Embedding behaviour change throughout the organisation

Ben NorburyThe Co-operative

&Catherine MonaghanEnergy Saving Trust

2.

Who are we trying to engage with?• ~6,000 office employees in

Manchester head office complex

• Managers & Support, most FTE, working 9am-5pm, Mon to Fri, low staff turnover

• Intranet, head office activities, staff magazines, induction, billboards

• ~100,000 store, distribution, depot employees in 4,800 locations UK-wide

• Non-management, many PTE, working 6am-11pm, 7 days a week, high staff turnover

• Operational instructions to store managers for cascading to staff, staff magazines, some online training, store radio

7million members from across the UK

Varying degrees of activity

3.

How?

• Free stuff – seed giveaways (Plan Bee), Twirl giveaway (Mencap)• Free events – cycling workshops (Green Travel)• Preferential treatment – reserved (and free) car park spaces for car sharers

(Green Travel)• Training – Area energy champions (Energy Programme)• Staff Action Packs (Fairtrade)• Operational instructions – card and plastic recycling feedback• Consultation – when updating targets (Ethical Plan)• Money saving – interest free loans for public transport season tickets (Green

Travel), energy saving (EST)• Case studies – Ethical Plan booklet, intranet, internal and membership

magazines, external communications• Financial reward (Bonuses)

4.

Embedding sustainability into performance and rewards…

• Ethical Plan target:The remuneration of senior staff will be influenced by the degree to which The Co-operative is viewed as a leading champion of corporate social responsibility in the UK

• Judged on performance in the BITC Corporate Responsibility Index

– Community– Environment– Marketplace– Workplace

5.

Head office is ‘easy’

6.

Lessons learnt

• Management – bonus-related works; leading by example greater challenge

• Make most of concentration of employees (i.e. head office), and use as test bed for schemes that are expanding to more disparate groups.

• One size doesn’t fit all – wide demographic of workforce with range of outlooks and priorities

• Make it easy and convenient, explain cost-savings - often the biggest hook

• Be realistic – focus initially on easy wins, then review and develop

• Communicate success stories through those engaged employees…

7.

Engagement through the most engaged

Also developing ‘Carbon Heroes’ to focus on positive experience of car sharing

8.

Challenges faced• Expanding head office initiatives to whole employee

base (~100,000) and membership (~7m)

• Senior staff – leading by example?

• Making communication less top-down and instructive

• Making sometimes dry subjects interesting

• Priorities e.g. recession – is there a financial reward?

9.

EST employee engagement services

Who we are – set up in 1992 to help reduce UK’s domestic & transport carbon emissions by providing independent and impartial advice– new charitable parent company, under which a non-profit company & wholly owned trading subsidiary– we work with businesses to provide services which benefit their staff and customers

Our Employee Engagement services (via Employers)– Energy Intelligence: for communicating & educating employees (verification, data analysis, policy analysis & market insight)– Smart Driving: for helping employees reduce fuel consumption and save money– ESTEPS: for helping employees link their energy, transport & water use to carbon/money and take action

Recent news!– We have been awarded the contract to run Government’s new energy advice service from April 2012 to provide free and impartial

advice to householders, businesses and the public sector on Green Deal and other Government priorities in England, Wales & NI – Anyone accessing the service will be able to get information and support on schemes available to help make their home or business

more energy efficient INCLUDING YOUR STAFF AND CUSTOMERS!

10.

EST insight - what employees want

Trusted source of advice– Independent research shows EST is among the UK’s most trusted sources of advice on how to save energy in the home. – 54% consider EST home energy saving advice impartial & trustworthy vs. 27% DIY retailers, 26% local council, 6% energy

suppliers

Employers who help– 39% agree they would like their employer to

help them be greener at work and at home– Rising to 58% for 21 – 34 year olds!*

*Source: EST attitude tracker (commissioned ICM 2 samples >5400 adults in March 2011)

11.

EST partnership with the Co-operative

Historic – Area Energy Champion training programme (~350 champions across UK)– On-site energy advice (~1050 employees based in Manchester)– Smarter Driving (~180 staff at Funeralcare in Manchester and Pharmacy in Rochdale)

New– To offer Co-operative employees basic access to energy saving advice/tips– EST ESTEPS is a simple, flexible and easy to use on-line employee engagement tool which integrates into any business

website and brand and:1. asks employees simple questions on building, occupancy, energy use and behaviour.2. provides household specific results on energy/water use, energy /water bills & carbon emissions3. provides tips showing energy savings tailored to the results.4. allows employees to adjust inputs and re-calculate based on taking action on energy efficiency5. rewards sustainable behaviour in measureable way for both the individual and the organisation.