eco friendly workplace handouts
TRANSCRIPT
The Emerald Office: Eco-Friendly Workforce Strategies
Kendall CollegeMay 18, 2009
Kyra Cavanaugh President, Life Meets Work--a consultancy and online
community that helps organizations drive bottom line results by implementing and optimizing flexible workforce strategies.
Flexible worker for last 10 years (telecommuting, part-time, contract, compressed work weeks).
Currently manages a virtual team. Career in consumer packaged goods for nearly 20 years:
Quaker, Keebler, Dominick’s Finer Foods, Willard Bishop Consulting
Member of Workplace Excellence Committee, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and spearheading flexible workforce project with the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor.
Speaker at upcoming 2009 Illinois State SHRM Conference and recently honored as a finalist in the AWLP Work-Life Rising Star awards.
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Goals for this workshopMy goal: To demonstrate how flexible workforce strategies support
green and corporate sustainability goals
To discuss practical ways to implement and optimize flex work programs
What is your goal for today?
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Going Green & Corporate Sustainability
Green: Reduce consumption Reduce environmental footprint Make better choices
Corporate Sustainability: Goes beyond environmental to social and governance policies Short term earnings gains aren’t enough, must act in ways
that benefit the community, shareholders, employees and the environment for long term survival
Outperformed the stock market average by 25% from 2005-2007.*
72% outperformed their peers during the same period.*
©Life Meets Work, 2009
*Goldman Sachs, 2007
Alternative Workforce StrategiesAlternative Workforce Strategies (AWS) = Flexible
Work Part-time Condensed workweeks Teleworking Alternative Shift Scheduling Flex start and end times Summer hours Job sharing
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Impact of alternative workforce strategies
AWS significantly impacts the environment: Telecommuting reduces:
CO2 emissions Reduction of 2 metric tons/worker/yr* 50 million teleworkers could save 100M metric tons**
Fossil fuel consumption Reduction in daily vehicle traffic by 53-77%*** Avg teleworker saves $870/yr on gas* 50 million teleworkers could save 587M barrels of oil**
Use of commercial real estate
©Life Meets Work, 2009
*Sun Microsystems, 2008 **Study by Undress4success.com***ITIF, 2009
Impact of alternative workforce strategies
AWS significantly impacts the environment: Telecommuting reduces:
Automobile replacement cycle Avg teleworker saves $906/yr in car wear and tear*
Traffic congestion Enables more efficient trucking system which lowers
emissions and delivery costs “Reduced travel” policies:
Virtual Meetings-teleconferencing/webconferencing Worldwide reduction of more than 3B tons of CO2
emissions could be result of virtual meetings and telework alone by 2050***
©Life Meets Work, 2009
*Sun Microsystems, 2008***WWF, 2009
AWS significantly impacts the environment: Less commercial real estate reduces:
Raw materials (lumber, metals, etc) Energy consumption:
Savings of 5400 kwh/year for someone working 2.1 days from home
Water consumption CO2 emissions Waste
Impact of alternative workforce strategies
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Case StudiesState of Utah Implemented a four-day workweek in Summer, 2008 Cut energy use by 13% across 900 govt office buildings Now energy specialists are looking for inefficiencies to save
more Challenge: how to turn massive HVAC systems off on
Fridays
Fairfax, Virginia Increased to 20% of Fairfax public employees using AWS
and reduced traffic in the county by 6%
Microsoft Reduced business travel by 10% per employee in 2008 Saved $92M and 17,000 metric tons of CO2
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Sun Microsystems’ Open Work program 14 year old program Over 56% of workforce works away at least 2 days/wk Reduced real estate holdings 15% in 2007 Saves over $70M/yr in real estate costs, Reduced 31,000 tons of greenhouse gases (23%) between
2002-2007 Wants to reduce another 20% by 2015 60% of time spent commuting is now given back in the form
of work Telecommuters score higher on performance ratings than
onsite peers 85% of employees would recommend Sun as an employer
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Case Studies
AWS sustains corporate performance
Ten ways: Increased productivity Increased customer satisfaction/retention and service levels Increased employee retention/engagement Reduced absenteeism rates “Employer of Choice” recruitment and retention strategy Employees closer to customer locations Disability accommodation Supports work/life initiatives Business continuity/disaster planning Supports community by offering flexibility for working
caregivers
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AWS sustains corporate performance 60% of teleworkers are less likely to look for another job.
--2008 Clean Air Campaign study
87% of employees and managers agreed telecommuters’
productivity improved or stayed the same. --2008 Study by National Science
Foundation
Teleworkers were more engaged and had more favorable opinions of senior management.
--2008 study of 10,000 workers by Kenexa Research Institute
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Challenges Getting management buy-in
Both C-suite and middle management Training managers
Skills are the same for flex or onsite teams, but requires training to improve
Changing tradition Managers learned to manage this way and resist change
Adapting to performance management It’s about “what” work gets done, not “how” it gets done
Investing in technology and training Not all employees are tech-savvy Systems and infrastructure may require investment
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with
their results.George S. Patton
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Setting up a flexible work teamTwo ways to do it:
Approach A:
1) Create a proposal and offers flexible work options to eligible team members.
2) Offer a pilot program for 3 to 6 months with an evaluation, and option for ongoing arrangement.
Approach B:
1) Allow entire organization, department, team to work flexibly.
2) Team establishes and agrees to rules and
3) signs a Virtual Work Agreement that is reviewed and renewed every six months.
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Managing a flexible work teamKey Components: Execute a Virtual Teams Agreement Realize management style influences outcome Create a sense of place Communicate deliberately Set goals and track performance Choose the right people
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Offer for today’s attendeesFlexible work consultation Drop your card with Kyra after the event today. Schedule free one-hour phone consultation with Kyra
Cavanaugh, Flexible Workplace Expert and President of Life Meets Work by June 1, 2009
We'll discuss your workforce challenges and opportunities, the current state of your flex work program, or your interest in starting one.
At the end, you'll walk away with at least three pieces of actionable advice and no further obligation.
Just call 888-462-5691 or email [email protected]
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Research From Workplace to Anyplace, WWF with a grant from
Microsoft Corporation, 2009 http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFBinaryitem11939.pdf
Improving Quality of Life Through Telecommuting, ITIF, 2009
http://www.itif.org/files/Telecommuting.pdf A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability, 2007
http://www.biggerthinking.com/docs/en/a_new_mindset_white_paper.pdf
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Additional Resources Co-working sites:
See list at blog.coworking.info Regus-individual and corporate subscriptions
For more information about virtual teams: lifemeetswork.com telework.gov teleworkexchange.com
Resources from Sun Microsystems www.sun.com/aboutsun/openwork/ http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/openwork/managing_virtual
_world.pdf
©Life Meets Work, 2009
Contact Us
Kyra CavanaughPresident, Life Meets Work
lifemeetswork.com888-462-5691
©Life Meets Work, 2009