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by Alison Smith
So – your company has set some environmental targets, senior management is on board and now you just have to deliver progress. You fit energy efficient light bulbs, persuade the purchasing department to start ordering energy saving computers and get a recycling system set up. But one evening you notice that most of the staff have gone home leaving lights on and computers running. On top of that, the waste bins are full of recyclable cans and paper. You realise that the most energy efficient building in the world will fail to deliver savings if the occupants do not use it properly. Your employees are not engaged with the company’s green policies.
Employee engagement is a hot topic. Research by Gallup found that higher employee engagement is correlated with higher productivity, profitability and customer loyalty, and lower absenteeism, safety incidents and quality defects. In addition, companies with a high level of employee engagement have almost four times the growth rate in earnings per share compared to those in the same industry but with low engagement. And a study by Towers Watson, reported on the GreenBiz website, found that operating income grew by 19% in a year for highly engaged companies, but fell by 33% in low engagement companies. GreenBiz also reported another survey showing that highly engaged employees were 26% more productive, took 20% fewer days off and earned 13% higher returns to shareholders over a five year period.
The good news is that socially and environmentally responsible organizations do tend to attract and retain more engaged employees, according to a study by Aon Hewitt. And employee engagement has been found by Aon Hewitt to be a key factor helping companies to weather the recession. But what can a company do to maximize engagement, especially when it comes to green initiatives? A recent seminar organised by Business Green gave some useful hints.
Amy Wilson, from Global Action Plan, recommended using clear, simple messages delivered in innovative, humorous ways. Communication should preferably be interactive and personal. Face to face communication is best – using teams of enthusiastic ‘green champions’ to deliver the message to staff. She cited the example of Investec, whose Team Green decided to suspend a giant tower of boxes of office paper from the glass roof of the atrium to show how much paper the company used in a week. The tower reached almost to the floor of the building. Following this and other awareness-raising activities, the team managed to achieve a 28% reduction in resource use per employee, and the number of photocopiers switched off overnight increased from 5% to 97%.
Another approach is to provide ‘surprise treats’, such as occasionally leaving chocolates or croissants on the desks of employees who switch off their computers overnight. Peter Grant of CloudApps thinks that it is most effective to reward employees ‘little and often’, providing constant ‘nudges’ that gradually prompt a culture change. In fact, the Carbon Disclosure project found that 65% of companies now offer some kind of incentive for employees to reduce emissions.
But some employee engagement initiatives seem to be more ‘trick’ than ‘treat’. Burt’s Bees, a natural skincare company, arranged for all its employees to take part in a ‘dumpster dive’. Two weeks’ worth of the company’s rubbish was dumped in the car park, and employees sorted out all the materials that should have been recycled but weren’t, plus some more that possibly could be recycled if a market could be found. A staggering 2.8 tons of waste were recovered for recycling – an eye-opener for many employees. Since April 2010, Burt’s Bees has sent zero waste to landfill – saving thousands of dollars for the company.
Perhaps what persuaded the Burt’s Bees employees to willingly comb through their own trash was the participation of senior management – everyone in the company was out there. This shows how vital it is that senior management set a good example so that the message is credible and consistent. Staff will certainly feel tricked if they cycle to work only to see the executive car park full of gas guzzlers, or if they switch to video-conferencing but managers still fly first class.
Computer-based tools can be a highly effective way of encouraging employee engagement. They provide a simple and highly visible way to communicate targets, policies and progress towards goals. Many companies focus their efforts on outwards communication to their customers and shareholders, but inwards communication is just as important, to get employees on board. Some software suppliers are now building in social networking applications to allow employees to interact, make suggestions and offer feedback. HubSphere (formerly Carbon Hub) was one of the first tools to emphasise the importance of networking and sharing of best practice between different organisations or business units. The CloudApps tool also has a major focus on engagement, following a ‘nudge, nudge, think, think’ approach. The tool first informs users about their impacts, then makes suggestions tailored to each employee to help them reduce those impacts. Then there is a ‘crowdsourcing’ system to capture ideas from the workforce. Employees can post their own ideas, and vote on each other’s suggestions, with the most popular ideas being taken forward for action. CloudApps cite the example of one company that saved 7% of a £9 million air travel bill and 25% of a £3 million taxi bill using their tool.
CloudApps highlight how computer tools can make engaging in green action more fun by ‘gameification’ of the tool – making it more like a computer game. Employees are awarded points for their environmental performance, and can then work their way through different challenges, moving up through a series of levels and being given rewards such as badges. Larger rewards can be offered, such as a free bike for the employee with the lowest environmental impact each month. CloudApps are also looking to make their tools fully mobile, so they can be operated on smart phones and i-Pads whilst employees are away from the office.
Consultancy Futerra point out a massive upcoming opportunity to use the Olympics to catalyse engagement in green activities. Big international sporting events cut through the ‘noise’ of everyday life and grab people’s attention, giving a chance to link environmental issues – often seen as being boring, doom-laden or guilt-inducing – with a positive, uplifting experience. This association is termed the ‘Halo effect’.
Futerra’s ‘Games Theory’ report lists many ways in which the ideals of the Olympics tie into green policies – national pride in a clean environment; competitiveness; team spirit; effort; heroism; ambition; attainment and fun. They suggest using the Olympics as a springboard to launch a green campaign, carrying through the theme with sporting symbols such as races, league tables, medals and so on. The key thing is that the Olympics appeal to the emotions – vital in achieving behaviour change. Rational argument changes minds, they say, but not hearts. But they also warn that behaviour change should be seen as a marathon, not a sprint, so companies should be prepared to provide long term support for any new initiatives.
That’s where the value of computer tools comes in – they allow environmental performance to be accurately measured and monitored, giving formal, visible signs of progress. By choosing a tool that can be used by everyone in the organisation, companies can build a platform for employees to really engage with their green targets, and see how their actions are making a difference. Setting up social networking add-ons allows people to engage more interactively, offering their own suggestions, comments and feedback – and receiving ‘thank yous’ when they take positive action. And by linking the tool to league tables and rewards, companies can harness our natural competitive instincts and get everyone moving in the right direction.
Written by Alison Smith