Fighting climate change is a responsibility that we all share. Whether it’s taking small steps such as recycling, or larger ones like installing solar panels, there’s something we can all do.
Companies also have a responsibility to be more environmentally friendly. Not only is it appealing for customers and employees, it’s the right thing to do – with various forms of business making the world go round, even small changes at an organizational level can make a huge collective difference.
As an HR professional, you’re in the right position to be driving change and searching out new ways for employees to be more eco-friendly. Let’s look at some of the options.
Add a sustainability focus to employee benefits
The best way to encourage employees to make a change is to make it easy for them to do so. Only a select few would want to take the time to research electric cars, green pension providers, or bikes to cycle to work – but if you do this for them, you can potentially increase uptake and also get a better deal. You could even arrange talks or question and answer sessions with some of the providers you partner with, so your team can get past any concerns they may have about these schemes.
As well as practical incentives such as lower carbon transport and green pension funds, how about offering rewards? For example, you could offer an extra day off if someone uses sustainable transport to travel to a company conference. Putting appealing extras like this in place gives people a reason to make a change, with research finding that green benefits are motivating to 48% of employees.
Change your corporate gifting scheme
If you’re a company that sends out client gifts or even milestone employee gifts, have you thought about what you’re sending? Not only does the product have a carbon footprint, but the wrapping does too. Plus, the weight adds to the total weight of the delivery van, with heavier vehicles requiring more fuel. Especially when you consider that a common gift is a weighty hamper, there’s a lot that can be done here.
That doesn’t mean that you need to stop sending gifts altogether. However, make sure to streamline your recipient list, so that only essential gifts get sent. You could also consider doing charity donations in lieu of a physical gift for your clients, who may be overrun with treats in the post at busy times such as Christmas.
Reduce your digital footprint
Being in HR usually means being involved with a lot of data. Whether it’s employee records or new starter forms, there’s a lot of paperwork flying around on emails and storage drives. But have you considered the carbon impact of all these messages?
It’s easy to forget that our online presence plays a role in carbon production, but experts estimate that our collective global email use equates to having 7 million cars on the road. By cutting down on the number of emails you’re sending, reducing attachments and removing complex images from email signatures, you’re lightening the load.
Lead the way
As an HR department, the team may be looking to you to set the tone. By making sustainability a clear priority, you can encourage change and give the business a green focus moving into the future.
This blog post was written for HRTech247 by Athena Addison.
