When it comes to sustainability, I’m starting to think of the whole thing as a really large family. It is critical that parents set examples for youngsters, theirs and everyone else’s. The more I witness the sustainability “evolution” the more obvious it becomes to me that there really is only one sustainability parent in the business world: Walmart.

This week, while attending the FMI/GMA Sustainability Summit in Phoenix, I heard Beth Keck, senior director of sustainability for Walmart, behaving as the ideal parent, setting a great example for the rest of the business world.

While the myriad sustainability initiatives that Walmart champions are too numerous to mention here, perhaps the most critical component to any sustainability effort—employee engagement—is what Keck chose to discuss during our session.

The retailer’s employee sustainability initiative, My Sustainability Plan, recognizes how critical employees are in the success of efforts that help define that for which a company stands. In the case of Walmart, sustainability certainly is one of those efforts. Not only does the initiative demonstrate the commitment of Walmart’s senior leadership to sustainability in general, it encourages others—even those outside of Walmart—to make use of the plan.

Walmart: Setting a good example, as all parents should.