8 Tips to make your Employees more Energy Aware | Glaze & Save

A more energy efficient and resource aware business starts with energy aware employees. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some of the best tips from around the web to help you make your employees more energy aware!

Projectlower.co.ukgives us five ways to increase employee awareness on energy efficiency that will make your employee your biggest energy champions!

1. Outline the benefits to your employees.

While some of your employees will already be aware and may even have adopted energy efficient practices, you’re more likely to see departmental compliance if your staff know exactly how a more energy aware outlook will affect them. Reason such as a healthier workplace, improved productivity and a better public image could all be great benefits to persuade your staff.

2. Make sure your change in policy is well publicised.

Using marketing materials across a variety of platforms: print, email, events, etc will all help raise awareness among your employees as to your new energy policies.

3. Set realistic goals.

Acheivable goals that your workforce can attain without drastic changes will be much easier for everyone to get on board with rather than drastic changes.

4. Have some healthy competition.

Run project or team challenges and competitions across departments with prizes or incentives for compliance.

5. Have a written energy policy.

Make sure your goals, aims and reasons for adopting a new energy aware workplace are written down and easily accessed by your employees. This will help current staff and form guidelines for new employees when they enter the business.

Gazprom Energyalso have three ways to motivate your employees to reduce energy bills:

6. Avoid Bribery

While incentivizing teams and projects could be a great idea, financial incentives for individuals may not works as well. Research suggests that while incentivising staff to achieve certain things may encourage them to strive for success initially, their motivation won’t necessarily be long-lasting.

Furthermore, if rewards are only given to those who achieve the best results, those who have little confidence in their abilities, or those that believe they have no chance of winning, are unlikely to show an interest and may not even try to meet the targets set.

7. Harness the power of feelings and emotions.

Make it clear that your employees’ actions directly contribute to the success or failure of your new energy efficiency policy.

After analysing thousands of employee work diaries, researchers and authors of The Progress Principle found that contrary to popular belief, the most positive workplace motivator wasn’t money, instead it was the feeling of making progress everyday towards a meaningful goal.

8. Address Progress

In “The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People”, David Niven writes: “Researchers find that persistent people spend twice as much time thinking, not about what has to be done, but about what they have already accomplished, the fact that the task is doable, and that they are capable of it.” Reinforcing this amongst your employees will have a positive effect on their outlook towards energy saving.

Finally we have some words of wisdom from the Carbon Trust, where you can help your organisation's employees play a part in achieving your low-carbon ambitions with the Carbon Trust Empowerprogramme, and free carbon saving advice specific to your business sector, including energy walk around checklists.