Below are other ideas for addressing the other two aspects of sustainability’s Triple Bottom Line. As mentioned above, it is not expected that the organization undertake all these practices but rather to prioritize among them, select those that will have the greatest impact and add the most value, and then over time, perhaps address others.
(1) Economic success: the wise use of financial resources
Check all that currently apply or interest you.
- (a) Organization’s Economic Prosperity
- Business Improvement. Develop and implement strategies and tactics to strengthen the business over the short and long terms.
- Donations. Donate money and/or time to charitable or economic development activities that strengthen the community.
- Voluntary Deductions. Create the opportunity for, but do not coerce, voluntary automatic deductions from employee compensation for donations to social and environmental causes of the employee’s choice.
- Local Contractors. Use local contractors, if available, for needed services.
- Fairtrade Items. Buy fairtrade coffee and/or other “fairtrade” products for use by the organization.
(b) Community’s Economic Prosperity
(2) Social responsibility: respect for people
- (a) Respect for Employees
- Employee Feedback. Conduct regular employee meetings and/or use other techniques (surveys, focus groups, etc.) by which employees can provide constructive feedback to management; communicate management’s response.
- Training & Development. Encourage and support ongoing skills development and training for employees.
- Performance Reviews. Provide all employees regular performance reviews and personal development plans.
- Mentoring. Establish a program under which experienced employees mentor new employees and interns.
- Manager Training. Provide training for new managers on how to supervise and coach other employees
- Compensation. Provide employees with competitive compensation and benefits
- Ergonomics, Safety Training. Assure employees have ergonomically appropriate equipment, furniture, and workstations (including lighting), and the training to do their jobs safely.
- Electrical Safety. Periodically assess the office for compliance with good electrical safety practices, and correct any problems noted.
- Travel Safety. Provide training on safety related to travel, as relevant (e.g., responding to hotel fires, avoiding street crime, safety in airplanes, food safety, obtaining medical care).
- Back Safety. Provide back-safety training for employees who often lift boxes of records or other heavy items.
- Exits. Periodically check exits to assure they are not blocked or locked so as to prevent emergency egress, and are properly marked if visitors may be confused about their location.
- Emergencies. Establish emergency response procedures that cover fires, explosions, workplace violence and other hazards, and that include evacuation procedures and contacting emergency response authorities. Have the entire staff conduct a drill annually and evaluate the results.
- Harmful Substances. Have the offices evaluated for the presence of the following, and, if present in potentially harmful quantities, manage them appropriately to prevent harmful exposures:
- Indoor Air Pollution. Assure that office air is otherwise safe and comfortable.
- Employee Records. Establish procedures for maintaining the privacy of employee records.
- Work-Life. Adopt measures to help assure the proper work-life balance of employees, including as appropriate, the following:
- Child care benefits
- Early or late work hours to avoid traffic congestion
- Telecommuting, where practicable
- Friable asbestos
- Harmful mold
- Radon
- Lead paint (for older properties)
This is part V of our series of green guides. Here is Part I, Reduce Carbon Footprint, Part II, Greening Office Product Line, and part III, Improve Environmental Impact in Business Operations. Part IV, Achieve Sustainable Development in your business
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