Employees advocating for stronger social goals within their company often face setbacks and resistance. Connecting with like-minded individuals from other organizations can provide support and strategic insights.
As society grapples with major challenges, more and more people feel the urge to drive change—such as greater sustainability—within their own organizations. Even without holding leadership positions, employees can initiate change through targeted strategies. In previous articles have discussed how to “sell” sustainability initiatives internally (Issue Selling), how to leverage existing company policies to advocate for sustainability, and how to counter common arguments against that delay sustainability initiatives.
However, by nature, employees pushing for change will encounter resistance and setbacks. This is why building a network of like-minded professionals across organizations can be highly valuable for several reasons.
1. Learn from Others’ Experiences
Trying to change an organization is challenging—but learning from what has worked (or failed) elsewhere can be invaluable. Stories of setbacks in one company can help others avoid the same mistakes or develop better strategies. By sharing experiences across different organizations, networks can create best practices, checklists (e.g., for organizing informational events), and templates (e.g., email drafts for engaging stakeholders) that others can adapt and implement.
2. Gain Insight into Different Approaches—Radical and Moderate
Employees advocating for change use a range of strategies—from moderate (e.g., raising issues in meetings) to radical (e.g., actively boycotting certain events). Engaging with people using different approaches can spark creativity:
- More moderate individuals may find inspiration and courage from radical tactics.
- More radical individuals can learn from moderate approaches how to make their initiatives more palatable within corporate structures.
3. Overcome Stagnation Together
Employees often succeed in initiating a change (e.g., implementing a sustainability measure), only to see momentum fade as internal stakeholders lose interest or motivation. Maintaining energy for a stalled initiative can be difficult. A regular exchange with like-minded individuals from other organizations can help keep that momentum alive and reignite motivation to push change forward.
4. Build Solidarity and Emotional Support
Advocating for social change—such as greater sustainability—often means putting oneself in the spotlight, which can make employees vulnerable to criticism. Negative reactions from colleagues or management may lead to frustration, shame, or even fear. Additionally, slow progress can increase the risk of burnout. A support network of people facing similar challenges can help buffer these emotional struggles. The solidarity formed within such networks becomes a powerful social resource that helps prevent burnout.
5. Expand the Social Movement Together
Networking fosters innovation: Employees can copy, adapt, and refine strategies from others. By developing best practices and shared resources, the likelihood increases that successful initiatives spread beyond individual companies. Over time, actions that start as voluntary company initiatives (e.g., allowing train travel for business trips despite higher costs) can evolve into industry-wide norms (e.g., requiring train travel for trips under 500 km).
Conclusion
If you are an employee pushing for social change—such as sustainability—seek out like-minded individuals outside your organization. Networking not only promotes learning and innovation but also helps manage setbacks and even emerge stronger from challenges.
Source: de Jordy, R., Scully, M., Ventresca, M. J., & Creed, W. E. D. (2020). Inhabited ecosystems: Propelling transformative social change between and through organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(4), 931–971.
Dr. Barbara Kump 