Why do some workplace sustainability goals and initiatives succeed, while others never gain traction? Many businesses now have sustainability strategies or goals, yet behaviour often lags behind intention. A recent study found that almost 40% of companies that set 2040 emissions targets either failed to meet their targets or simply stopped reporting on them. Achieving lasting impact requires more than good intentions, strategies, or systems: it requires people doing things differently: behaviour change. And — as anyone who has tried to potty train their child or teach an elderly family member how to use a smart phone can attest to — behaviour change is hard. When you multiply this challenge out over dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of individuals, you can easily appreciate why so many businesses fail at executing their strategies. However, behaviour change theory offers a way to bridge the gap between policy and practice — something we draw on at Go Well to help businesses transform sustainability aspirations into measurable, lasting impact. 

There are a lot of behaviour change theories and frameworks out in the world (such as self-determination theory, the EAST framework, and the 4E framework), but we’re a big fan of the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW). Developed in 2011 by Susan Michie, Maartje M van Stralen, and Robert West, the model’s behavioural equation is B=COM, which means an individual’s behaviour (B) is a function of their capability (C), opportunity (O), and motivation (M). Simply put, behaviour is determined by whether a person is able to make the change (capability), whether their environment allows them to do it (opportunity), and whether they want to do it (motivation). We’ve adapted this framework into a version designed specifically for business who want to improve their ESG performance, highlighting the levers that organisations can pull to embed sustainability in the way people work every day. 

The inner core of the wheel represents the formula B=COM that we outlined above. The middle ring is eight activities that can drive behaviour change through impacting capability, opportunity, or motivation. The outer ring is seven governance categories that can support the delivery of the inner activities. When working with our clients to drive behaviour change, we use this model to identify barriers or drivers in the target group and design effective interventions to improve capability, opportunity, and motivation. If this is all sounding a little theoretical and dry to you — we get it. Let’s talk about what application of this framework actually looks like in practice. 

One example: many of our clients have a target to reduce their operational waste, which requires staff to be engaged in landfill reduction. Application of the framework to support this goal looks like unpacking the human side of the challenge — do staff know how to sort materials correctly (capability), are there the right bins in the right locations to support landfill diversion (opportunity), and do staff care about landfill reduction (motivation)? As per the inner ring of the wheel, we then help our client design activities to increase COM, for example: delivering a workshop to staff on Recycling Right (an Education activity to increase capability); advising on waste/recycling collections and locations (an Enablement activity to increase opportunity); or working with our client to design a landfill reduction challenge for staff with prizes (an Incentivisation and Competition activity to increase motivation). 

And for those of you who don’t yet have sustainability goals or strategies? We can definitely help you with that. As per the outer ring of the Behaviour Change Wheel, Policy & Strategy and Organisational Alignment are key governance levers to drive behaviour change. Through our Year One programme, we help businesses lay the groundwork for meaningful behaviour change by developing their first sustainability strategy, engaging key stakeholders, and embedding systems for accountability and alignment. It’s a practical, collaborative process that ensures that when you’re ready to act (whether that’s on waste, emissions, supply chain, or staff wellbeing) your people and structures are already working in the same direction. 

At its heart, the Behaviour Change Wheel is about people — what helps us act, what gets in the way, and how systems can make the right choice the easy one. At Go Well, we bring this understanding to every level of our work, helping businesses design strategies and initiatives that motivate, educate, and empower their teams to act.  

If you’re ready to turn sustainability aspirations into reality, get in touch — we’d love to help you make change that lasts. 

Written by Kate Lodge, Sustainability Consultant at Go Well Consulting.