Sustainability training necessary nowadays in 'green' corporate culture

In a recent GreenBiz.com article, reporter Grant Ricketts recounts his experience at a conference featuring Fortune 1000 company representatives discussing energy efficiency and behavior change. These companies outlined many steps they were taking to achieve energy efficiency, however, training was not an item on the agenda.

Mick Dalrymple, program manager of Energize Phoenix, asked about training at the conference and didn't get clear responses from the corporate representatives. Ricketts points out that, historically, training has been mandatory for issues such as diversity, safety and technology. Why isn't sustainability included?

Ricketts and Dalrymple, from ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability, point out the missing ideas and fresh outlooks that usually come with training.

Ricketts writes: "Training fosters knowledge transfer, giving rise to further innovation, efficiency and competitive insight. Sustainability is another context in which to facilitate knowledge transfer and establish corporate excellence – like safety, quality, code of conduct, diversity and IT."

If corporations are serious about becoming sustainable, they need to instill it in their company's culture, employees and programs, and that starts with training.