Employees

4.2.1. Employee identification

Employees play a significant role in organizations, they are the fundamental actors performing and executing all operations. When applying the framework created by Mitchell et al. (1997) to the case with employees, it is clear that employees are relevant stakeholders with high salience.

Due to the fact that employees are the actors turning all sustainability decisions into actions, companies must treat them well in order to gain legitimacy. The employees possess power since they are the fundamental base of all companies in this study. In terms of urgency, employees expect to be seen and heard by their superiors. Furthermore, employees expect to receive response when they express their opinions, also in sustainability matters. Therefore, employees are characterized as a definitive stakeholder, possessing the three attributes legitimacy, power and urgency.

In this study as well as in academia, employees are considered as one unit of analysis. However, in practice there are several different types of employees in organizations. For instance, this could be employees at different departments, employees at different levels in the organization and employees with different types of responsibilities. It is evident in this study that all employees not have the same possibilities to include sustainability actions in their daily tasks. For example, it might be easier for the production department to choose sustainable fabrics and therefore make a difference, than it is for the financial department to make the same sustainable impact. However, this study revealed that suggestions on general sustainability practices from any employees were a common occurrence.

4.2.2. Employees’ influence on the sustainability agenda Employees as an important resource

All companies participating in this study underlined the importance of their employees. The employees were often mentioned first or second when discussing central stakeholders. The employees influence sustainability practices in apparel organizations since the employees must be sustained and treated well, which can be viewed as a social aspect of sustainability. This indicated a mutual dependency relationship between garment companies and employees. The employees are the actors executing all operations within the companies, both general tasks and sustainability related tasks, thus all studied companies expressed the importance of taking care of the employees.

An example found in this study is the Sport Hour at Björn Borg’s head office. The aim of the Sport Hour is to activate employees and contribute to a healthier life. (Björn Borg AB, 2017) Back (2017) at Björn Borg also highlighted Björn Borg’s focus on stress management to induce a work-life balance and that employees participate in diet and exercise education regularly. These examples show that employees influence the sustainability agenda of garment companies due to the mutual dependence relationship. Since employees are seen as valuable resources to the company, garment companies engage in different social aspects of sustainability in order to contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

Porter and Kramer (2011) discuss the concept of shared value. This is explained as “creating economic values in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges” (2011:4). The philosophy of shared value is relevant when discussing the social aspect of sustainability and employees. The results of the Sport Hour at Björn Borg have a double effect; the employees feel better, stronger and happier as well as the employees become more productive and efficient with their work tasks. There are studies advocating exercise as a mean to become happier and more productive (Friedman, 2014). Therefore, one can argue that Björn Borg has created shared value by providing health opportunities for the employees, since the employees will feel better as well as the productivity for the organization increases.

Another relevant topic when analyzing employees’ influence on sustainability practices is the concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL). The example from Björn Borg may be applied to the TBL, since the Sport Hour, stress management and diet education is initiated for the employees’ health and improving their lives. Employees’ health mirrors the social aspect of the philosophy, and the increased productivity mirrors the financial perspective. Arguably, the environmental aspect is indirectly addressed through employee’s increased productivity, since regular exercise contributes to enhanced creativity and improved concentration (Friedman, 2014), which in turn improve the company’s environmental operations as well.

The new generation’s interest in sustainability matters

Another influence derived from employees is the distinct sustainability interest from the new generation just entering the labor market. Five out of eight companies investigated in this study expressed the apparent interest in sustainability from younger people. The interest from the younger employees influences organizations in the Swedish garment industry in two main ways.

Firstly, the increased interest in sustainability matters from the new generation contributes to new sustainable ideas. Secondly, the apparel companies must communicate clearly and openly about their sustainability practices in the organization in order to attract talents.

An example in this study can be found in the interview with Mullins (2017) at Haglöfs “internal drivers, especially young people that come and want to work for Haglöf’s have a big drive. They care about sustainability matters. Everything we do internally is sustainability, everything from shop interiors to business cards to logistics. Younger generation of employees will generate more sustainable operations in the future”. This tendency discovered in the data strengthens the idea that the new generation will generate sustainable innovations in the future, as the millennials have been shaped by the global phenomena of sustainability. This means that sustainable thinking is an integrated part of many young people, thus procedures and operations will be more sustainable instinctively in the future.

The other sustainable practice visible in the Swedish textile industry triggered by the sustainability interest of the new generation refers to communication and transparency. In order to attract potential young employees, companies must clearly communicate their sustainability

vision and mission through their channels. Back (2017) outlined the importance for younger people to be able to represent the values of their employers. Hence, these values as well as the vision of the company have to be stated clearly contributing to a more transparent approach in their agenda.

When analyzing the customers earlier in this chapter, the discussions concerned the development of the market place, specifically how the retailers have become a significant player at the global arena. Just like the retailers’ position has changed, the employees’ position has changed as well.

A few decades ago, employees were considered as workers, not far from to robots. Back in history, employees were expected to work long days with no breaks. Today, the relationship between employee and employer is different. The relationship is more balanced and this is visible when companies hire employees from the younger generation. The younger generation expects to be treated with respect as an employee. The same with sustainability operations, a large part of the younger generation expects to work for organizations working actively with sustainability.

Employees’ interest in the outdoor life

The last influence on the sustainability agenda of garment companies derived from the employees’ genuine interest in the outdoor life. Four out of eight companies investigated in this research are characterized as outdoor brands. All outdoor brands in this research pointed out their employees’ interest for the nature and the wildlife (Andersson, 2017; Mullins, 2017; Bode, 2017;

Grankvist, 2017). Consequently, four out of eight companies discussed their employees’ affection for the outdoors, and how it influences the organization. Since these employees spend a lot of time enjoying the outdoors, they witness how the environment slowly changes, for example, the glaciers are melting and rising sea levels. Hence, employees see the large impact on the environment and their authentic caring for the environment influences the employees to take on own sustainable initiatives within the company.

In this study, an example is found in case at Peak Performance. Andersson (2017), the CR and quality manager, said in her interview “I am lucky to work at a company with a lot of people who have an outdoor interest. They love to be out in the nature and there is a large interest to push for these kinds of questions [sustainability matters]”. As shown in the quote from Andersson, there is

an automatic drive from the employees to actively work with sustainability matters due to their passion for outdoor life.

Continuing with the example of Peak Performance, the company just recently started a partnership with the organization Protect Our Winters (POW). POW is a non-profit environmental organization aiming to raise awareness to and fight against climate change.

According to Andersson (2017) the final push to become a member was a result of a designer’s own interest in the non-profit organization. The partnership with the non-profit organization is a result of one employee’s passion for the outdoor, which in turn ended with a concrete sustainability action by Peak Performance.

In comparison, the employees of Rodebjer, a premium fashion brand, do not have an explicit passion for the outdoor life as the employees at the outdoor brands involved in this research. This has an impact on the sustainability practices of Rodebjer. Their employees will instead conduct sustainability operations such as fabric choice based on other factors than their personal passion for the nature.

According to Freeman (2010), the issue is not only to simply understand the employees, as he relationship between company and employee could be more complex because the employees are often customers, stockholders and members of special interest groups at the same time. In case of the emplyoees’ interest in the outdoor life, the relationship between garment company and employee is complex. In this context, employees are also considered as end-consumers as they most likely possess garments and gears from their employer. This is well demonstrated in the example of Peak Performance’'s designer who is also a member in POW and therefore influenced the company’s sustainability agenda. This shows that the relationship between the employees and the employer might have an additional dimension which makes the context complex.

4.2.3. Summary of employees’ influence

Employees were considered as one of the most important stakeholder among all participating apparel companies in this study. Employees influence the sustainability agenda in three main ways. First, employees are an essential resource for the organizations and must therefore be

treated carefully and with respect. Offering flexible working hours, sport hours and other activities which will improve employees lives, is considered as a social aspect of sustainability.

Secondly, the younger generations employees’ strong interest in sustainability matters have an impact as well. The strong drive contributes to new sustainability initiatives. The strong drive also forces companies to clearly communicate the organization’s sustainability practices, in order to attract potential talent. Lastly, employees in the four outdoor brands in this research have a genuine passion for the outdoor life, which in turn influences organizations’ sustainability operations.