Member Article

Why “Switch It Off” Doesn’t Work

I was at an event recently where the boss of a major regional organisation was talking enthusiastically about how they are addressing green issues. “It’s all about the posters!” she proclaimed, flicking to a Powerpoint slide of an rather dull A4 poster telling staff what to switch off in each room on leaving. My heart sank.

It is now well understood that it is impossible to address your organisation’s environmental performance without changing the culture of the people who make up that organisation. Switching off lights, personal computers and mobile chargers is just the start – it is amazing how many people don’t understand how a thermostat works or why opening the windows when the air conditioning is on is a pointless exercise. You can install all the green technology you want, but if people won’t use it or use it incorrectly, you are wasting your time.

The problem with the “switch it off” approach is that the plea gets lost in the hundreds, if not thousands, of messages we are bombarded with every day. To navigate this blizzard of instructions our brains soon learn to filter out all but the most pressing messages and ignore the rest. Shouting louder rarely works, instead a more nuanced approach is required.

There are three elements to changing hearts and minds. The first of these is indeed providing the correct instructions, but the message must be integrated into the standard information channels in the organisation. “The sticker on the machine says switch it off, but there’s nothing in the standard operating procedures” one client employee told me recently “so we follow the SOPs.” If you can provide feedback on, say, real time energy consumption, it is an effective way of linking behaviour to results.

Secondly, and more importantly, you must engage with your employees on a more emotional level. My favourite approach for this with clients is to challenge employees to generate green solutions for their organisation. This is fun, satisfying and gives each individual a proper stake in the environmental programme. It also uncovers hidden problems and produces some really good practical solutions. Another successful tactic is to run competitions between teams to, say, cut paper use. This taps into everyone’s competitive spirit, creates a sense of fun and creates peer pressure to contribute to the team goal.

Thirdly, you must make ‘green’ behaviour easier than ‘ungreen behaviour’ as people tend to follow the path of least resistance. In a client workshop, a participant pointed out it was actually more hassle to book the company’s teleconferencing system than it was to call a face to face meeting with colleagues from around the country. My client simplified the booking procedure and the teleconference system is now booked out.

So, to sum up, “switch it off” stickers and posters will never deliver long term behavioural change on their own. If you want to make a real culture change for sustainability, you need to dig a little deeper into the psychology of your employees and hit all three of the buttons I’ve described above.

Gareth Kane is director of environmental and sustainability consultancy Terra Infirma Ltd [www.terrainfirma.co.uk](http://www.terrainfirma.co.uk/? target=) and is the author of The Green Executive.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gareth Kane .