A Future to Look Forward to: Fostering Agency in Sustainability Work

Abstract

One of the most significant changes of our time is climate change. Consequently, sustainability has become recognized as an important theme to include in every organization’s business model as it provides several benefits, including reduced costs and risks related to the business, an increased brand reputation, competitiveness, and employee attractiveness (Bonini & Bove, 2014; Haanaes et al., 2011; Kiron et al., 2013; Kiron et al., 2012; UN Global Compact & Accenture, 2013). A hybrid organization is an organization that designs its business model based on the alleviation of a particular social or environmental issue (Haigh et al., 2015). To become hybrid, we argue that the organization is dependent on employees to act as agents and to find new and innovative solutions towards the sustainability issues. How can an organization foster a workforce of agents that contributes to making the organization hybrid? We identify five practices organizations can engage in to foster agency for a hybrid agenda based on a case study of the Norwegian investment and insurance company, Storebrand. We draw on their success with sustainability work to identify practices that make the organization more hybrid. These include attracting and grooming pathfinders, applauding problem solving, marking and communicating sustainability progress, opening for green job crafting, and cultivating sustainability values. We conclude with a discussion highlighting how our research has contributed to the literature, and suggestions for future research.