Lotte Mastwijk
Head of Sustainability
Embracing
Sustainability
If there is anything we have learned over the past years, it is that no company can achieve its goals without the commitment of its employees. Taking the time to properly implement sustainability into our core business, and making our goals and strategy tangible for every employee is just as import as deciding which sustainability topics are material and setting relevant goals.
The reality is that ‘sustainability’ is often only driven by the sustainability department, or even one single sustainability manager.
The knowledge and the responsibility lie there. And while a sustainability department can move mountains, it cannot work miracles.
With the launch of LC Packaging’s 2030 Ambition sustainability strategy in 2022, we decided to invest both time and effort to ensure that our ambition is embraced internally. We decided to slow down, instead of speed up – very difficult for any sustainability manager. After all: Global Warming does not wait. However, if slowing down helps to actually achieve emission reduction goals…why not give it a try?
Leadership
commitment
Before we decided to go ahead with our 2030 Ambition strategy, many months were spent discussing what sustainability means to our company. First with the Board of Directors, then with our country managers. Do we want to be a follower or a leader? What does our strategy mean? Do we understand the sustainability challenges, and our goals? What will be the impact on our business? What will be the impact if we don’t do it?
We were never under the illusion that everyone would be equally enthusiastic. There are always doubts, and change is always scary. Especially since there is no clear path towards a sustainable future for the company. But having an extensive dialogue about the path you are taking and taking that leap of faith together, is the first step towards success.
The voice of our colleagues
With our leadership team on board, our strategy was introduced to the rest of our colleagues. Firstly, it was officially introduced by our CEO. Secondly, an online training course was made available (90% completion rate), briefly explaining the basics of our strategy and ensuring an equal level of knowledge about the material themes and goals. Thirdly, we spent months making sure all employees were heard. We organised over 30 workshops on-site – in which 94% of all employees participated – where we discussed what sustainability meant to them, what goal meant the most personally, and what goal was considered the most important for their office or department.
But the most valuable of all were the brainstorm sessions we had about the question: “How can I contribute to achieving our goals?” The result: an overview for each business process (e.g., Sales, HR, Supply Chain, Logistics, Marketing etc) of how they can contribute to our 2030 Ambition. Created not by our management, or our sustainability team, but by our employees. A first step to making sustainability tangible.
Targets and KPIs
A next step is the translation of our company’s sustainability goals into goals per product category (we want to be a leader in sustainable packaging), and KPIs per sales office, production facility, and support department, including KPIs on selling more sustainable packaging. Leading the way towards more sustainable business practices. We have short-term KPIs and long-term goals, to make sure that the necessary actions for this year, as well as the long-term vision, are clear.
Reward sustainable actions
To incentivise sustainable behaviour and actions, and to underline the value the company places on achieving our sustainability goals, we introduced the ‘Impact Objective’. Starting in January 2023, LC Packaging employees have set an (annual) objective which directly contributes to our 2030 Ambition. The achievement of that objective is rewarded financially at the end of the year.
Invest in human resources
The introduction of our strategy brings extra work and responsibility for everyone at the company. Knowledge must be gained, and skills developed. In this respect, our HR department is of great importance. We have brought in missing expertise, resulting in our very first Circular Economy and Innovation Team, ensuring sustainable product development and contributing to our circular economy and emission reduction ambitions, and Data and Reporting Analyst, ensuring high quality data we can use to determine our progress and make strategic decisions.
What did it bring us?
Our actions brought us a lot of enthusiasm and activity to start with. Actions were taken in all layers of the organisation. 98% of our employees say they are committed to achieving our goals. 69% says they know how to contribute and 30% says ‘a little bit’. 93% of our employees say they know enough about our Ambition to be able to share with others, which is very important in a sales organisation. The first progress has been reported in this Sustainability Report.
Even though the journey will always be full of challenges, by establishing a solid foundation for our ambition, we feel confident we can achieve our goals by 2030.
Committed
Reliable
Loyal
© 2023 LC Packaging
www.lcpackaging.com
Lotte Mastwijk
Head of Sustainability
Embracing
Sustainability
If there is anything we have learned over the past years, it is that no company can achieve its goals without the commitment of its employees. Taking the time to properly implement sustainability into our core business, and making our goals and strategy tangible for every employee is just as import as deciding which sustainability topics are material and setting relevant goals.
The reality is that ‘sustainability’ is often only driven by the sustainability department, or even one single sustainability manager.
The knowledge and the responsibility lie there. And while a sustainability department can move mountains, it cannot work miracles.
With the launch of LC Packaging’s 2030 Ambition sustainability strategy in 2022, we decided to invest both time and effort to ensure that our ambition is embraced internally. We decided to slow down, instead of speed up – very difficult for any sustainability manager. After all: Global Warming does not wait. However, if slowing down helps to actually achieve emission reduction goals…why not give it a try?
Leadership
commitment
Before we decided to go ahead with our 2030 Ambition strategy, many months were spent discussing what sustainability means to our company. First with the Board of Directors, then with our country managers. Do we want to be a follower or a leader? What does our strategy mean? Do we understand the sustainability challenges, and our goals? What will be the impact on our business? What will be the impact if we don’t do it?
We were never under the illusion that everyone would be equally enthusiastic. There are always doubts, and change is always scary. Especially since there is no clear path towards a sustainable future for the company. But having an extensive dialogue about the path you are taking and taking that leap of faith together, is the first step towards success.
The voice of our colleagues
With our leadership team on board, our strategy was introduced to the rest of our colleagues. Firstly, it was officially introduced by our CEO. Secondly, an online training course was made available (90% completion rate), briefly explaining the basics of our strategy and ensuring an equal level of knowledge about the material themes and goals. Thirdly, we spent months making sure all employees were heard. We organised over 30 workshops on-site – in which 94% of all employees participated – where we discussed what sustainability meant to them, what goal meant the most personally, and what goal was considered the most important for their office or department.
But the most valuable of all were the brainstorm sessions we had about the question: “How can I contribute to achieving our goals?” The result: an overview for each business process (e.g., Sales, HR, Supply Chain, Logistics, Marketing etc) of how they can contribute to our 2030 Ambition. Created not by our management, or our sustainability team, but by our employees. A first step to making sustainability tangible.
Targets and KPIs
A next step is the translation of our company’s sustainability goals into goals per product category (we want to be a leader in sustainable packaging), and KPIs per sales office, production facility, and support department, including KPIs on selling more sustainable packaging. Leading the way towards more sustainable business practices. We have short-term KPIs and long-term goals, to make sure that the necessary actions for this year, as well as the long-term vision, are clear.
Reward sustainable actions
To incentivise sustainable behaviour and actions, and to underline the value the company places on achieving our sustainability goals, we introduced the ‘Impact Objective’. Starting in January 2023, LC Packaging employees have set an (annual) objective which directly contributes to our 2030 Ambition. The achievement of that objective is rewarded financially at the end of the year.
Invest in human resources
The introduction of our strategy brings extra work and responsibility for everyone at the company. Knowledge must be gained, and skills developed. In this respect, our HR department is of great importance. We have brought in missing expertise, resulting in our very first Circular Economy and Innovation Team, ensuring sustainable product development and contributing to our circular economy and emission reduction ambitions, and Data and Reporting Analyst, ensuring high quality data we can use to determine our progress and make strategic decisions.
What did it bring us?
Our actions brought us a lot of enthusiasm and activity to start with. Actions were taken in all layers of the organisation. 98% of our employees say they are committed to achieving our goals. 69% says they know how to contribute and 30% says ‘a little bit’. 93% of our employees say they know enough about our Ambition to be able to share with others, which is very important in a sales organisation. The first progress has been reported in this Sustainability Report.
Even though the journey will always be full of challenges, by establishing a solid foundation for our ambition, we feel confident we can achieve our goals by 2030.
© 2023 LC Packaging
www.lcpackaging.com