Sustainability Policy and Procedure

This document provides an in-depth analysis of sustainability policies and procedures for businesses. It covers topics such as the benefits of sustainability, how to incorporate sustainability into business planning, legal requirements, and examples of successful sustainability actions. The document also includes recommendations for performance indicators and strategies for resource efficiency.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY POLICY AND PROCEDURE
Sustainability Policy and Procedure
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
1.1. Introduction – About Grow Consultants and its Work................................................3
1.2. Benefits of Sustainability for a Business Enterprise...................................................3
1.3. How Sustainability can be built into Business Planning.............................................3
1.4. Legal Requirements for Workplace Sustainability that a company like Grow
Consultants must adhere to....................................................................................................4
1.5. Details of 3 Sustainability Policies and Procedures Research and the Inclusions
within the Policies..................................................................................................................4
1.6. Life cycle Mapping......................................................................................................4
1.7. Examples of Sustainability Actions that will inform the Sustainability Plan for the
Next 12 Months......................................................................................................................5
1.8. Recommendations for Suitable Performance Indicators to Measure the Effectiveness
of the Environmental Sustainability Policy............................................................................6
1.9. Options for Strategies that can be Implemented for the Purpose of Resource
Efficiency...............................................................................................................................6
1.10. Proposed Scope of the Policy..................................................................................7
1.11. Recommendations for Policy Options such as Likely Effectiveness, Timeframe
and Cost7
2. Task 2 - Email to the Assessor – Paul................................................................................8
3. Task 3 - Email regarding the Meeting with Stakeholders..................................................9
4. Task 4 - Development of the Sustainability Policy and Procedure..................................10

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5. Task 5 - Action Plan for Implementation of the Workplace Sustainability Policy over a
Period of 12 Months.................................................................................................................11
6. Task 6 - Email to Principal Consultants Summarizing the Workplace Sustainability
Policy........................................................................................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................15

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Task 1
1.1. Introduction – About Grow Consultants and its Work
Grow Consultants is a company that specializes in the provision of leadership
consultancy and which has been in operation for as many as five years now. The consultancy
is known to offer a wide range of services that helps companies to assess the leadership
behavior that is exhibited by existing managers as well as their performance metrics and to
design and also implement customized leadership programs on the basis of this assessment
(based on case study provided).
1.2. Benefits of Sustainability for a Business Enterprise
Some of the benefits that can be experienced by a business when it adopts a
sustainable approach are reduction in costs and increased productivity, waste reduction and
the ability to make shareholders happy. Embracing sustainability measures will also give a
business the ability to attract investors and employees, and experience improvement in brand
image as well as competitive advantage (Buxel et al. 2015).
1.3. How Sustainability can be built into Business Planning
Sustainability is something that can be built into business plan by Grow Consultants
by carrying out seven important steps. The first step would be to define the problem
statement, the second would be to meet with stakeholders, the third step will involve
conducting product lifecycle assessment, the fourth step will entail creating facilities
management checklist, the fifth step will involve developing a program that will illustrate
positive as well as safe treatment of employees, the sixth step will involve developing a
program for the purpose of community outreach and for building relationships with vendors

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and supplies. The seventh and final step by which sustainability can be built into business
planning would be to develop and implement an ethics policy (Doppelt 2017).
1.4. Legal Requirements for Workplace Sustainability that a company like
Grow Consultants must adhere to
There are a number of environmental laws that Grow Management Consultants is
going to have to adhere to when developing its workplace sustainability policy. The
Environmental Protection Act of 1997 and the Environment Protection Guidelines for
Business and Industry as drawn up by ACT Canberra are two of the most important
legislations that will govern the manner in which the workplace sustainability policy is
shaped and drafted by Grow Management Consultants (Doppelt 2017).
1.5. Details of 3 Sustainability Policies and Procedures Research and the
Inclusions within the Policies
Sydney Water, Telsta and WestPac are three of the most well known Australian
companies that following fantastic sustainability policies and producers. The inclusions
within the policies are those that entail active and continued engagement with stakeholders,
social accountability, integration of stakeholder values in the operations of the organization
and involvement in innovation and in corporate social responsibility. All three companies are
exceedingly careful of their use of water and paper, keeping the use of water as restricted as
possible and the use of paper next to nil, with electronic modes of communication and
information dissemination being what is preferred by all the three companies for all their
official activities (Crane and Matten 2016).
1.6. Life cycle Mapping
Life Cycle mapping is something that Grow Management Consultants is going to
engage in with reference to its use of paper and paper related products. The life cycle

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mapping tool is what the company is going to make use of in order to engage in the practice
of environmental sustainability. This life cycle mapping tool is one that is characterized by a
number of important stages. The first stage involves the acquisition of raw materials that are
needed for the manufacture of products. The second stage refers to the actual production or
manufacture of goods, the third stage refers to the sale, distribution and the purchase of the
goods and the services that have been produced, the fourth stage involves the actual use of
the goods and services and the fifth and final stage involves recycling of whatever has been
used. The end of use is the last and final stage of life cycle mapping and it refers to the
constructive transformation of wastage into recycled products that can again be used over an
extensive period of time instead of being generated as wastes into the surrounding
environment. The lifestyle mapping tool is something that Grow Management Consultants
can definitely deploy in order to make sure that the company does not allow the release of
toxic substances into the environment when its products and services reach the end of their
life cycle. Rather, such products are then recycled in order to bring about a reduction in waste
and ensure the prevention of pollution (Dyllick and Muff 2016).
1.7. Examples of Sustainability Actions that will inform the Sustainability Plan
for the Next 12 Months
Grow Management Consultants is going to refrain from the use of older, incandescent
light bulbs that consume a lot of electricity and opt for the cheaper fluorescent light bulbs
instead. This is because the older incandescent light bulbs are known to consume far more
energy than the cheaper incandescent light bulbs do. As a result, the company will be able to
bring down its power or energy bills by a considerable extent and ensure environmental
wellbeing at the same time. The office will be cleaned three to four times a week using eco
friendly cleaning materials in the place of harsh chemicals. The lights in the office will be
switched off when not being used. Energy efficient heating and cooling systems will be made

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use of. The use of paper will be kept at an absolute minimum. As is the practice already, all
communication with staff, stakeholders and shareholders will be carried out electronically
through the use of email or over the phone if necessary. Minutes for meetings will also be
communicated over email as will be business plans and business agendas. Printing paper is
something that the company is going to avoid engaging in at all and stakeholders and share
holders who do request for printed sources of information will have to be prepared to pay a
very high price for doing so.
1.8. Recommendations for Suitable Performance Indicators to Measure the
Effectiveness of the Environmental Sustainability Policy
Some of the key performance indicators that Grow Management Consultants is going
to take recourse to in order to determine how well its workplace sustainability policy is
working out will be to determine how much power or energy is being consumed every month,
how much the company’s employees are able to carry out business operations without opting
for the use of printed materials like printed documents for this purpose, whether waste bins
are being used scientifically or not and whether the cleaning materials used to clean up the
office space are having a corrosive impact on the surfaces that these are used on (Schaltegger
et al. 2016). If the company is able to see that power bills at the end of every month are at an
all time low, that its employees are able to carry out all official communication using
electronic modes, if the office space is being successfully cleaned through the use of eco
friendly and bio degradable materials and if the waste bins are being used regularly for the
collection as well as the proper disposal of trash, it will know that its workplace sustainability
policy is having the effect that is desired (Evans et al. 2017).

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1.9. Options for Strategies that can be Implemented for the Purpose of
Resource Efficiency
Some of the specific strategies that Grow Management Consultants is going to take
recourse to in order to ensure energy efficiency in the organization are to opt for the use of
energy efficient heating and cooling systems and the use of fluorescent light bulbs in the
place of the incandescent lights in order to make sure that energy is not overused or exploited
at the organization and that power bills are kept at an all time low, thus improving the
financial resources of the company in the long run (Schaltegger and Wagner 2017).
1.10. Proposed Scope of the Policy
The scope or purpose of the policy is to ensure environmental conservation and
environmental preservation on the part of Grow Management Consultants. This is a company
that wishes to carry out its business operations without having an adverse impact on the
surrounding natural environment (Raueter et al. 2017). It will be socially accountable by
making sure that people in society have a healthy natural environment in which to live rather
than contributing to environmental degradation by opting for the use of print materials and
consuming high volumes of energy in the course of its business operations (Ferguson and
Souza, 2016).
1.11. Recommendations for Policy Options such as Likely Effectiveness,
Timeframe and Cost
The workplace sustainability policy as drawn up and implemented by Grow
Management Consultants is one that will be executed over a time span of twelve months. The
effectiveness of the policy will be determined on the basis of how much it is that the
company is able to cut down on power consumption, how far it is able to engage in work and
communication without the use of paper, and how far it is able to engage in cleaning

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activities without using harsh toxic substances for this purpose (Neubauer and Lank 2016).
The company will invest a substantive amount of money in energy efficient cooling and
heating devices, in fluorescent light bulbs and in the use of internet services to implement its
workplace sustainability policy in the most effective of ways.
2. Task 2 - Email to the Assessor – Paul
To – [e-mail]
Subject – Enforcement of a Workplace Sustainability Policy
Dear Paul
I am happy to let you know that I have drawn up a workplace sustainability policy
that we can implement here at Grow Management Consultants. Given the slow and steady
rise in global warming and the continued detrimental impact that business operations are seen
to have on the state of the natural environment in the country of Australia, I believe that
Grow Management Consultant can play a leading role in championing the cause of
environmental wellbeing by following an active and pragmatic policy at the workplace to this
end.
The workplace sustainability policy that has been drawn up covers a number of
important aspects such as the limited use of power and paper and the increasing use of bio
degradable materials for cleaning activities within the workspace. If adhered to by all
shareholders and stakeholders alike, I believe this policy will go a long way in getting Grow
Management Consultants to be viewed by Australian civil society and the government as an
organization that has taken on immensely powerful role in protecting and conserving the
natural environment of the country. I do hope that you are on board with such a policy and
are willing to see it take shape at the earliest. I request you to suggest a date, time and

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place where we can meet with stakeholders to discuss this policy in greater detail and
see it being implemented thereafter.
With my thanks and best wishes,
James
3. Task 3 - Email regarding the Meeting with Stakeholders
To – [e-mail]
Subject – Meeting with Stakeholders
Dear Paul
I am writing this email to let you know that the meeting with the stakeholders went
off remarkably well. Most of the stakeholders that I met with were surprising moved and
encouraged by the idea of a workplace sustainability policy being implemented by our
company at the earliest and many asked me why we had not thought of implementing such a
policy at an earlier date, given the many beneficial effects that executing such a policy can
give rise to. I was moved by all the encouragement that the stakeholders provided me with.
They heard me out from beginning to end, clapped when I finished speaking and had many
questions to ask regarding when it is that the policy is going to take shape and the span of
time over which it is going to be implemented. I was of course very happy to answer all of
their questions and am immensely glad to know and to inform you that they are entirely on
board with the idea. The following are some of the key areas of discussion that I engaged
with the stakeholders, at the meeting.
Required Outcomes of the Workplace Sustainability Policy

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The stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the necessary outcome of the workplace
sustainability would be to ensure the adequate preservation and conservation of the natural
environment of Australia and to give Australian civil society and government an idea of the
active corporate social responsibility that Grow Management Consultants is taking by
demonstrating such care and concern for the natural environment.
Key Performance Indicators for the Workplace Sustainability Policy
All of the stakeholders agree that the workplace sustainability policy can be best
judged in terms of effectiveness by the extent to which it is able to bring down power bills at
our organization, by how easily we are able to clean up our office premises through the use of
eco friendly or bio degradable materials and how effectively we are able to carry out business
communication without the use of printed materials. The latter is something that stakeholders
especially insisted on, as it is easily feasible.
Methods of Implementation of the Workplace Sustainability Policy
At the meeting, it was agreed upon by most of the stakeholders that the best way to
implement the workplace sustainability policy would be to do so in bits and starts, month by
month and over a period of twelve months. After twelve months, it was suggested by the
stakeholders that the workplace sustainability be evaluated for effectiveness after which a
revised policy could be put in place for implementation for the following calendar year.
I am ecstatic that our plans for a workplace sustainability policy have been so well received
by our stakeholders and I am sure that you are too!
With my warmest regards,
James

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4. Task 4 - Development of the Sustainability Policy and Procedure
The sustainability policy and procedure that is adopted by Grow Management
Consultants is one that will focus first and foremost, on the reduced use of wastage and
electricity. Lights are going to be switched off in the different rooms of the company’s office
when the rooms are not occupied or are not being used and the company will also engage in
the use of heating systems in the winter and cooling systems like air conditioners in the
summer that are highly energy efficient and which are designed for minimum energy
consumption even when very extensively used. Grow Management Consultants will focus on
the minimum use of paper as well for the purpose of written communication. In fact all
written communication that is carried out for performing the business operations of the
Company, will be carried out over email and through video calls and phone calls. Paper is not
going to be made use of even during meetings and workshops. The office space will also be
cleaned three to four times in a week rather than once in a week. Eco friendly cleaning
materials will be used for this purpose. The incandescent light bulbs will be immediately
replaced with fluorescent light bulbs which consume less energy and which are far more
environment friendly in nature therefore.
5. Task 5 - Action Plan for Implementation of the Workplace Sustainability Policy
over a Period of 12 Months
January
In the month of January, Grow Management Consultants is going to focus on getting its
fluorescent light bulbs installed in the place of the incandescent light bulbs that are in use at
the moment
February

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A circular shall be sent over email to all employees and stakeholders of the company, that all
communication for business will be carried out over the medium of email only and that paper
or print materials are not going to form a part of such communication.
March
Lights and fans are going to be used only when absolutely necessary and switched off when
not being used. A special team will be created by the company whose job will be to less if
electricity is being used in a wasteful manner in the office for the entire length of that year.
April
Grow Management consultants will hire competent cleaning staff who will engage in the
cleaning of the office for three to four times a week, in every month for the rest of the
calendar year. Waste paper bins shall be kept in strategic parts of the office space for the
quick and easy disposal of wastes
May
The existing heating and cooling systems will be monitored for energy efficiency
June
New energy efficient cooling systems will be installed
July
Follow up activities will be undertaken on the effectiveness of not using printed material for
work communication
August
New energy efficient heating systems will be installed in the office

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September
Eco friendly and bio degradable materials will be purchased for the cleaning of the office
space
October
The fluorescent light bulbs will be monitored for the purpose of energy efficiency and new
ones will be put in their place if seen as required
November
The existing energy efficient heating and cooling systems will be evaluated
December
New five star energy efficient heating and cooling systems will be installed.
6. Task 6 - Email to Principal Consultants Summarizing the Workplace Sustainability
Policy
To – [e-mail]
Subject – Engagement with Principal Consultants
Dear Paul
I believe the time has now come for the principal consultants of our firm to be informed
about our new workplace sustainability policy that I have put in place. It is excellent that we
have already procured the approval of our stakeholders and now that the timeline for the
implementation of the policy has been drawn up, I believe it is alright to go ahead and let our
principal consultants know about its execution.

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I have a feeling that the workplace sustainability policy that we have put together is
something that is going to be very positively received by our principal consultants. We
simply need to make sure that we are being realistic about the strategic implementation of
this policy if we are thinking about continuing with it for a second year, which I am sure we
are. Attached with this email are the workplace sustainability policy documents that I am sure
you would like to go through and approve of before we send them over finally to our
principal consultants.
With my thanks and best wishes
James

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References
Buxel, H., Esenduran, G. and Griffin, S., 2015. Strategic sustainability: Creating business
value with life cycle analysis. Business Horizons, 58(1), pp.109-122.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for
business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Dyllick, T. and Muff, K., 2016. Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a
typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organization &
Environment, 29(2), pp.156-174.
Evans, S., Vladimirova, D., Holgado, M., Van Fossen, K., Yang, M., Silva, E.A. and Barlow,
C.Y., 2017. Business model innovation for sustainability: Towards a unified perspective for
creation of sustainable business models. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(5),
pp.597-608
Ferguson, M.E. and Souza, G.C. eds., 2016. Closed-loop supply chains: new developments to
improve the sustainability of business practices. CRC Press.
Neubauer, F. and Lank, A.G., 2016. The family business: Its governance for sustainability.
Springer.
Rauter, R., Jonker, J. and Baumgartner, R.J., 2017. Going one's own way: drivers in
developing business models for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, pp.144-
154.

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Schaltegger, S. and Wagner, M., 2017. Managing the business case for sustainability: The
integration of social, environmental and economic performance. Routledge.
Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F. and Hansen, E.G., 2016. Business models for
sustainability: A co-evolutionary analysis of sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation, and
transformation. Organization & Environment, 29(3), pp.264-289.