,” says Victoria Waters, CEO of GEF Institute. “For it’s critical that businesses not only educate their workforce on what sustainability is, but what they’re doing about it.” This perspective extends employee engagement, recognizing the talent management benefits and culture change that can result when companies and employees operate with a sense of shared values and beliefs.
Why Education? New technology alone will not allow corporations to meet the growing need for resource and energy efficiency as this perspective ignores the fact that, in addition to technological innovations, beliefs, values, and behaviors have to change. With this understanding in mind, education has a critical role to play in teaching a global workforce the new tools, and attitudes necessary for developing a sustainable enterprise. “Educated employees drive sustainability innovation to find opportunity and potential for an organization’s vision and growth,” Waters noted further.
The benefits in educating workers on sustainability concepts are enormous i.e. more engaged employees, better communication regarding a company’s sustainability goals (internal and external) and the ability to report workforce engagement to sustainability indices like Newsweek, Dow Jones, etc. And, sustainability powered engagement drives real dollar savings through the collective understanding of sustainability issues and corresponding actions—which can make an enormous impact on resource efficiencies through combined behavior change.
“Sustainability-related actions are speculated to be a driver of employee productivity gains. There is power in numbers, and if this relation could be quantified, the art of sustainability-driven business decisions would be radically changed.” MIT, Sloan Report
An educated and engaged employee is your best brand ambassador, and will feel a deeper connection to their work and their company.
Sample Sustainability Officer Survey Results
Q: What do you foresee the paybacks to be (ROI) in having a sustainability educated workforce?
A: “Full understanding of the meaning of sustainability plus the understanding of our company’s strategies will deliver better business results.”
A: “Ability to articulate an understanding of sustainability and the associated company value proposition builds brand.
To learn about how GEF Institute can empower your workforce through education, contact support@gefinstitute.org