Whose (budget) line is it anyway...and why does it matter?

The race to net zero has started, and a successful transition is dependent on widely varying implementation strategies, on one extreme intense capital investment and process redesign, on the other a focus on marginal gains and optimisation.

But who pays for it?

To onlooker this might seem unimportant, ultimately the business pays, in profit or loss – right? Wrong. Because at the heart of transition is one fundamental component being overlooked – people.

Transitioning a business isn’t just about hardware, but the soft software, us. It is naive to forget that in the main, individuals in organisations have their own drivers for their actions.

Understanding motivating factors.

Take for example the targets set by organisations on production or budgets. Individuals working in operations may well have values aligned with an overall net zero ambition but feel they have limited influence on suggestions or opportunities presented, because they don’t have the budget for it.

Conversely, the generation of net zero teams with a focus on capital investment are targeted with finding cost effective transition solutions. Typically, in this area we find project teams, with a mandate to undertake a major change to deliver a transition appropriate solution.

Here, the individual’s agenda is more likely to be focussed on the successful delivery of the project scope, on time and under budget. Suggestions to optimise existing processes can be dismissed, as they will be negated when the project is delivered, even if that is five or more years from now.

So, what is the solution?

Similar to safety, production or budget targets, individuals need to be given two things. A deep understanding of the expectations of the organisation in transition and the tools to allow them to execute.

Understanding is built through clear two-way communication, not just what the business expects, but an ability to feedback and, importantly, to be heard.

The tools may be as simple as providing the individual with the ability to better understand how the process can be optimised to reduce emissions, but it also needs to incentivise the individual to take initiative, and subsequently, space on a budget line.

Winning through collaborative effort.

In this race its worth remembering that the winner is likely to be the organisation that harnesses the power of its people. In the same way that the safety team doesn’t make the site safe, the net zero team can’t provide every solution.

Even though we are sprinting, there is still time for reflection. There are valuable questions to consider.

Are your budget lines helping or hindering your people deliver emissions reduction or transition for your organisation?

How would you know if there were?

What can you do to nurture and reward desired behaviours, to make the transition smoother for your organisation?