A third (34%) of employees have been forced by their peers to
go green, says research commissioned by IT services firm
Capgemini.
The research, to identify the most effective incentives to
promote staff
energy efficiency, found that 42% of the 1,389 employees
questioned by YouGov supported environmental initiatives in the
workplace, because of their own environmental beliefs.
One in five (18%) saw ignorance of environmental issues as a key
barrier in green initiatives being implemented in the
workplace.
Wasteful behaviour by employees in office environments increases
energy consumption by 20%, costing UK firms over £157m every year,
according to the Carbon Trust charity.
This is set to climb further with energy prices for businesses
having already risen around 38% this year.
A variety of factors were identified by the research as
potential drivers of green behaviour in the workplace.
Personal success came closely behind personal beliefs and peer
pressure, with one in six (16%) employees seeing career benefits
from being seen to be green, whilst 17% expect direct financial
rewards.
Incentives based on personal gain were particularly popular with
younger workers, with one in five (23%) employees between 18 and 24
believing financial rewards are an essential factor in encouraging
employees to be environmentally friendly.
James Robey, head of corporate sustainability at Capgemini UK,
said, "Achieving the necessary change in business culture requires
employee engagement and co-operation.
"From our experience, engaging employees and offering them
simple, effective ways of changing their behaviours appears to
deliver the most significant level of engagement."