businessi.info provides a complementary platform to businesslink.gov.uk/southwest to comment and exchange business advice and tips for businesses in the South West of England. Subscribe to Business Link ealerts and newsletters to receive the latest update and post your comments on this space.

Archive for the 'Environment' Category

Questions to ask employees

Published by Corrina on 10 March, 2010 in Environment, HR & People Development, Management & Leadership and Strategy & Operations • 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Answer key questions on business strategy, innovation, efficiency, human resources and customer care.

Think business strategy, innovation, efficiency, human resources, customer care, and more. Asking good questions and acting on good answers can improve your business and its people. So let’s explore some key business areas where your employees could provide the answers. 

Human resources

In addition to telling you whether they feel satisfied and happy in their work, employees may be able to identify training and development needs which could make your business more successful. 

Key questions for employees: Do you feel happy, enthusiastic and satisfied in your work? How could we improve your job? What training or development could improve both your job and business performance? Do you have unused or underused skills that could help us improve? Do you receive recognition and feedback? What should managers start or stop doing? What could we do to improve communication?

Business strategy and innovation

Because of a closeness to customers, problems or challenges, employees might conjure up innovative ideas and solutions. Their detachment from decision-making could also inspire fresh strategic thinking.  

Key questions for employees: What do you like or dislike about this company? What would you like to see happen? How could we improve our company/product/services? What are your ideas? Can you identify specific problems and propose solutions? What would spur creativity and innovation in your team?

Business efficiency

In previous editions of business i we have found that, because of their closeness to the action, employees can drive efficiency improvements in areas from cost cutting to energy saving. 

Key questions for employees: Can you spot ways to cut business costs, or energy consumption, in your role or in the company as a whole? Are there any bottlenecks or issues that slow you or your team down? How could we reduce wasted time so that we can focus on more worthwhile tasks?

Customer feedback

Customer-facing employees possess invaluable frontline knowledge on how satisfied customers are when interacting with your business and using its products and services. 

Key questions for employees: What common issues or complaints do customers experience? Do you have any feedback or intelligence from customers which could help us improve? When listening to customers, can you spot any unmet or underserved needs? What makes people go elsewhere?

As important as the questions is the will to ask them and listen to the answers. It’s about appreciating the value of engaging with employees, deciding which questions are important, and creating ways to obtain the answers. You might question via formal means such as staff meetings, surveys or interviews. But it’s not all about formalities; sometimes those unplanned conversation-starters at the drinks machine are just as valuable. Ask questions, listen, and if you get good answers, act to make your business better. 

More information – Consulting your employees

More information – The art of good communication between employer and employees

Energy efficiency

Published by Corrina on 18 February, 2010 in Environment and Top Tips • 2 Comments

Practical tips to help cut costs by becoming more energy efficient. 

For more tips relevant to your business type and size visit the websites listed at the end of this article.

Engage your people

Positive attitudes foster changes in behaviour. Engage your people by promoting both the cost and environmental benefits of energy efficiency, and ask them for ideas on how to be more energy efficient.

Measure your carbon footprint

Calculating your total energy usage can highlight problem areas which could be turned into opportunities to improve efficiencies and cut costs.

Create an action plan

Create an energy efficiency action plan which outlines key priorities, problem areas, and opportunities to cut costs. Get guidance and support from Business Link, Carbon Trust or Envirowise. 

Think ahead

As one conservationist said: “In the long term, the economy and the environment are the same thing. If it’s unenvironmental it’s uneconomical”. Keep this perspective in mind to stay motivated for the long-term.

Find the right temperature

According to Carbon Trust, for every additional degree in temperature you typically pay an extra 8% in heating costs. Keep room temperatures comfortable but cost-effective.

Switch to efficient lighting systems

According to Carbon Trust: changing tube lights from T12 to T8 or T5 will offer savings of 10% or more; and occupancy sensors which automatically turn off lights in vacant areas can cut costs by 30%.

Power-down computer equipment

Correctly set up power saving and standby features to automatically power-down devices, or simply turn them off when not in use. Carbon Trust estimates £35 a year could be saved for every computer.

Create an equipment policy

Develop and communicate guidelines. For example: computers should automatically power down after 30 minutes of inactivity; individuals leaving the office last are responsible for turning off lights and equipment.

Save water

Envirowise has a section on its website that shows you how to conduct a water audit and cut down on water use: www.envirowise.gov.uk/water

Heating and boilers

Make sure heating and boiler controllers are scheduled to take account of occupancy patterns and weather conditions. Properly maintain equipment. Insulate pipework.

Energy monitors

Monitoring devices are emerging that provide current and past energy usage and trends. Such devices can help to see how your energy efficiency efforts are reducing costs.

 Waste reduction 

Examine your waste disposal bill to see where your heaviest expenses lie; target problems and try to reduce these amounts. You can find waste minimisation tips at www.envirowise.gov.uk

Air conditioning

Make sure air conditioners don’t operate below 24 degrees. Keep a temperature gap between heating and air conditioning so that both don’t activate at the same time. Use variable speed drives (VSDs).

Equipment upgrades

Ensure new equipment purchases, from computers to fridges, have good energy efficiency ratings. This provides long-term cost savings on purchases which can help to offset initial expenditure.

100% first year capital allowance

Through the ECA scheme you might be eligible to claim 100% first year capital allowance on investments in energy-saving technologies, such as heating and air conditioning and low carbon emission cars.

Install Building Energy Management Systems

Computer controlled system that monitors and controls building services and provides analytical data to track energy saving. Especially useful for buildings with changing usage and occupancy patterns.

Combined Heat and Power

On-site generation of electricity and re-use of heat produced in the process. Carbon Trust says they are “the single biggest way to cut buildings–related energy costs” when used correctly.

More info:

Business Link - A wide range of environment and efficiency guides, advice and support

Envirowise – Resource efficiency and money saving resources

Carbon Trust – Cut carbon and reduce costs

Green marketing: go green, then shout about it

Published by Business Link on 19 November, 2009 in Environment, Sales & Marketing and Strategy & Operations • 2 Comments

Consumers increasingly want more information on the green credentials of businesses, products and services.

Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in the environmental credentials of products and services. Why? Because consumers want to become more environmentally responsible, and because they are realising that energy efficiency can lead to lower lifetime running costs for products or services.

According to a recent Carbon Trust survey, seven out of ten consumers want businesses to provide more information on their green credentials. In other words: most marketers are failing to provide the information consumers are looking for when making purchasing decisions.

Green-minded, marketing savvy businesses should see this as an opportunity to gain competitive advantage. Companies that choose to go green, and then shout about it – by providing consumers with the information they are looking for – can stand above their competitors in an increasingly environmentally conscious world.

Done well, green marketing can enhance a business’s brand image, add value to its products and services, and appeal to an expanding audience of green consumers. Done badly, green marketing can undermine a business’s reputation and destroy consumer trust. ‘Greenwash’, an unsubstantiated or irrelevant environmental claim, is increasingly a source of complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency. Consumers want honest and well-substantiated information, not marketing spin.  

Marketing activity must follow positive action. If you are claiming to be green – make sure you are being green. It’s about first taking tangible steps to reduce your environmental impact, and then shouting about your achievements.  

A good place to start: review the current environmental performance of your business and its products or services. This may involve a thorough look at your business operations, from development and production to packaging, distribution and administration. Also consider the environmental impact of your customers’ use of products and services, and the ultimate recycling potential of products and packaging. From this analysis you can formulate an environmental policy which outlines the present situation and defines objectives for development. You may benefit from quick wins, but don’t ignore more significant environmental challenges – turn them into long-term goals.

When deciding which environmental achievements to shout about, consider your most significant wins, including the issues your customers are already aware of or care about the most, and those which directly affect them, such as the lifetime energy consumption of a product or service, or options for a product’s reuse or recycling.

As touched upon, any environmental claim must stand up to scrutiny and present your company in an honest way, so be sure that you can back up your marketing messages. Use clear and unambiguous language. And while minor green initiatives can be promoted, do not do so whilst overlooking more significant environmental issues.  

Customers are increasingly looking for information on the green credentials of businesses. So promoting your green value is truly becoming an opportunity to differentiate and win sales. Define a strategy, go green, then shout about it.  

Guide to market your environmental credentials

Guide to grow your business through sustainable innovation

Can “Green HR” help to save the planet?

Published by Business Link on 12 June, 2009 in Environment and HR & People Development • 0 Comments

HR has a role in the pursuit of greener business practices; a role which could help to both save the planet and recruit new employees.

Human resources (HR) has a role to play in building greener businesses. Its closeness to people across departments makes it arguably the best-placed business function to introduce and enforce greener working practices and change environmentally unfriendly behaviours. And while its scope may be limited to managing the behaviours of people (as opposed to directing wider strategic or operational policies), HR has a significant opportunity to contribute to the green movement. If being green is not reason enough, the motivation to get involved might be driven by the fact that, increasingly, people want to work for greener businesses.

HR is already involved in the development, training, re-training and behavioural management of people, with the overall objective of improving business performance. It also has a role in defining organisational policies, such as flexible working rules or codes of conduct. With these competencies in mind, it is apparent that managing certain green policies from within HR could be advantageous. Where an individual’s choice of behaviour could impact the environment, HR could play a role in defining policy. For example, HR could define instances where face-to-face offsite meetings are necessary, or where video or web conferencing could be used as a greener alternative.

A survey conducted in the US, which analysed responses from 93 organisations from a range of different industries, identified some commonly practised green-friendly HR initiatives, including encouraging online/tele-conferencing to reduce travel, and promoting the reduction of paper use. The survey commented that “employee involvement in green programs dramatically increases when organizations appoint an individual to lead the efforts”. Don Sanford, managing director of Buck’s Communication, the company behind the survey, concluded that “there is still much more that organisations can do”.

To go further, HR leaders could pursue green initiatives on a number of levels. For example, HR could work with IT departments to define policies on the correct use of computer power management systems, or promote the importance of turning off computers, printers and lights when leaving the office. More widely, building green responsibilities directly into job descriptions could provide a two-fold benefit; first ensuring green policies are explicitly part of an employee’s responsibilities, and second, providing routes for employee feedback on ideas which could help to improve environmental efficiencies. Employees who are familiar with their own job roles may be best-placed to identify green opportunities and proactively suggest improvements.

Increasingly, new recruits are likely to consider the green credentials of employers. If HR has a vested interest in a company’s environmental practices, it could position the business as a more attractive proposition to new talent. In this respect, being green could be strategically valuable to tomorrow’s HR.

It is clear that whilst HR cannot always take the lead in an organisation’s green approach, it could work with decision makers to define and disseminate information and instructions to its people, so that they can learn how to behave in more environmentally friendly ways. As well as contributing to an important corporate social responsibility, this positive action could make the company a more attractive employment proposition for new talent. If you work in HR, why not ask yourself what role you could play in helping to save the planet.

More info – Managing environmental issues in your business

More info – Improving your enviromental performance

Eco-trends to watch

Published by Business Link on 24 March, 2009 in Environment • 0 Comments

Increasing consumer interest

Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in the environmental credentials of brands, products and services.

An October 2008 “Carbon Footprint Report” from L.E.K. Consulting – based on a YouGov poll of 1,965 consumers – found that over half of respondents would value carbon footprint information when making buying decisions, and 41 per cent would switch brands to achieve a smaller carbon footprint.

Whether consumer interest translates into increased demand for greener brands is likely to be determined by price, at least for now as recession bites. Nevertheless, companies that can offer sound environmental credentials and do so alongside competitive pricing are likely to win market share.

Consumer interest definitely offers the right kind of motivation to go green. A 2008 study from Ernst & Young, based on an Economist Intelligence Unit survey of 257 senior executives across industry sectors, found that respondents acknowledged that consumer demand was a bigger motivator to go green than regulators, governments, competitors or investors.

For these reasons, consumer interest and demand for greener brands is our number 1 eco-trend to watch in 2009 and beyond. Tomorrow’s consumers will demand more information on a business’s green credentials, and are likely to turn away from environmentally unfriendly brands. Recession may slow the trend, but only until financial recovery inevitably begins.

Green technologies, innovations and gadgets

Concept designs and technologies are constantly evolving into successful innovations that are helping businesses minimise their impact on the environment with minimal effort.

For example, ’smart plugs’ are emerging which allow electricity sockets to be turned on or off remotely or at pre-determined times. ‘Smart-grids’ are also key innovations of the future, which will allow even closer monitoring and control of energy usage. Even the humble light-bulb has been reinvented; new LED technologies promise light bulbs that offer several times less power consumption and significantly greater longevity.

Countless other innovations will undoubtedly emerge from the green technology movement. Companies that follow these trends are most likely to find ingenious innovations to help them go green with minimal effort.

Ever-improving information and advice on going green

In a 2008 Ernst & Young report entitled “Green for go”, the authors wrote: “While companies acknowledge the importance of green issues, many are confused about how to act.”

Increasingly such confusion will become confidence, as companies discover the wealth of information, support and advice which is available both online and off.

A growing collection of online information services are a few clicks away, providing green advice, tips, tools and calculators. And for more in-depth assistance, specialist concierge-style companies are emerging which offer tailored advice on going green, and supply the relevant expertise, products and services required to do so. Much of the information and services available also focus closely on how to make green changes that are economically viable for businesses of any size.

Businesses that follow the increasing availability of information and support are likely to stay ahead of the game, identifying cost-effective green opportunities before the competition.

View our resources on Environment & Efficiency

Top tips to make savings