By Leyla Acaroglu
When I was invited by Unily, an intranet development company, to research and write a report on the future of sustainability in the workplace, it was just before the global pandemic hit. Within weeks of starting the research, the world ground to a halt, and the positive and negative impacts of the Covid-19 crisis started to form, making for a fascinating time to be working on a futures report!
Today we launch the resulting report on the forces affecting this disruptive time we are living in: Decade of Disruption: Future of the Sustainable Workplace in the Age of Covid-19 and Climate Change. I explore the macro and micro trends driving change and the impacts of massive disruptions like Covid-19 and climate change on the workplace.
Decade of Disruption: Future of the Sustainable Workplace in the Age of Covid-19 and Climate Change
I am so proud of this work. My small team and I worked solidly for 8 months during the pandemic, exploring the megatrends and emerging micro forces that will define the divers for change this decade, looking at what is already underway in bringing about a sustainable future and how this affects the workplace. From today, you can download the report for free here.
I hope that all the creative changemakers out there who have been working tirelessly in the last 10+ years to sound the alarms on global environmental crises like climate change and plastic waste pollution can adapt the perspectives and insights explored through this report, written at such a unique time during the throws of the emerging Covid crisis — a time that has brought to the forefront of the world’s attention the need for urgent systems change in order to bring about a sustainable and regenerative future, now. And business is critical to this transformation. This is why alongside this we have the Sustainability in Business Program series designed to support organizations make the shift to operating in sustainable and circular ways.
The Report
Transformation of the entire economy and social practices, accelerated by the global pandemic that swept around the world, wreaked havoc on markets, rapidly changed business operations, altered people’s lives and challenged healthcare systems. As a result, the Covid-19 crisis is emerging entirely new ways of working, living and doing business. But before this, the foundations for massive disruption were already being laid out for businesses, with several forces of change playing out, this report explores these and how they will continue to drive change this decade.
Through the report, we highlight a number of case studies of leading organizations who are pioneering change, and we explore in detail 12 emerging drivers propelling a pathway towards sustainability within the workplace, starting with the cultural shifts in how and where we do business and expanding out to the operational foundations of the modern workplace. We explore how they emerged and what pioneering organizations are already doing to adapt to these influential forces, showing how Covid-19, sustainability, climate change, and the Circular Economy are affecting the workforce in multi-pronged ways.
The report is presented in three main sections: a highlight of the six relevant megatrends predicted and already emerging as a major influencer this decade; a detailed exposition of 12 micro forces driving these megatrends and how they relate to the workplace and shifts within business operations; and a diagnostic toolkit for business managers to assess where they are on their sustainability journey, with a detailed set of maps of where to go from here to stay ahead of the pack. Stay tuned for more information about each section, as we will be sharing highlights from each of the three parts over the next three weeks, here in our journal!
Through identifying trends unfurling in real-time, this trend report is designed to support business leaders in the process of adapting to this decade of disruption.
Covid-19 and climate change are just two of the most obvious forces impacting our way of life. What we will see unfold over this decade is a great amount of collective reliance in our ability to rapidly transform the way we do everything. The demand for change is great, from workers, to customers and business leaders - the trend towards sustainability being an integral part of the modern workplace is emerging from multiple directions.
This trend report is designed to support business leaders in the process of adapting to this decade of disruption.
Two highlights for me are the identification of the defining drivers which contribute to the megatrends and the micro transformations that will continue to drive change, and the sustainability in business self-assessment tool that helps any organization reflect and assess where they are at and helps lay a pathway for how they can leverage positive change and transform into a sustainable workplace.
As part of the exploration, 2000 UK based office workers, from graduate entry-level jobs through to Senior Manager level, were surveyed by Censuswide in August 2020. A range of questions relating to the impact of Covid, their perceptions of sustainability and work-life changes were presented and selected data responses are shown throughout the report. It was found that there is a rising concern among workers around the impact of the companies that they are working for with 72% of respondents being concerned about environmental ethics, 83% feel that their companies aren’t doing enough and 63% want more green skills to strengthen their workforce value.
Activate + Design the Future of Your Workplace Now
Sustainability is about ensuring that decisions made today don't impede the ability for future generations to have the same, if not better quality of life as we do today, and in the context of work, it's about ensuring that workers, workplaces and business structures are ethical, equitable and economically viable. Every organization will be at a different stage.
As the case studies throughout the report show, there are many ways to engage with sustainability and multiple opportunities to lead through these complex times. The most important thing is getting started, and this report will support you in gaining the insights and advantages of establishing a journey towards a sustainable workplace.
