How employees learn to develop sustainable ideas and foster an entrepreneurial mindset

Developing and promoting solutions for a sustainable future – this is not only an important part of our sustainability strategy at Henkel but is also something reflected in our purpose “Pioneers at heart for the good of generations”. One tool we use to strengthen our pioneering spirit is our Sustainability Incubator Lab: a virtual training program for employees to develop sustainable business ideas and skills. The program takes place over a period of four months, in nine sessions of 90 minutes each, concluding with a pitch at the end of the program. The individual groups, which work on different topics, are accompanied by experts from The DO School in Berlin. The guiding principle to the course is true to the school’s name: It’s all about DO-ing. 

How innovations happen in the Sustainability Incubator Lab

“Participants learn to think and act like entrepreneurs,” explains Marguerite Bellec from The DO School. As Program Lead Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Design, she develops learning programs for sustainable innovation together with companies such as Henkel and then facilitates them in the respective courses. A first round of the Sustainability Incubator Lab already took place from March to June 2023. The topics ranged from communicating sustainable value propositions to transparency in palm oil raw materials – and with great enthusiasm from the participants. 

Encouraged by this success, Henkel and The DO School launched a new lab round for employees in spring 2024. Jackson Tarleton from Henkel's US site in Greenville was part of one of the teams in the new round. A man who is keen on new things, as his career makes clear: He started as a production assistant in the film industry, then switched to the catering industry, and has been with Henkel for four years, first in production and now as a lab technician in a quality lab for Henkel Adhesive Technologies. Sustainability is close to Jackson’s heart who graduated with a Master of Professional Studies in Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems from Penn State University this summer. “Our group from the Sustainability Incubator Lab has been working intensively on a specific reward system for the purchase of sustainable Henkel products,” says the 37-year-old. The project is developed and refined within the team; it's all about problem-solving and a new mindset. Jackson does not know whether the idea from the lab will be implemented. But his way of developing ideas and tackling problems is something he will continue to apply, even outside of the program, he says. 

Love the problem, not the solution

People often focus on a specific problem without considering the entire ecosystem when solving it. This is where The DO School comes in and helps participants to think in a systematic way. Marguerite summarizes it like this: “Love the problem, not the solution.” A saying carved in stone and the motto for everyone who takes part in the learning program.

An additional aspect is also important to Marguerite: The projects are not always about developing a completely new product or something revolutionary. Innovation also means saving time and resources, minimizing distances. “I don't always have to reinvent the wheel and come up with new ideas; it's more about finding a way to improve the existing system we live in,” she emphasizes. This realization often leads to a change in awareness among the participants. 

Embarking on a journey of innovation 

But before that happens, it is important to establish a sense of trust at the start of each project, says Marguerite. After all, the participants, who either meet in person or online in their respective groups, do not know each other beforehand. “We have to convince them that we know what we're doing. And they must trust that they are in the right place.” The work is very practical, based on case studies and examples, in line with the motto: learning by doing. “We always let the participants go on an innovation journey themselves,” says Marguerite. The aim of the learning program is for people to develop new ways of thinking and tools that they can later apply to other aspects of their work.

The courses use specific methods. For example, the so-called “time boxing”. This involves working on ideas in a given, short period of time. “This encourages creativity,” explains Marguerite. One tool for purposefully getting to the bottom of problems is the five-why method. An issue is questioned five times, with each “Why?” building on the answer to the previous question. Example: road traffic in Mexico. Why are the streets in the metropolis so crowded? Because people need a car. Why do they need a car? Because they drive it to work. Why do they drive to work? Because there is less public transportation. Why is there less public transportation? Because the government has not put all bus lines back into operation after the COVID-19 pandemic. Why haven't all bus lines been put back into operation? Because there was a change of government. This, according to Marguerite, is the real reason why the traffic situation is not easing, as is often the case after five “whys”.

From time to time, participants may also get stuck with their projects. For Olga, Yasmine, Ingy, Jana and Laura, this was the case when they wanted to find out which digital devices and activities cause the most emissions. When approaching the problem, the team went into too much detail. It was only through the coaching from The DO School and conversations with previous program participants that they were able to refocus on their original intention, which was to raise awareness among employees. The “elevator pitch” was also helpful here, Jana explains. This is a method in which an idea is presented so briefly and concisely that it can be explained clearly during an elevator ride.  

What happens after the Sustainability Incubator Lab 

The obligatory pitch at the end of the Sustainability Incubator Lab is both the conclusion and the starting signal for the participants. After the joint learning program is over, the participants, having received feedback from within the company, continue to work on their projects. Olga, Yasmine, Ingy, Jana and Laura’s team plan to embed their project within the company following the Incubator Lab. To do this, however, they need to further develop their ideas they say. The team wants to drive the project forward. “We believe in what we've been working on and we're passionate about it,” says Olga. This also applies to Jackson. “It's been an incredible experience,” he says. And he can only advise all Henkel employees to take part in the next Sustainability Incubator Lab. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. If you care about your work, then it's not really work after all. And he adds: “Then it's something we all enjoy.”