Climate change is arguably the biggest issue facing the world today. The message is simple, loud and clear from the scientific community: we urgently need to change our behaviour at home and at work if we are to stand any chance of keeping global warming in check. And, as the government-commissioned Stern Review shows, the global economic cost of climate change could eventually amount to 20 per cent of world GDP if nothing is done, so there is a big incentive to change our ways.
This message seems to be getting through to us as consumers as we wake up to the possibilities of recycling, improving the energy efficiency of our homes and minimising the use of electricity at home. But as research consistently shows, we are much less green in the workplace. How many of us, for instance, recycle our paper at home but throw it in the bin at work? With UK business and the public sector generating more than a third of CO2 emissions, the potential for UK organisations to make further improvements is vast. The key question is what organisations should be doing to bridge this gap and, in particular, how they can engage their staff to think green at work.
The answer, at least in part, lies with HR. Some may question the link between HR practice and the environment. But a moment’s thought demonstrates the obvious direct and indirect links – green transport plans, the greater provision of flexible working arrangements, energy efficiency and recycling facilities are all policies on which HR is either leading or at least co-ordinating. HR already helps organisations to create cultural change by way of their recruitment, induction and reward practices, so surely it is best placed to lead on encouraging a cultural change that puts the issue of sustainable development at the heart of the organisation? And HR’s expertise in change management and internal communications, which often involves a bottom-up approach, leads to greater staff engagement and commitment and improves the success rate of any new initiative.
All this has prompted the CIPD and PM to launch a joint campaign, HR Goes Green, urging the profession to help organisations adopt greener business practices. We believe that while HR and development practitioners have the opportunity and capacity to bring about deep, meaningful change that will have a lasting impact on the environment as well as business, even the smallest steps or actions will make a difference too.
The timing could not be better for HR to help pave the way for UK organisations to improve their environmental performance. First, climate change is rising rapidly up the business agenda, with companies such as HSBC and Marks and Spencer wishing to go “carbon neutral”. HR professionals should rise to the challenge by showing that they are in the best position to help their chief executives deliver on green objectives.
The environment will also be a key battleground in the run-up to the next election. Having witnessed Conservative leader David Cameron take a stand on this issue, the government has responded by re-introducing fuel duty rises on petrol and air passenger duty, and is proposing to introduce road pricing and a climate change bill that, along with local authority regulations, may force employers to implement green measures in the workplace. So, forward-thinking organisations will be thinking now about what changes they need to introduce.
And while energy costs may fluctuate year by year, the long-run trend is for such costs to rise – making energy efficiency a bottom-line as well as a green issue for most organisations. The Carbon Trust says that an average office wastes around £6,000 a year by leaving equipment on over weekends and bank holidays, and that reducing energy consumption by 20 per cent could add the same amount to profits as a 5 per cent increase in sales. Reducing waste saves money too. Sustainable Development, a government-funded organisation, says that adopting best-practice waste minimisation techniques could save business some £2-3 billion every year, equivalent to 7 per cent of profit, or 4-5 per cent of turnover, across a range of industries.
However, with research showing a direct link between an environmentally friendly organisation and employer brand, perhaps the most compelling business argument for adopting green practices is that it helps to attract and retain the best recruits. More than three-quarters of UK employees now consider it important to work for a company that has an active policy to reduce its carbon emissions. A shared sense of ethical purpose and values is likely to lead to a more committed and loyal workforce that enhances the business performance of an organisation. Stronger green credentials also help to boost a business’s commercial proposition. As a recent TNS survey shows, six in 10 consumers think about ethics and green issues when deciding what to buy.
So, having framed the case, how do you get started? This, together with a lack of leadership, seems to be a common headache facing employees and organisations. As Garry Felgate, director of business delivery and external relations at the Carbon Trust, points out: “Most UK employees want to become more environmentally friendly at work, but many don’t know where to start.”
This leadership vacuum can be filled by HR. It can start by developing an environmental report that may include a policy statement, targets, measurement of progress and an overall impact assessment (see the CIPD’s The environment and people management factsheet for more information). Where leadership is provided by other specialist functions, such as the CSR team, HR can take the lead on relevant core HR policy areas – for example, recruitment and work-life balance. It could also bind together transport, flexible working, energy efficiency and recycling into a policy framework that takes account of the environment.
In terms of recruitment, with so many businesses claiming to be environmentally friendly, it may make your job adverts or application forms more powerful if these messages were replicated in them. Organisations can also include financial incentives in their reward strategies – with perhaps a financial reward for those teams or individuals who have demonstrated excellence in sustainable development (and who have probably saved the organisation money in doing so).
On transport, the government and local authorities have introduced changes that have made workplace parking and company car usage more expensive, which has led to a reduction in the number of company cars. And with traffic congestion set to increase further in future years, there are a number of tax incentives and exemptions open to organisations to promote alternative transport usage, such as loaning bicycles and safety equipment to employees. If car use is unavoidable, taxation changes also favour a less polluting vehicle fleet.
A cultural shift may most be needed in our patterns of work, which are so inextricably linked to transport. This is where HR could perhaps make the biggest impact, particularly given the disappointing progress that has been made on flexible working and, in particular, working from home. In spring 2005, there were just under 2.4 million teleworkers in the UK – roughly 8 per cent of all people in employment. The ability to work from home or work flexibly can save travel time for employees and address the perennial problem of lost productivity caused by traffic congestion and poor punctuality. Overall, a green transport plan might therefore include:
• providing free or subsidised work buses (tax-free benefit);
• loaning cycles and safety equipment to employees (tax-free benefit);
• flexible working and, where appropriate, homeworking;
• public transport loans/subsidies;
• workplace parking for cycles and motorcycles (tax-free benefit);
• subsidised parking for those who car-share.
Boots has succeeded in reducing car journeys by 20 per cent with its green transport plan. It has established a car-pooling intranet scheme that rewards staff who sign up by entering them for a prize draw to win bicycles for their families. The scheme, introduced alongside improved facilities and showers for cyclists, was advertised through newsletters, posters and leaflets.
A leap across the pond shows what is being achieved internationally. The Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada has just published its Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-09, which illustrates its determination to embed sustainability into the values and behaviours of employees at all levels. As the agency says: “Previously considered solely the responsibility of environmental specialists, sustainable development is gradually being recognised as a value that requires contributions from all functions of an organisation, including HR management. In particular, through effective HRM policies, programmes and services, the agency ensures that the public service remains an employer of choice that attracts, recruits, develops and retains the talents it needs.” Its policies include:
• integrating sustainable development principles into all training and leadership development programmes;
• presenting awards to public-service employees who have demonstrated excellence in sustainable development;
• a commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emission per vehicle by 15 per cent;
• a commitment to divert paper-based items, metal cans, plastic and glass bottles, batteries and toner cartridges from landfill.
It is noteworthy how staff are engaged in all these programmes through regular internal communication and consultation.
Closer to home, Sky has encouraged its people to act through a number of campaigns communicated via its Bigger Picture website (www.jointhebiggerpicture.com). It has introduced a £1,300 cash incentive for employees to buy a hybrid vehicle, as well as a carbon credit card where they accrue credits for environmentally friendly actions. Latest research shows that only 4 per cent of employers provide carbon credits in their flex plan. These can be earned for a range of activities that include using video conferencing, lift-sharing or cycling to work. Sky has also switched its taxi supplier to a local firm that uses only hybrid cars. Other measures that the HR department has led on or helped to co-ordinate include a campaign for people to turn off PCs, TVs and lights when leaving the offices, a commitment to use 100 per cent renewable energy and the introduction of solar lighting.
So taking green measures in the workplace makes business as well as environmental sense, and will become a critical element of HRM as this issue rises even further up the agenda. As part of our campaign we will provide lots of information and practical advice about the sorts of greener measures and practices that businesses can implement – from the simplest to the largest initiatives.
We have also enlisted support from the HR community itself. A group of HR professionals from Boots, HSBC, InterfaceFLOR, Tom Dunn and the University of St Andrews are backing our campaign and have pledged to be our “champions”. You will hear more from them as our campaign progresses, telling us what they are doing to help limit environmental damage and get staff to think greener. (See facing page to find out more about our campaign sponsors.)
All the initiatives we put in place – from information sharing to new columns or online surveys and debate – will be designed to put people management specialists in pole position and build on the progress that is already being made. So be green!
Gerwyn Davies is public affairs manager and Hannah Smith works in the press office at the CIPD
How is our environment changing?
•The UK currently emits around 24 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – 2 per cent of world emissions.
•Carbon emissions have already pushed up global temperatures by 0.5˚C.
•If no action is taken on global emissions, there is more than a 75 per cent chance of global temperatures rising by 2-3˚C over the next 50 years, and a 50 per cent chance that they will rise by 5˚C.
•Rising sea levels could leave 200 million people permanently displaced.
•Up to 40 per cent of wildlife species could face extinction.
•If current trends continue, then by 2080 sea levels around Britain are expected to rise between 26 and 86 centimetres, flooding in coastal areas will become 10-20 times more likely and rain will decline by 50 per cent in summer, leading to drought conditions, although winters will be wetter.
•To be at manageable levels, emissions would need to stabilise in the next 20 years and fall between 1 per cent and 3 per cent after that. This would cost 1 per cent of GDP.
Sources: Stern Review, October 2006; Defra
How HR can help protect the environment
Whether leading on policy or not, the use of HRM practices can help to maximise the success of any environmentally friendly schemes initiated by other departments. HR’s expertise can be used to get the employee buy-in necessary for any policies or initiatives to be successful. You can make a start by:
•consulting with staff about producing an overarching environmental report or environmental policy statement;
•setting up an environmental management system. This could include a code of conduct or an environmental evaluation assessment and a register of legislation;
•communicating environmental achievements to inform and motivate internal and external stakeholders;
•appointing champions or change agents. Volunteers are best because they are more likely to be committed;
•using staff suggestion schemes to capture other possible ideas.
These should be followed by:
•embedding sustainability into management and induction training;
•using newsletters, noticeboards, intranets and other communication techniques to spread interest and ideas;
•including environmental awareness in selection procedures.
Who is backing the campaign?
We have enlisted five HR sponsors for HR Goes Green. You will be hearing more from them during the campaign about green initiatives in their organisations
Jane Hanson
Senior HR business partner for first direct and HSBC
Hanson tells PM her organisation is keen to champion the campaign because it is so aligned with its own values.
“HR has a role to play in educating people about the environment – increasing their awareness of what they can do and empowering them to do it,” she says.
Hanson adds that it makes good business sense to invest in the environment: “By encouraging people to be more aware of their impact on the environment in their homes and at work, businesses can increase the impact they make. We need to look after tomorrow’s customers today.”
Current environmentally friendly projects at the bank include a green travel plan, a volunteer environmental group, recycling and a carbon audit.
Mike Cutt
HR director of Alliance Boots
Cutt believes that Boots’ support for the campaign is rooted in a long tradition – the company has been concerned about the environment since its formation in 1849, he says.
“The Boots family believed the environment should be protected and cherished for future generations,” Cutt says.
He describes climate change as “the biggest threat to mankind”. “Businesses today need to show leadership on this issue and take appropriate actions, or risk losing customers who will be drawn to more environmentally friendly brands,” he adds.
Boots’ recent green initiatives include the introduction of carbon-neutral products, the use of recycled materials in packaging, and energy efficiency and waste reduction drives at its HQ.
Mark Butler
Secretary and registrar at the University of St Andrews, and PM columnist
Butler, a former director of HR for the NHS in Scotland, sees sustainable development as a core part of what HR means in the 21st century. “This campaign is important. Some will say that sustainable development is not HR’s business. I believe it is our core business. HR has to be clear about where it stands. We can turn what we know to be true about the impact of what we do into action that makes a difference.”
The University of St Andrews is research-intensive and has taken the decision to turn research evidence into work practice wherever possible, Butler says. “There is a huge amount happening here, from large-scale wind plans to simpler measures on transport, waste management, utilities and environmental management systems,” he adds.
Simon Carlton
HR director at flooring company InterfaceFLOR
Sustainable businesses are all about the people who create the products, processes and practices to achieve them: that’s why HR needs to facilitate understanding of the issues among staff, Carlton says. InterfaceFLOR has set out on what it calls “Mission Zero”, meaning the company aims to have zero environmental impact by 2020. Volunteers are given the time and opportunity to develop their own planet-saving ideas.
“All employees should be provided with the opportunity and the support to make changes in their immediate operational area,” Carlton says. “But equally important is facilitating the development of all staff to review their own understanding of what sustainability means, and their own perspective on what needs to be done and what part they can play.”
Stuart Thomas
Head of Tom Dunn, an HR and selection consultancy
Thomas worked in HR for more than 30 years, most recently as HR director at insurance company Homeserve. When he set out on his own to form Tom Dunn, he knew he wanted to incorporate an ethical, environmentally friendly approach.
Tom Dunn became carbon neutral, enlisting the help of the Carbon Neutral Company to reduce and offset its emissions. The firm also aims to be a “paperless office” and promotes remote working to reduce unnecessary travel. Thomas says he would like to see HR take more of a lead on green issues. Tom Dunn, which is only four-people strong, is a division of an SME comprising only 20 staff. Thomas is keen to stress the role that smaller companies can play in addressing environmental issues. “It’s not only about large companies. Everyone can do their bit,” he says.
Further information
• A factsheet, The environment and people management, offering practical help on how HR can go green and a list of helpful resources, can be accessed at the CIPD’s website: www.cipd.co.uk/factsheets
• All articles related to the HR Goes Green campaign will be accessible from a dedicated section of PM’s website: www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/hrgoesgreen
• The CIPD’s newly revamped public policy website gives space to environmental issues. Ask questions or tell us about the green policies you are pursuing at work. What government measures would encourage you to promote sustainability in the workplace? www.cipd.co.uk/publicpolic