Just like maintaining a successful small business, saving energy is a team effort. Everyone, both employees and management, needs to be on board in order to achieve a significant and sustained decrease in energy use. Use the ideas below to help get your managers and employees excited about saving energy.

 

Make Saving Energy a Priority
Address saving energy with your employees in a systematic way:

1.  Have a staff meeting to communicate the importance of saving energy and present your energy savings plan based on the tips you’ve chosen through your BGE Online Account. In order for employees to change their behavior, they need to be motivated; and to be motivated employees have to care. A business owner or manager can choose to make the case for sustainability, or you can remind employees that the energy saving habits they learn at work, in many instances, can be applied in their own homes, which will help them save energy and money.
2. Make the meeting collaborative and get ideas from employees on how they can help. Since they know the facilities best, they can identify the sources of wasted energy better than anyone else.
3. Establish an energy team. A dedicated group of employees can help other employees identify energy saving opportunities.
4. Appoint an energy champion. Every team needs a leader who is accountable, and who motivates and oversees others.
5. Institute an energy policy that everyone can take part in. An inclusive energy policy will help make saving energy feel like a team effort.
6. Make it fun! Competitions, however big or for however long, are great ways to achieve actions and have ancillary benefits to the company. If employees are interacting with their peers and having fun, they tend to be happier and more productive. Consider hosting energy saving competitions between shifts (day and evening shifts), or if you have multiple store locations you can pit different store locations against one another.
7. Recognize employees for saving energy. Visually recognize the employees who are saving energy to show others that its “cool” to save energy and to motivate them to participate. For example, you can place stickers next to a recognized employee’s name on a chart, or give the employee a sticker they can wear to garner recognition amongst customers or the general public (which also spreads the word that your business cares about saving energy and the environment).

 

Give Employees Reminders

In March and September 2016, you will receive a poster and set of stickers along with your Small Business Energy Report, respectively. The poster and stickers include illustrations of energy saving tips that employees can easily do on a daily basis. Place the poster in a staff kitchen, break room or bathroom, and place the stickers next to your thermostat, exit door, light switches and bathroom faucet. The poster and stickers will ensure that your employees are constantly reminded and encouraged to save energy.