In her mid-twenties, armed with an environmental science degree and a few years’ industry experience, Stephanie Palmer replaced a retiring director at the UK division of the world’s largest brickmaking company.
A few years later, during a presentation, she told the firm’s senior leaders that, each year, their UK operation was emitting the same amount of carbon as the Caribbean island nation of Dominica.
Stephanie is on a mission to help Wienerberger transition from an energy and carbon-intensive manufacturer to a company that tackles the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Since joining Wienerberger UK & Ireland, she’s worked on everything from new product scorecards to a new sustainability strategy. And today, to show the impact of a new biodiversity agenda, Stephanie plans to use National Geographic-style camera traps to monitor animals that live around her company’s quarries.
Stephanie is a Chartered Manager bringing a fresh, bold approach to her role – one that’s built on a foundation of collaboration, storytelling to inspire action and the power of celebrating small wins.
Go where you can make the most difference
Long before she became the head of sustainability at Wienerberger UK & Ireland, Stephanie had a deep awareness. Awareness and frustration. She was aware of the climate crisis, and frustrated at how little seemed to be getting done about it.
At school, Stephanie followed the COP headlines and turned in projects about the environment. Growing up in a supporting home in Kent, east of London, she became the first in her family to get a university degree.
A young woman in a relatively new field, Stephanie wanted to play her part. She was looking to become an advocate for change. Not at a company that was already doing all the right things but a big ship turning towards a new purpose.
The construction sector contributes around 40% of the UK’s annual carbon emissions. Wienerberger UK & Ireland is part of Wienerberger Group, a giant industry player that operates 216 factories across 28 countries. It’s been producing bricks, roof tiles and other building products for more than 200 years.
Stephanie says she was hired at an important moment for the industry, which was figuring out if and how to go beyond complying with new regulations, and trying to set a new course. Joining the sector was, as she describes it, “working at the sharp end” of a global effort to slow down global warming.
Stephanie Palmer CMgr FCMI, head of sustainability at Wienerberger UK & Ireland
Tell stories that spark action
Eight years and two promotions later, Stephanie has earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) qualification, and has featured on Edie’s 30 under 30 list of promising sustainability leaders. She’s also a CMI Fellow, which has helped her personal development.
Stephanie says she enjoys networking at events – meeting professionals who are passionate about the same things – and values the resources she has access to through CMI’s ManagementDirect (researching, say, new models for communication).
All this has helped her understand her own better, and has led to deeper conversations about how to get buy in from various corners of it.
Communication, Stephanie explains, is a crucial component of the job. Anyone interested in sustainability and business transformation must be able to get people to listen.
“When I joined, I was sometimes the only woman in the room,” Stephanie remembers. “Colleagues at Wienerberger always listened. But it’s one thing to listen and another to take action. I had to learn to speak their language.”
Today, the first value you’ll find on the About Us page of Wienerberger UK’s website is “sustainability and innovation”.
Tailor the message to break through
Stephanie’s role covers both environmental and social aspects of sustainability. For a long time, she was a one-woman team, knowing that her success would be limited if she couldn’t rally more than a thousand colleagues in her division behind a common vision.
She’s spent years having different conversations with different departments. She’s searched for what motivates people, showing – in a tangible way – what risks and opportunities are at play. An HR department, for example, must embrace sustainability if it wants to attract younger generations that are switched on and care about the planet.
To reach moments of realisation – when people see that the decisions they make matter – required explaining the difference that half a degree of warming will make to the planet. Stephanie tries to bring it back to people and communities, while proving that businesses can only thrive if the planet is safe, and its biodiversity isn’t decimated.
Context matters. As do business opportunities that will emerge along the way. Some managers will be motivated by social issues, others by business forecasts over the next five years. A big part of the role, she says, is “activating” people with knowledge and supporting them with resources.
Try something new
Stephanie has found room to innovate. She’s led conversations about the balance between today’s emissions and creating durable building products that last for centuries.
“Imagine your high street without brick buildings,” she says. “We’re talking about how to build better, and do no unnecessary harm.”
Stephanie has helped craft her division’s new sustainability strategy, called Let’s Build Beyond. It includes firm commitments across the supply chain, guiding principles and a 2030 roadmap. She encourages change big and small, from office recycling to making sure new products are sustainable.
Something else Stephanie is proud of is her company’s new biodiversity strategy. Published in 2021, it pushes beyond compliance to focus on the land that’s owned by Wienerberger. The agenda sets out a plan for each factory to care for and improve the habitat around it, alongside engaging communities to amply impact beyond the company’s boundary. Stephanie is going to use before-and-after photographs and animal camera traps to show the difference this makes. A team of biodiversity ambassadors across Wienerberger factories will monitor species of birds, butterflies and bees, then sharing success stories.
Use small wins to stay motivated
Showing the return of bees to an area or the demonstrating carbon emission reductions from improvement projects will help Stephanie and those she works with celebrate small wins in an otherwise “tough and long slog”.
“It’s a long game and you have to prepare for it,” she says. “You have to celebrate the progress you make, both personally and with the company. That’s how you’ll keep momentum going.”
When she’s not driving change at Wienerberger, Stephanie is out running, climbing rocks or mountain-biking. She says being outdoors helps her connect with the rich biodiversity she’s fighting to protect.
“It’s how I connect with what I’m doing, and remind myself why everything matters.
For quiet reflection, there’s yoga.”
Is she optimistic about the future? Stephanie says she’s conflicted. An optimist by nature, she’s anxious about the window that’s closing for us to reverse the damage that’s being caused.
To overcome moments of doubt, she can always turn to the words of Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, who once said: “the cure for depression is action.”
Alex Eliseev is a journalist, writer and adventurer. He’s lived in four countries and travelled to dozens more. He’s written for magazines such as Wired and the New Statesman, prominent newspapers, radio and television.
Words to inspire
Stephanie Palmer’s three top book recommendations for aspiring sustainability managers and advocates…
How to avoid a Climate Disaster, by Bill Gates.
An introduction to the interface of climate change and business action. It’s great for business leaders who are new to the subject of climate change, as it explains the scientific background and connects this with corporate metrics.
The Responsible Company: What We've Learned from Patagonia's First 40 Years, by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley.
If you are engaged but struggling to identify where to start, this book provides a list of actions and reasons why you should implement them.
Leading Change, by John P. Kotter.
This is core literature for anyone working in change management. I have found Kotter’s work extremely useful when planning whole-business transformation for the long term.