Green Mark awarded to Skillset
In July 2006, Skillset achieved the highly-coveted Green Mark award. Green Mark is a scheme that enables small and medium sized businesses from any industry to demonstrate to customers and other stakeholders their commitment to implement positive environmental practices. Skillset has been successful in stage one and over the next 12 months will be gearing up for the second of the three stages of the awarding process.
In just eight months, Skillset has significantly reduced its energy consumption and waste which has the knock-on effect of reducing costs. Our staff's awareness of what they can do to be more green has grown vigorously, a tangible cultural shift which is revealed in the blushes of those who come to meetings with papers that are not printed double-sided!
For the green policy of any business to make a difference it is essential to win over the hearts and minds of staff, the only people who can make it a success. This is not always easy, so what prompted Skillset to make green issues such a big priority?
We believe that as part of our corporate social responsibility we have a moral duty to restrict the negative impact we have on the environment. It also makes good business sense. Being more green helps to achieve cost efficiency and savings.
For the last few years, we have benefited from a number of green-minded staff members who encouraged others to think more about recycling and conserving resources. But it wasn't an organisational mindset. Our staff decided it should be and wanted to learn more about what they could do to help.
A 'Green Team' was formed in 2005 made up of staff at all levels of the organisation throughout the UK. The team's job was to develop a policy to help staff make changes that would benefit our immediate environment as well as the wider one.
The first step we took was to gain a sense of our staff's individual commitment to environmental issues. We conducted a survey of their levels of knowledge and concern about all things green and explored what they were doing to have a positive effect on the environment at work and at home.
The results showed that many of our staff were already being very green and wanted to know how to do more, especially in their workplace.
We announced that we would set up regular briefings from external experts and monthly updates on green issues in our internal staff newsletter - all to keep every single member of staff involved every step of the way in the process of growing greener. Without that sense of ownership and responsibility we knew the policy would never become common, widespread practice.
With all our staff eager to make a difference, many changes have been made to the way we work. All staff members have the importance of sustainability embedded in their job description and all new staff members receive an induction by a member of the Green Team. Reminders have been posted throughout the office to prompt staff to switch of computers and lights when not in use, and steps are being taken to manage waste more efficiently. We are encouraging our suppliers to help in delivering our environmental policy in any way they can and have set a target to cut courier use by 75% over the next twelve months. Outside the office, a new travel policy encourages staff to use public transport instead of taxis and a loan is available for those who want to purchase a bike to cycle into work. And the staff survey was not a one-off - we'll consult our staff every year so that we can all keep improving.
We are thrilled to have fostered a culture of heightened awareness and responsibility, both individual and corporate. We are also delighted not only to have been awarded the Green Mark but also to have been promoted by both Green Mark and the European Social Fund as an exemplar for small businesses.
Over the next year, in working towards stage two of the Green Mark, we will continue to identify ways in which we can contribute to sustainability. We're at the start of a journey which will bring even more benefits over time. We hope that we can demonstrate these benefits to the wider audio visual industries and raise awareness amongst our partners and stakeholders of the positive impact they can make.
Green Mark is awarded by the London Environment Centre and supported by the London Development Agency and the European Social Fund. For more information on the scheme and the business benefits of improved environmental practices visit: www.green-mark.co.uk