Over the course of the sustainability programs we implement with our corporate partners we always solicit employee suggestions—ideas for reducing waste and increasing efficiency at these companies.
We get a lot of ideas; in a typical program, participants submit hundreds of suggestions associated with saving energy, water and fuel while also reducing landfill waste.
Recently we analyzed the ideas we received from all of our 2016 programs to look for patterns and lessons learned as a resource for sustainability leaders. The full results are available in our “Employee Perspectives on Sustainability” white paper.
Trends in Employee Suggestions on Sustainability
First, people do have ideas and it is worth the effort to invite suggestions. Certainly some of the ideas submitted will already be on the green team’s radar and some aren’t practical, but it’s still worthwhile. Getting bottom-up support for ideas the green team has already identified can accelerate momentum on implementation. For example, it is easier to implement fleet policies when employees are confirming such policies are needed. And impractical ideas provide opportunities for engagement: rooftop solar panels might generate only 15% of the electricity needed for some manufacturing operations but that, in itself, is a great thing to communicate to employees: greater efforts around energy efficiency could make solar panels more viable.
Second, a portion of staff have multiple ideas. In our programs more than half of participants offered at least one suggestion about reducing waste at work. Most of the participants who offered suggestions offered more than one, suggesting there’s a population full of ideas that is willing to get more engaged.
Identifying Areas of Improvement
Most important, though, are the ideas. Our participants identified opportunities associated with peer behaviors (shutting off unused equipment, for example), operational changes (heating settings are a big one here), purchasing practices, equipment upgrades and lighting changes.
For me, a big surprise in this analysis was the amount of attention on procurement practices. Almost one-in-five ideas submitted were associated with procurement, often with participants recommending ways companies could stop enabling bad behaviors. At Cool Choices we talk a lot about how sustainability leads can help people make more sustainable choices by making sustainability the default option. People make the choices that are easiest and our participants recognize this, suggesting that companies nudge staff in more sustainable directions. Multiple participates suggested, for instance, their employers not supply disposable cups and utensils in the breakroom so that staff begin to use reusable alternatives.
The procurement issue is a great example of the potential disconnect between what employees hear and what they see. A company can have a terrific set of corporate sustainability goals and be making good progress on those goals but if employees see stacks of Styrofoam cups in the supply room those goals sound hollow; it’s what you do that matters.
As part of every engagement we provide our partners with a full set of the suggestions from their employees and we support partner efforts to address employee suggestions. In our view these employee ideas are evidence of engagement and an important piece of a company’s ongoing progress. Sustainability is a journey. Identifying areas of improvement is a crucial part of ensuring that an entity is on track to achieving its objectives.
Learn more about this topic in a related on-demand webinar or contact us to talk about how we can help you make your efforts contagious.
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