1. Embedding behaviour change throughout
the organisation
Ben Norbury
The Co-operative
&
Catherine Monaghan
Energy Saving Trust

2. Who are we trying to engage with?
• ~6,000 office employees in • ~100,000 store, distribution,
Manchester head office depot employees in 4,800
complex locations UK-wide
• Managers & Support, most • Non-management, many PTE,
FTE, working 9am-5pm, Mon working 6am-11pm, 7 days a
to Fri, low staff turnover week, high staff turnover
• Intranet, head office • Operational instructions to
activities, staff magazines, store managers for cascading
induction, billboards to staff, staff magazines, some
online training, store radio
7million members from across the UK
Varying degrees of activity
2.

3. How?
• Free stuff – seed giveaways (Plan Bee), Twirl giveaway (Mencap)
• Free events – cycling workshops (Green Travel)
• Preferential treatment – reserved (and free) car park spaces for car sharers
(Green Travel)
• Training – Area energy champions (Energy Programme)
• Staff Action Packs (Fairtrade)
• Operational instructions – card and plastic recycling feedback
• Consultation – when updating targets (Ethical Plan)
• Money saving – interest free loans for public transport season tickets (Green
Travel), energy saving (EST)
• Case studies – Ethical Plan booklet, intranet, internal and membership
magazines, external communications
• Financial reward (Bonuses)
3.

4. Embedding sustainability into performance and rewards…
• Ethical Plan target:
The remuneration of senior staff will be influenced by the
degree to which The Co-operative is viewed as a leading
champion of corporate social responsibility in the UK
• Judged on performance in the BITC Corporate
Responsibility Index
– Community
– Environment
– Marketplace
– Workplace
4.

5. Head office is ‘easy’
5.

6. Lessons learnt
• Management – bonus-related works; leading by example greater
challenge
• Make most of concentration of employees (i.e. head office), and
use as test bed for schemes that are expanding to more
disparate groups.
• One size doesn’t fit all – wide demographic of workforce with
range of outlooks and priorities
• Make it easy and convenient, explain cost-savings - often the
biggest hook
• Be realistic – focus initially on easy wins, then review and
develop
• Communicate success stories through those engaged
employees…
6.

7. Engagement through the most engaged
Also developing
‘Carbon Heroes’ to
focus on positive
experience of car
sharing
7.

8. Challenges faced
• Expanding head office initiatives to whole employee
base (~100,000) and membership (~7m)
• Senior staff – leading by example?
• Making communication less top-down and instructive
• Making sometimes dry subjects interesting
• Priorities e.g. recession – is there a financial reward?
8.

9. EST employee engagement services
 Who we are
– set up in 1992 to help reduce UK’s domestic & transport carbon emissions by providing independent and impartial advice
– new charitable parent company, under which a non-profit company & wholly owned trading subsidiary
– we work with businesses to provide services which benefit their staff and customers
 Our Employee Engagement services (via Employers)
– Energy Intelligence: for communicating & educating employees (verification, data analysis, policy analysis & market insight)
– Smart Driving: for helping employees reduce fuel consumption and save money
– ESTEPS: for helping employees link their energy, transport & water use to carbon/money and take action
 Recent news!
– We have been awarded the contract to run Government’s new energy advice service from April 2012 to provide free and
impartial advice to householders, businesses and the public sector on Green Deal and other Government priorities in
England, Wales & NI
– Anyone accessing the service will be able to get information and support on schemes available to help make their home or
business more energy efficient INCLUDING YOUR STAFF AND CUSTOMERS!
9.

10. EST insight - what employees want
 Trusted source of advice
– Independent research shows EST is among the UK’s most trusted sources of advice on how to save energy in the home.
– 54% consider EST home energy saving advice impartial & trustworthy vs. 27% DIY retailers, 26% local council, 6% energy
suppliers
 Employers who help
– 39% agree they would like their employer to
help them be greener at work and at home
– Rising to 58% for 21 – 34 year olds!*
*Source: EST attitude tracker (commissioned ICM 2 samples >5400
adults in March 2011)
10.

11. EST partnership with the Co-operative
 Historic
– Area Energy Champion training programme (~350 champions across UK)
– On-site energy advice (~1050 employees based in Manchester)
– Smarter Driving (~180 staff at Funeralcare in Manchester and Pharmacy in Rochdale)
 New
– To offer Co-operative employees basic access to energy saving advice/tips
– EST ESTEPS is a simple, flexible and easy to use on-line employee engagement tool which integrates into any business
website and brand and:
1. asks employees simple questions on building, occupancy, energy use and behaviour.
2. provides household specific results on energy/water use, energy /water bills & carbon emissions
3. provides tips showing energy savings tailored to the results.
4. allows employees to adjust inputs and re-calculate based on taking action on energy efficiency
5. rewards sustainable behaviour in measureable way for both the individual and the organisation.
11.