Environment a factor in staff attraction and retention

How ‘green’ is your business?  Many business owners – particularly small business owners – have probably never given any real consideration to the environmental ‘friendliness’ of their business. 

Sure, it’s a relatively new phenomenon in business – after all, businesses were traditionally about making money, no matter what the environmental impact.  Things have changed and today environmental considerations are not only important to ‘save the planet’, but also because they play a key role in attracting and retaining the best staff – and customers too.  Pay short shrift to the environment and your business with suffer…

Most people have become more aware and concerned about the environmental perils that are besetting our globe – particularly the socially-attuned and connected younger generations who have grown up in the era of global warming and holes in the ozone layer.  Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth was a watershed in heightening global awareness about the melting of the polar ice cap and how our growing consumption and exploitation of the environment is setting us on a disastrous course.

 Since then, we have seen some significant developments in Australia – greater segregation of waste products for recycling, debate about the imminent abolition of plastic bags, plans to build hybrid vehicles in this country, and a national focus on dwindling Australian water resources (particularly the River Murray) to name but a few.

So what is your business doing to contribute?  Most businesses don’t have the environmental footprint of BHP, but there are a string of relatively small things that businesses can do to contribute to the cause – whilst they may seem minor, the collective effect of every business enacting these strategies will be significant.

Here’s some things that your business can do:

• Print double-sided copies on your photocopier
• Use recycled paper
• Reuse scrap paper for other purposes rather than throwing it away
• Correctly segregate all waste into appropriate bins and recycle
• Turn off computer monitors and CPUs when not in use – particularly overnight
• Turn off photocopiers and other applicances when not in use – particularly overnight
• Turn off lights when not in use – particularly overnight
• Use heating and cooling sensibly – if everybody is wearing a sweater in the office in the middle of summer, then it’s probably an indication that your air conditioning is on too high
• Use blinds and double glazing to lock in heat/cool and reduce air conditioning
• Allow natural light instead of using electric light
• Encourage workers to use public transport
• Choose a premises that has a high energy efficiency rating

It’s recommended that business owners write a ‘green policy’ for their business – incorporating the action points above and more – and trumpet the fact that the policy exists when dealing with customers and when recruiting new staff.  Existing staff should be included in the process of developing the policy, so that they take ‘ownership’ of the strategies therein, and accordingly, will advocate the business to customers and prospective employees. 

Employees today are more environmentally aware than they have ever been and they have greater expectations about the environmental efficiency of their workplace and their employer.  It’s important that every business considers the impact of not enacting an environmental policy – not only on the environment, but on their customers and staff.

We’d like to hear from businesses who have enacted such a policy, or have further suggestions about what businesses can do to contribute.