Why sustainability training belongs on the HR agenda

In 2026, most businesses have broad sustainability targets. While this is a huge step in the right direction, targets are no longer a differentiator; they are the norm. What matters more is making sure employees are equipped with the skills to build sustainability into everyday decisions, baking it into the wider culture of the business.

Businesses can confront this challenge head on by providing training to all staff members, from the boardroom to those in customer-facing roles. Until then, employees are left wondering how they can or should be helping the business to act more sustainably, which impacts the ability to hit sustainability targets. Training is the step that turns intent into behaviour.

From tick-box to daily habit

Sustainability can be an element of a role that gets overlooked. Because it is not always tangible, it can be easier for some decision-makers to deprioritise, particularly against the current backdrop of tight margins and cost-saving exercises. For others, it can appear to be someone else’s job, which is a typical engagement barrier.

By upskilling employees and providing consistent education that is relevant to specific roles, HR leaders can be confident that everyone in the business has the understanding and confidence to act within their own role.

What worked for us

One of the most effective steps we took was rolling out an e-learning module for our colleagues. This online course was built around what sustainability means in practice and asked colleagues to reflect on the actions they could take within their own day-to-day roles. We know that is what makes training stick.

We have taken 25,000 employees across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland through this training and encouraged them to make a personal sustainability commitment. Common themes include reducing paper use, improving recycling habits, saving energy and changing travel behaviours. This is the moment the shift happens, where awareness becomes individual ownership.

It is easy to mandate training only for colleagues to forget what they have learned. But by giving people the space and permission to digest that learning, we are creating a culture of accountability.

Our Keighley store is a good example. The team used energy data to identify opportunities, introduced regular huddles to share ideas and embedded simple habits into daily routines, such as managing lighting and equipment more effectively. This led to practical changes, including appointing energy champions, going paperless and reducing unnecessary customer journeys, all driven by colleagues who took ownership.

Sharing learnings

While we have seen behavioural and operational changes at store level, engagement at scale can be uneven. We can guide culture change and provide the tools to make it happen, but ultimately, within our business model, it is up to individual stores such as Keighley to put those changes into action.

For HR and sustainability teams, the challenge is finding engaging ways to connect with colleagues, spark new thinking and share the stories of stores that have successfully delivered positive change.

At the same time, we can influence progress by sharing learnings and advising one another on what works. I recently hosted the first online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) session on sustainability for audiology clinicians, which was open to anyone in the sector regardless of where they worked.

It was genuinely valuable to collaborate with professionals from across the field, and I would encourage other departments in any business to do the same.

For HR leaders, keeping training closely linked to what people actually do is key. Asking employees to make a personal commitment at the end of a session helps turn learning into habit, while reinforcing messages through real-world examples builds momentum.

Once colleagues have the knowledge and confidence to act, sustainability becomes part of how a business operates and grows rather than remaining an abstract target.