A recent study of workers in the United Kingdom by office supplies company Avery, reveals some of the criterial drives those employees when it comes to office workplace efficiencies and how those companies might use their insights to improve operations. Below are 9 tips to create environmental eco-friendly and green office in order to improve productivity and efficiency.
Tips to Create Environmental Eco-Friendly and Green Office to Improve Efficiency
82% of office workers are more environmentally friendly at home than in the office. Personal action at home delivers tangible results, sometimes in the form of personal benefit such as saving money. The same needs to apply in the office – employees take action when they can see the outcome of their actions.
69% of office workers feel that it’s important that UK companies are environmentally responsible and that office life can have a big impact on the environment. This figure reflects widespread recognition of the need for companies to take direct responsibility for their actions. Employees regard a company’s culture as vital to instilling attitudes and behaviors.
36% of employees admit to chucking paper in the normal rubbish bin compared with only 18% who do this at home. This demonstrates how many people leave their eco-conscience at home when they go out to work. Companies need to realise that sharing knowledge, ideas and tools are critical to sharing environmental responsibilities. Understanding the bigger picture help position individual actions in the right context.
82% of office workers believe that their company could do more to improve their environmental performance. The majority of companies still have room for further improvement, showing how most people recognise that there’s always more that can be done when it comes to taking further steps towards becoming more environmentally-friendly.
64% say lack of empowerment, facilities and communication are the key reasons why they’re not greener at work. People are often given inadequate advice at work on how to make their time there count in positive ways. People make the most difference when they’re empowered and educated about the simple steps they can take.
37% say nothing’s stopping them at all! A strong leadership vision and regular reminders can go a long way to galvanising support and increasing motivation within the whole office.
34% of employees say they’re aware of their company’s environmental targets. The actual proportion of companies with environmental targets is likely to be higher than 34%. This figure suggests that companies are generally poor at communication their policies to office workers or making them part of the CSR culture. Just 18% of office workers are told about these targets when they start the company.
58% of office workers try to reduce waste at work to be green at the office, 50% reuse items but only 34% limit energy consumption and just 11% are looking at the whole picture and purchasing wisely in the first place. Education and training can broaden employee knowledge of the full extent of their company’s impact on the environment to help them identify and implement a wider range of leaner, greener working practices.
60% of office workers say they are influenced on whether to apply for a job or not by a company’s environmental credentials and 51% said they would be happier if they were able to be more green at work. This means that companies who take the environment seriously have a much better chance of attracting and retaining the very talent when it comes to recruitment.