Making “greener” choices in the contact center can benefit both the environment and your bottom line. It can even help attract and retain the best staff.
In fact, 76 percent of millennials consider a company’s environmental commitments when deciding where to work.
Implementing eco-friendly practices might seem like hard work, but it doesn’t take much to make a difference. Even making small changes over time can impact both your business and the environment in a big way.
In honor of Earth Day, here are some tips to help you reduce your contact center’s carbon footprint and increase your cost savings:
Reduce Paper Processes
Did you know that Americans throw away roughly one billion trees worth of paper each year? Although training is crucial in the contact center, there’s no need to print out countless educational documents and handouts for your agents.
Using tools like contact center automation, you can integrate with your LMS to deliver automated training sessions and important messages directly to agent desktops. This not only increases efficiency; it reduces unnecessary paper consumption.
Start a Recycling Program
Currently, U.S. recycling levels are at 21.4 percent. When levels reach 75 percent, the environmental and CO2 impact will be that of removing 55 million cars from U.S. roads each year. Setting up a recycling program at the workplace is an easy initiative that can help protect our environment.
Just place recycling bins in break rooms and several areas around your call center for easy access, and make sure to label the bins appropriately. It’s also a good idea to get management on board to lead by example and encourage staff to participate.
Provide Natural Light
Natural lighting not only leads to greater energy savings, it can help to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and even provides health benefits. In a research study of 1,614 U.S. employees, access to natural light and outdoor views were the number one feature of the workplace environment.
Another study revealed that employees in office environments with natural lighting reported a 51 percent drop in the incidence of eyestrain, a 63 percent drop in the incidence of headaches and a 56 percent reduction in drowsiness.
Turn Off Computers After Hours
When you’re leaving for the day, make sure to shut down your computer. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), by cutting computer waste, especially when desktops or laptops aren’t in use, it could save consumers billions of dollars and reduce millions of tons of carbon pollution annually.
If everyone in the workplace took a few extra seconds to shut down their computers at the end of the day, your contact center would greatly increase its savings while protecting the environment.
By taking these simple steps, you and your team can improve the health and protection of our planet while benefiting your contact center in more ways than one. Why not implement greener business choices today and make a difference in the world?
Sources:
https://sustainablebrands.com/read/organizational-change/3-4-of-millennials-would-take-a-pay-cut-to-work-for-a-socially-responsible-company
https://www.usi.edu/recycle/paper-recycling-facts/
https://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/recycling-facts
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/pierre-delforge/new-report-computer-energy-use-can-easily-be-cut-half