New research from Amazon Business has revealed that while enterprise employees are eager to change their business buying habits to help achieve company sustainability goals, this isn’t translating to action across the whole business.
The results from the UK show that 35% of employees want the purchasing of more-sustainable goods to be a key focus in the workplace, but less than a third, or 28%, always consider sustainability when purchasing products. This is likely due to the fact that while 63% of respondents said their company has guidelines for socially responsible buying, only 25% actually know what they involve. More worryingly, a further 38% aren’t sure of any guidance whatsoever, meaning a total of 76% of employees are unaware of what socially responsible purchasing guidelines exist within their organisation.
Despite perceptions of younger generations being more environmentally conscious than the older generations, the research found that employees aged 35 and over from across Europe were just as likely as Gen Z respondents to feel that increased sustainability of goods should be a key focus for the workplace. Interestingly, those over 55 were actually more likely to always consider sustainability when making purchasing decisions (31%), compared to those aged 18 to 34 (26%).
Similarly, whilst senior decision-makers (79%) and the rest of the business (75%) both factor sustainability at least occasionally into buying decisions, its senior employees that are the ones most notably always likely (42%) to factor it into their decision-making compared to junior peers (26%). Therefore, it can be assumed that the absence of more-sustainable purchasing practices comes down to business hierarchy and a lack of empowerment, rather than being related to age, with junior peers currently not empowered or equipped with the right technology to drive change at every level of the business.
To help tackle this, employees revealed that better technology able to support more-sustainable purchasing practices through guidance and automation (24%) and strong company guidelines around socially responsible purchases (26%) would make them feel better equipped to make more-sustainable purchasing decisions in their working life. Improved technology could also help resolve some of the main obstacles employees currently face when it comes to purchasing including finding more-sustainable products (25%) and knowing how sustainable these products actually are (26%).
Amazon Business UK&I general manager, Fabricio Pedroza, said: “It’s clear that procurement is a crucial part of many organisation’s path to being more socially responsible, so it’s encouraging to see a genuine desire from workers, of all ages and levels in the organisation, to purchase more-sustainably. However, leadership teams need to look closely at how they can better empower their workforces to translate intention into action. From digitalising processes and tools, through to enhanced communication and training on objectives and policies, socially responsible purchasing can be quickly and easily improved. Just a few small steps will transform organisational efforts, empowering everyone to make a difference to sustainability, right across the business.”
The market research, completed in cooperation with company Opinium, saw Amazon Business survey 5,000 UK, French, German, Italian, and Spanish enterprise employees from a range of industries, including the public sector, education, automotive, retail, and financial services, on whether they are able to make sustainable buying decisions while at work.
