Public Servant Lifestyle

Lack of incentive and leadership from bosses is causing UK employees to leave their environmental consciences at home, according to independent research commissioned by international solutions provider, Logicalis. The results find that such double standards between work and home life is needlessly costing UK businesses thousands of pounds in energy bills, as well as emitting hundreds and thousands of tonnes of avoidable carbon into the atmosphere.

The survey - of over 1,000 employees - was undertaken in December of last year across UK public and private sector organisations. It found that despite a clear understanding of the steps they need to adopt to become more environmentally friendly, employees still look towards their employer to lead by example when it comes to being environmentally responsible.

Just under two thirds (62%) of staff said their employer should offer incentives for being green in the workplace while 57% said they could be encouraged to act greener if their employer 'led by example'.

Attitudes

The survey found that workplace attitudes sit in stark contrast to environmental efforts at home, where an impressive 94% of people switch off lights, 85% switch off their home PC after use, and over half (54%) save energy by regularly using only the minimum amount of water needed when boiling the kettle. Comparatively only 66%, 53% and less than 10% of employees respectively, carry out these simple green practises in the office.

Tom Kelly, managing director, Logicalis UK, "What the research is telling us loud and clear is that there is a huge, wasteful consumption of energy and resources taking places in offices throughout the UK, and that organisations must tap into the environmental consciousness being displayed in the home to cut business energy costs and reduce the carbon and environmental footprint."

Such dichotomised attitudes between work and home can perhaps be explained by the fact that just under half (43.3%) of all those surveyed believed their employer only pays lip service to environmental issues, or is simply not interested in them at all, despite increasing environmental legislation and awareness, and increasing government scrutiny of the environmental impact of businesses in the UK.

This belief is supported by the research which found that three quarters of employers provide facilities for recycling paper, but don't use recycled materials themselves. Moreover, while three quarters of staff have access to double-sided printing and copying facilities, less than a quarter had been offered training in using the equipment.

Environmental-Impact

Questioned about the environmental impact of their own organisations, 49% of staff believed their company wastes too much electricity, and a similar figure (45%) believed their employer should put schemes in place to help save resources in the work place. Over a third (37%) of staff said they would like more training on how to be environmentally friendly.

Chris Gabriel, head of solutions marketing at Logicalis UK, commented: "This research shows that 2007 must be the year for turning well-meaning talk into action. The first step to achieving this is to put environmental issues at the top of the boardroom agenda, so that environmental best practise can filter throughout the organisation from the top down. Only through strong, deliberate environmental leadership, and a commitment from government, business and employees to work together, will we see a meaningful reduction in carbon emissions from UK plc. Tokenism will no longer cut it."

More information available in Work Environment, Your Home