Organizational psychologists with sustainable management on the agenda
Enters into collaboration with Trefadder to compensate for residual emissions.
Bjørnson Organizational Psychologists works with the development of human capital as a competitive advantage. Now the company wants to look at the business and customers as part of a long-term sustainability strategy.
– As a consulting organization, we are committed to understanding how we can contribute to the green shift and are now in the process of concretizing our green strategy. The work involves both employees and customers and is something the entire organization is concerned about, says Ingrid Ottesen, general manager of Bjørnson Organizational Psychologists.
The company was founded in 2001 with the aim of making knowledge about psychology accessible and relevant to business. Over the years, Bjørnson has contributed to strengthening leadership, workplaces, employee engagement and performance among private and public enterprises.
Putting the human in focus
She says that the company has been working on sustainability from both a human and environmental perspective for many years.
– Sustainability is not a new concept for us at Bjørnson. Since our inception in 2001, we have focused on the people in the organization and people as the most important competitive advantage of businesses. Today, we deliver services within leadership and organizational development to a number of industry-leading businesses. Now we want to use our position to promote both human and environmental sustainability.
– For us, sustainability is about developing good leaders who support effective transformation processes and make sustainable decisions. This means helping businesses develop more sustainable leadership and making leaders more aware of the impact of what they do. Not just here and now, but in a long-term perspective, says Ottesen.
Continuously looking for improvement
She says that the company is committed to pursuing best practices, continuous improvements and being a learning organization.
– In order to live up to our own ambitions, we have developed an evaluation culture where we identify what is good and what can be improved. This approach applies to both internal and external contexts, and both customers and employees are important sources in the work. This was also part of the reason why in 2016 we put “Leadership in the digital shift” on the agenda to develop digital products and services to support good management.
The company has developed Bjørnson Online, a digital learning platform, and will soon launch a leadership development app that integrates with traditional consulting services.
– Bjørnson Online makes professional expertise in management and organizational development available where it suits the customer. At the same time, the service contributes to a lower climate footprint through less travel, both for us and our customers. This is an environmentally and budget-friendly alternative for leadership development, she says.
Bjørnson Online currently consists of 15 digital learning modules. The leadership development app MODUS is a research project supported by the Research Council of Norway and developed by Bjørnson in collaboration with researchers at the School of Business at the University of Stavanger, led by Mari Rege.
Compensates for residual emissions
As a nationwide consulting environment with global clients, the company still needs transportation by plane, train or car to reach its customers. Now the collaboration with Trefadder compensate for these emissions.
– We became acquainted with Trefadder at a time when we had just started working on our sustainability strategy. We quickly saw that the concrete approach from Trefadder fit well into our environmental strategy. It is also a great way to communicate our climate commitment both internally and externally. We look forward to including employees and their families in the "tree planting" under the auspices of TrefadderThis was something that appealed to us and provided an added bonus. Trefadder is a well-thought-out and well-established climate project that gives us value in several ways, says Ottesen.
The collaboration with Trefadder helps Bjørnson compensate for 36 tons of CO2 per year.
Combining services
The company will now continue to work on further developing and concretizing the green strategy.
– For us, this is about involving the entire organization to understand how we can contribute to the green shift. As a consulting company, we are also committed to getting clients to choose effective and climate-friendly solutions within leadership development.
– The combination of digital learning modules and traditional consulting services provides a number of benefits for both customers and us. While the programs become more flexible, climate-friendly and less expensive, they also become more effective by reinforcing the learning effect. In addition, digital products can be reused when the need arises and repeated when the manager himself wishes, she says.
Putting sustainability on the agenda
She believes that good leadership will be crucial to succeeding in the transformation required to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Inner Development Goals (IDGs) is a non-profit initiative that works to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by contributing to personal development and inner capacity building.
– IDG is a framework for development with 5 dimensions and 23 qualities that people need to develop. We have now established Bjørnson Organizational Psychologists as IDG hub number 7 in Norway, “IDG Stavanger Bjørnson Leadership Hub”. This is an initiative that we will work a lot on in the future to contribute to the work of putting sustainable leadership into practice.
– Good management is a prerequisite for achieving long-term sustainability goals, concludes Ottesen.
Bjornson
Trine L. Klavenes, Marketing Manager and Project Manager for Bjørnson's green strategy
trine@bjornson.no
483 19 440
Ingrid Ottesen, CEO and partner
ingrid@bjornson.no
918 22 256
