Why Energy Teams Beat Solo Energy Managers: The Sustainability Challenge

Recent heatwaves are more than just an inconvenience. They are a clear signal that energy management can no longer be an afterthought. For businesses, staying ahead of rising temperatures and extreme demand means taking proactive steps to ensure grid stability and operational resilience.

After nearly 30 years working in this field, I can say with confidence: the most effective way to manage energy is through a team approach. Yet many organizations still rely on the outdated model of assigning responsibility to a single person or a defined energy manager. This approach doesn’t work, and the consequences are becoming harder to ignore.

The Solo Manager Struggle

Energy managers working alone face an impossible task. The role demands everything from conducting audits and analyzing consumption to developing policies and engaging stakeholders. No matter how skilled they are, one individual does not have the capacity or all the required skillsets (technical, financial, communications and management) to proactively manage this workload indefinitely without risk of burnout or disengagement.

Research has consistently shown that excessive workload is one of the strongest predictors of burnout. In the energy sector, where the role cuts across operations, procurement, compliance, and finance, the risks are even higher. When organizations place the weight of an entire energy program on one person, they create a fragile system that can grind to a halt if that individual leaves, burns out, or loses traction.

The Advantage of Energy Teams

At 360 Energy, we have built every program since 1995 around the belief that energy management must be a shared responsibility. Global standards agree. Our certification of Energy Excellence and the ISO 50001 energy management system, widely recognized as the benchmark for best practice, explicitly calls for a team-based approach. Similarly, ENERGY STAR research confirms that a strong energy team is essential to an effective energy program.

There are clear reasons why teams outperform solo managers:

• Workload Distribution: Spreading responsibilities across multiple people prevents overload and ensures energy initiatives continue, even when individual team members shift priorities or roles.
• Diverse Expertise: Effective energy management draws on knowledge from engineering, maintenance, operations, finance, procurement, and sustainability. A team brings together these different perspectives in a way no single person can replicate.
• Organizational Resilience: Teams protect against the loss of momentum when individual staff leave. Shared knowledge keeps programs moving forward, regardless of personnel changes.
• Stronger Buy-In: Involving multiple departments increases support for energy initiatives and makes implementation smoother and more accepted across the organization.

What the Research Shows

The evidence is clear. Studies on workplace performance and burnout show that organizational structure, not individual effort, is the key to long-term success. This holds true for energy management. ISO 50001 guidance emphasizes that while an energy manager can lead, cross-functional representation and shared accountability are what make programs sustainable.

Organizations that adopt this approach consistently see better outcomes. They build resilience, achieve deeper savings, and avoid the costly cycles of staff turnover and stalled progress.

Moving Forward

If energy management is going to drive real value, it cannot sit on the shoulders of one person. It requires a system built for sustainability, with shared responsibility, leadership support, and the right structure in place.

The question needs to shift from whether your organization needs energy management, to whether you are building something strong enough to last.

Next week, I will explore why senior executive buy-in is the single most important factor in making sure energy programs succeed, and how organizations can get it right.

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