How should you Ensure Employee Buy-in for ISO 14001 Certification?

Most of the entrepreneurs and managers have the least idea about the employee buy-in and commitment when it comes to the implementation of an Environmental Management System or EMS. Go through this article to gain a clear insight into the matter.

No one can deny the fact that planning and developing an Environmental Management System, which is intended to be ISO certified in the long run, is a daunting task. This task, however, can be made a bit easier by depending on the buy-in and commitment of the work environment. If you can maintain a well-informed, knowledgeable, and motivated workforce, you will be able to witness a huge difference in the implementation phase as well as in the ongoing results. What plays a vital role in gaining the ISO 14001 certification is commitment. You must ensure the buy-in and commitment. How to ensure this? This article is going to help you find the answer.

There are many opportunities available for the entrepreneurs and the senior management to make the workforce onboard during the development of the Environmental Management System or EMS. It is important to take some initiatives at the very beginning of the project. Let’s have a look at three tips that can boost up the pre-development state of your EMS:

1. Remember the six key benefits of ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard? No? Then, let me remind you of the six major benefits of the standard:

•  Improved brand Image and Credibility

•  Compliance with Legal Requirements

•  Improved Cost Control

•  Faster Process Improvement

•  Higher Success Rate in the event of Modification

•  Reduced Employee Turnover

Together, these six benefits can contribute to the overall growth and performance of an organisation, and arrangement of employee awareness. Educating the employees is important to help them realize that the six benefits of this particular ISO certification (ISO 14001) are tangible and they can help an organisation make the commitment secure. The management should understand that the staffs having mortgages and bills due to pay and the stock options and profit sharing, on some rare occasions can be an effective and easiest set of stakeholders to convince whenever it comes to the improvement of business performance.

2. This is high time you should look at your own personal skill set. Implementation of an ISO certified EMS requires the right understanding of new principles. It is equally important to provide the employees with an opportunity for cutting-edge personal development. Always remember that your personal development will have a great contribution to secure the commitment. As an outcome, it will help you enhance your organisation’s current position.

3. Only knowledgeable management can never ensure the buy-in and commitment of an organisation. Every employee should be well trained. Everyone should understand his or her key responsibilities. Otherwise, securing the commitment and gaining the certification would become difficult.

These tips can help you establish the EMS. Now another vital question pops up. What measures an organisation should consider for demonstrating the fact that the organisation maintains the employee commitment? Listed below are the facts that can enable you to measure your employee commitment:

In most of the cases, it is widely accepted that the employees who are involved and informed are more responsive in comparison to those employees who are not. Having employees involved in every aspect of the EMS ranging from the objective setting to the process mapping, enables you to create and nurture a work culture ideal for the organisation. This rich work culture will help you motivate the employees in terms of the environmental issues.

The style and substance of the actions initiated by the leaders in an organisation can help them leave a strong impact on the work environment of the organisation. The revised version of the guideline required for ISO 14001 Certification has emphasized the role and influence of the top management or the leader.

Well-trained employees are expected to be well aware of the emergency preparedness processes, techniques, and maintenance of an EMS that is compliant with the ISO 14001 Standard. In the event of emergency preparedness, these employees can be your best bet.

When it comes to the employee-buy-in, a number of issues should be considered, such as-

• Diverse level of engagement

• Involvement

• Communication between the senior management and the employees 

• Communication among the employees

From the above discussion, it is clear that communication and engagement are two pillars that can help you make the foundation of your ISO 14001 certified EMS strongest and most effective. With the help of these two keys, you can keep your environmental matters at the forefront of the minds of your staffs.

Damon Anderson is a discrete ISO expert, an adventurous traveler, and a passionate blogger. He loves to cover the niches in which he has expertise such as ISO 14001 Certification, ISO 9001, ISO 31000, ISO 27000, and ISO Certification. His blogs are a powerhouse of knowledge about ISO standards and traveling.

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