The largest remote work “simulation” in history was made possible by the Covid-19 pandemic, which also accelerated a long-term trend toward flexible, distant work and digitization. As we emerge from the crisis, businesses are already testing various remote work models. According to recent surveys, 76% of remote workers say their employer will continue to allow them to work remotely in the future, and 91% of them would like to continue doing so.
Many believe remote work will improve environmental sustainability because the daily commute has lessened during the Covid-19 lockdowns. In fact, these substantial shifts to the patterns of production, consumption, and transportation briefly decreased worldwide CO2 emissions. However, what initially appeared to be a positive trend quickly vanished: emissions are virtually back to pre-pandemic levels, even though employees aren’t.
According to research, remote work does not clearly benefit the environment. The overall impact on sustainability is influenced by multiple employee habits, including travel, energy use, digital device utilization, and waste disposal. It also depends on a number of contextual elements, including local infrastructure and infrastructure construction.
How can Businesses improve Remote Work’s Environmental Sustainability?
For those who work remotely, there are new difficulties in observing and influencing habits that are important for sustainability. Employee residences are their private domains. Thus businesses must use discretion to avoid overstepping their bounds. At the same time, many workers would probably appreciate assistance from their company in making their remote work setup comfortable and long-lasting. Creating sustainability policies with co-benefits (such as financial and environmental incentives) guarantees that businesses may simultaneously support employee well-being and productive work results toward their sustainability initiatives.
Designing remote work policies and strategies with the following three factors can be a good place to start for upper management who care about minimizing the environmental consequences of their workforces, which all leaders should.
Cultivate a culture of sustainability
Organizations must ensure that sustainability concerns are consistently included in every company decision made across all departments — not only in CSR — to foster an ecologically responsible and climate-friendly culture. It entails considering the current social norms and preconceptions regarding the transportation, innovation, waste, and energy emissions of remote (and in-house) employees. And design ways to reduce these emissions by addressing how individuals engage with each of these procedures.
Leaders can further contribute to developing a sustainability culture by upholding their environmental standards.
Provide relevant and supportive policies
Decision-makers should offer remote employees the appropriate support to entrench an ecologically sustainable culture. It could also include special rules that encourage and assist workers in converting to renewable energy sources at home by giving them access to automated switching energy systems. Employers might also provide incentives for biking to work meetings; they could offer recycling and secure disposal of duplicate or outdated electronic equipment and e-waste through internal drop-off locations or collaborations with upcycling businesses. It is not a comprehensive list; therefore, employers should ask their staff for suggestions on any extra desired structures and procedures.
Act locally, think globally
It can be beneficial to concentrate on emission reduction from cooling versus heating, depending on where your business center is located. The idea is that a one-size-fits-all strategy won’t be successful. Instead, to find the most pertinent behaviors, businesses need to consider the particular conditions of their employees and the attributes of their business offices when developing and implementing ecologically sustainable remote work policies.
To comprehend environmental consequences, it is essential to pay attention to the unique situations and contexts of individual employees. It is also critical to entrench a culture of sustainability by offering staff assistance, guidelines, and leadership. By doing this, organizations can ensure that remote work meets their sustainability objectives and performs well on various sustainability metrics.
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