Don’t Rest on Your Laurels
There is a tendency at some point within any initiative to feel as though you’ve made it and you can begin to relax. For any of us who have ever tried to diet, we’ve gone through this same cycle. After you lose the weight and feel good, at some point you want to reward yourself ever so slightly. It’s a snack here or there, and soon you stop getting on the scale. Then because the changes are so slight, you don’t notice them until it gets bad enough that you feel as though you need a drastic change again. In the same way, companies get started on sustainability, make progress, feel good, and then lose momentum and have to reenergize their efforts over and over. Because the feedback and measurement for social and environmental issues are usually not immediate, the steps backward are less visible. Be careful to avoid this step.
When you are doing great, have a budget, and have engaged employees, don’t take your foot off the gas; step on it with all your might!