Clear and trusted communication is important in all walks of life and when it comes to engaging with staff and residents it is vital.
But it is important to consider that this communication is not a one size fits all’ solution.
The key to communication is to know your audience and provide them with a medium that reaches them on their level. It sounds simple enough but is often forgotten by those charged with guiding the communication.
The difficulty is that it takes willingness for either companies or government bodies to admit their failings whilst also celebrating their successes. Too much of the latter will mean that none of those successes are communicated because the readership become immune to it. By covering bad news in a constructive and open way, the magazine will be mirroring what many of the readership already knows. It shows that the publication does not shy away from tough subjects and it adds weight to success stories that are appropriate.
How to deliver
How the message is delivered is just as important as the message itself. A hard line communication without discussion will make staff less responsive. The silent approach, on the other hand, can also speak volumes about how little an organisation values its staff. This can lead to hearsay and misinformation.
Employee newsletters and magazines, whether print or online, are viewed as an integral part of internal communications and the best way to engage and motivate staff.
Government departments and agencies have woken up to the benefits that come with targeted communication and have recognised that their greatest ambassadors are the people that work for them and vote for them. Clear communication is the only way to ensure that the readership is pulling with and not pushing against the company or council.
It’s the style
The style, shape and content of newsletters have also dramatically changed. Most are now glossy magazines or newspapers, more reflective of their newsstand counterparts.
The look and feel needs to reflect the brand, but it must work in a magazine or newspaper format. Who wants to read something that looks like the corporate brochure? If the staff are mostly red top tabloid or Heat readers, they are hardly likely to read a staff magazine written and designed like The Times.
Creating covers with pick-up value is just as important, if not more so, for an employee publication. A picture of the finance director playing golf is not going to attract attention, whereas a member of staff carrying out his or her day-to-day job could.
Where employee newsletters can perform even more of a service is in the two-way communication that can be fostered through the publication. Letters pages, vox pops, competitions and calls to action are not only good ways to measure readership but also gives a valuable insight into the mood of the staff. If people are interacting with the magazine, they’re interacting with the organisation and the brand.
Employee publications are fighting their way to the top of the communication hierarchy with an approach not too dissimilar to the standards of a customer magazine. It is important to remember that employees are also often current or potential customers. If they see a magazine for customers has higher production values and quality than one delivered to them as employees, they will perceive that as staff their value to the organisation is lower.
Communicating with the public
Before considering how government organisations should communicate with the public it should be noted that these agencies and departments have an obligation to tell the public how they are spending our income or council tax and why.
In recent years however, such communication has become more competitive and difficult. We all receive so many more messages by post, text, e-mail, online newsletters and social networking sites and forums that we have less time to read everything. It is much more difficult to capture the attention.
There is so much opportunity and benefit to be gained by building goodwill towards public organisations. Effective communications are vital if this is to be achieved.
More than 80% of public sector organisations believe skills shortages in their organisation would be best filled by private sector workers, according to a new survey from leading recruitment company Hays. Employers based across public services divisions including education, central and local government, housing, the NHS, charities and not-for-profit stressed concern about lack of commercial talent, while 47% of respondents said there are widespread skill shortages generally and this needs to be addressed in order for quality services to be delivered.
Concerns expressed by respondents identified shortages in management skills (54%) and identified that the most valuable attributes a private sector candidate can bring to the public sector is commercial expertise (61%) and creativity (17%). Other attributes include a different drive and ethic.
The time to move to the public sector may be now, with 63% of employers confirming they have noticed an upturn in applications. Significantly 86% believe this increase is beneficial with job candidates bringing a diverse range of skills experience and willingness to adapt to new methods.
Andy Robling, Director at Hays Public Services, said “The recession has forced people to re-evaluate their perception of a job in the public sector and they have come to realise that it offers comparable pay, generous benefits and a challenging, yet rewarding, environment. At the same time, many public sector organisations are undergoing a period of change and commercial expertise is highly valued to manage this process and drive efficiencies. Employers need to make sure they are tapping into this pool of talented jobseekers with a commercial background have never been more available or more willing to make the move.
Although almost two-fifths of public sector employers are adamant that the recession has enabled access to a pool of talent that may otherwise not have been on offer, there is also the concern that once the economy picks up many of the new workers will leave and go back to previous private sector employment, once again leaving a dearth of skills.
However, of greater concern to employers is their recruitment costs, with almost a fifth claiming that this was currently their biggest staffing challenge an increase of 8% compared to before the recession, which perhaps isn’t surprising in the current climate. All costs in an organisation are being scrutinised closely, and recruitment isn’t an exception. We are looking at innovative ways to partner with our clients to deliver maximum cost efficiencies and help them to find quality candidates, at a time when they are being inundated with CV concludes Robling.
From Andrew Johnson, Director-General of The UK GIFT Card & Voucher Association (UKGCVA)
‘CIPD research clearly shows that engaged employees perform better and are less likely to be absent or quit’, says John Sylvester, executive director of performance improvement company P&MM and head of its Motivation Division. He continues: ‘The public sector in particular tends to see higher levels of staff turnover and, with the cost of recruitment at around £7,750 per position (and even more for managers), it makes financial sense to invest in employee engagement.’
Low engagement among public sector workers, often reflected by absenteeism, is certainly a well-documented issue. However, developments in the voucher and gift card market over the last few years reveal that it is also an issue that is being tackled head on with the wider introduction of incentive and motivation programmes. The sale of vouchers and gift cards to the corporate sector as part of reward and recognition solutions has grown significantly in recent years and now represents almost half of all sales, with public sector organisations accounting for an increasing part of this.
While private organisations have long embraced employee benefits programmes as a way of attracting, engaging and retaining staff, more and more public sector organisations are now better able to compete in the job market by also offering attractive incentives and perks in addition to a basic salary.
On this development among public sector organisations, Tracy Aslam, business partner director at The One4all Gift Voucher, comments: ‘The concept of rewarding and incentivising staff to influence behaviour has long been understood in the corporate arena but it’s only now being embraced within the public sector where, it could be argued, the need is greatest.’
While the costs of recruitment and loss of productivity in the interim period or as a result of high levels of absenteeism are so significant for the taxpayer, the importance of retaining and engaging staff in the public sector is now more important than ever. In the same way as charity begins at home, the concept of selling an organisation and its corporate values to potential and existing staff is now considered just as important as the way in which an organisation is marketed to its customers/clients/patrons etc.; flying the corporate flag, as it were, must begin internally if you are to expect its values to resonate outwardly.
Leading consumer brands often pull out all the stops to tow the corporate line internally with everything from trendy office designs to the offer of share options and lifestyle perks that are aligned with the corporate image. But why should this focus on engagement not apply to public sector organisations as well? After all, the methods of motivating individuals in the workplace are not defined solely by the nature of the work. The types of incentives may differ, but reward and recognition is a universal language and the concept will be the same.
Julian Bazley, Incentives Specialist at Maritz comments: ‘A more strategic approach being adopted by HR and internal communications teams in the public sector is the use of formal recognition programmes as part of their overall Employee Value Proposition, most commonly with the objective of aligning employees with company values and goals.’
Good marketing and communications, continues Julian, is an essential part of creating a successful staff engagement scheme: ‘In order to give the programme enduring appeal and maintain awareness, we always recommend that it is given its own brand and identity tying in with the overall values of the organisation.’
This can be achieved in a number of ways and depends on both the corporate message that an organisation wishes to demonstrate and the type of workforce as defined by age, gender, lifestyles, location etc. An employee motivation scheme can be designed to appeal to the target audience provided that the employer takes the time to understand its workforce; research is essential. The success of a motivation strategy fundamentally lies in offering appealing rewards that will engage and incentivise employees.
Robert Froome, Head of New Look Business Solutions, comments: ‘It’s essential to keep incentive schemes simple and easy to administer. Using vouchers and gift cards will allow a company to offer the widest choice possible. Here at New Look we offer the latest fashion trends and ‘gems’ at low prices so our gift cards and vouchers stretch the budget even further giving the recipient more purchasing power and having the opportunity to handpick their own personal reward.’
Andy Philpott, marketing director at Capital Incentives & Motivation agrees: ‘Given that it is usually impossible to select an award that will appeal to all participants in a scheme, vouchers and gift cards are often highly effective as they offer flexibility and freedom, giving recipients the chance to work towards a gift of their own choice.’
In addition to flexibility, corporate customers of the voucher and gift card industry repeatedly report back to us with positive feedback on the appeal of these rewards. The opportunities for company branding that re-enforce loyalty, the added trophy value above and beyond the enumerate value or the fact that they are a cost-effective solution that is easily scalable for large organisations. Improvements in staff engagement, loyalty and retention, however, is perhaps the greatest praise that the introduction of a voucher or gift card scheme receives.
ESE, a division of Chess Storage and Interiors, one of the UK’s leading providers of storage and interiors solutions, has secured new contracts totalling £1.2 million within the last 6 months for work in the public sector.
The new contracts include the supply and installation of new partitioning and ceilings for Carillion Building Services at HM Young Offender Institution Polmont, and high profile interior refurbishment projects for the Scottish Government.
The company’s activity for Carillion involved the formation of new management offices, a secure closed-visits area and agent’s offices over three floors of the Institution.
Robert Kennedy director of ESE said: -Although on the surface this appears to be a straightforward project, the fact that the partitioning system was for use in closed visitation areas meant it was required to be completely soundproof, as well as providing high levels of security and excellent visibility through the use of glass.
-By working closely with the design team, including the architect, the contractor and the client, we were able to ensure that all aspects of the design criteria in this challenging area of the project were met. High levels of security, visibility and sound performance were achieved, along with being an aesthetically pleasing and cost effective solution.
The contracts with the Scottish Government comprised two interior refurbishment projects. The first, involved the strip out and re-wiring of the ground floor of Cameron House; one of the Scottish Government buildings in Oban. A new heating system was also installed, along with partitioning, lighting, ceilings and floor coverings.
The project was delivered by the ESE team on time and within budget and resulted in a second contract, for similar work within a building in Galashiels, being awarded.
ESE is part of the CSI (Chess Storage and Interiors) Group which is composed of: ESE operating from Glasgow and Livingston, Aberdeen-based Modul8, Dundee-based Strathtay, Newgate operating from premises in the North East of England and CSI Products, an online store whereby over 9,000 of the company’s industrial and commercial equipment products are available to buy from anywhere in the UK. The Group employs approximately 65 staff.
Issued on behalf of ESE by ThinkPR. For further information contact Christine Kershaw on 01224 623961 or email Christine@thinkpr.co.uk
A new report published by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust (The Trust) suggests that care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia needs to be more holistic in its approach, and that the assessment tools used for treatment options are not sensitive enough.
Whilst cognitive function can be improved by the medicines currently available for the treatment of dementias, the report says the positive effects of improved socialibility, initiative and motivation on the patient and their carer as well as their capability of coping with everyday life should not be overlooked.
Denise Taylor, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology at the University of Bath, explored patient and carer perspectives whilst using medicines for dementia, and their impact on coping with day-to-day life.
The research showed that the wider improvement in personality achieved by the medicines for dementia such as improved social skills, orientation and initiative, which positively affected personal and wider relationships, outweighed the improvements in memory.
The study, commissioned by the Trust and supported by a Galen Award, also identified a need for improved information for carers about how a dementia can affect an individual and the changed behaviours that can result.
Ms Taylor said: “Carers need to know that these are part of the disease and not a deliberate action on the part of the person with dementia.”
The research emphasises the extent to which medication is often not an option for people in early to mid stages of dementia and how important support is for these patients and their carers.
Through a series of case studies involving the patient, their carer and the associated professional team over 13 months, the study highlights some of the real issues faced by all those involved in the care of people with dementia especially when other health problems are present such as hearing or eyesight difficulties.
The spouses of those with dementia all described in various ways how difficult they found it living with this different person who wasn’t the same one they married, and wondered if it was the end of their lives as they knew it.
One carer described how all their friends seemed to “disappear” after the diagnosis and others became embarrassed going out with a partner who just sat beside or across from them and said absolutely nothing.
Ms Taylor added: “My study also showed that patients rarely fit the assessment measurements used to guide treatment as recommended by NICE, such as the Mini Mental State Examination.
“This was shown to be telling only half the story and did not accurately reflect for some participants the true impact of their dementia or their medication on their day-to-day life.”
Commenting on the research, Beth Allen, Acting Director of the Trust, said: “Although no pharmacists were recruited to this study, they could play a part in the support of people with dementia and their families.
“This could be through the provision of information and reviewing medicine use to ensure the most effective use of medication, support with compliance and titration regimens.”
The cost of gas and electricity has never been higher so it is no surprise that public sector organisations of all types and sizes are looking at ways to cut down on consumption. What many are also waking up to is that there is no such thing as customer loyalty with UK energy suppliers and – by staying with one supplier from one year to the next – you will end up paying more expensive rates. The difference between ‘new customer’ and ‘repeat business’ electricity rates, for example, can mean a saving of £2,000 a year for a non-domestic building using an average 25,000 kilowatt hours.
It is no wonder then that more and more organisations are looking into the option of switching. However two-thirds of would-be switchers suffer setbacks because they are unaware of the contractual obligations they have with their existing supplier. Here are some tips to avoid the traps.
Get On A Contract. It is actually better to be in a contract than not. Out-of-contract rates are the highest you will ever pay. So if, for example, you’ve just taken over new premises but not contacted the utility suppliers to tell them that you are the new bill payer, you will automatically – and indefinitely – be put on rates that could be three times as high as you would pay in a contract.
Compare Rates First. Shop around before accepting a contract. Price comparison services will tell you immediately if the rates you are being offered are competitive and, if not, do the legwork of finding out which are the better deals. EG The current range for business electricity contracts is between 8p and 14p per unit.
Don’t Pay For Advice. Do not pay for price comparison or switching services – however helpful, efficient or effective they are in saving you money. As a general rule, they offer their services to you for free because they earn a fee from suppliers when you switch.
Check Notice Periods. Once on a contract, make a note in your diary of renewal dates and what notice you need to give to accept or reject renewal terms as many suppliers make it difficult to switch at the end date. Each supplier has different rules but the notice period ‘window’ can be as narrow a week and is activated as soon as a renewal letter is sent which, in some cases, is as much as 120 days before the contract is due to end.
Don’t Be Complacent. If you miss your notice window, you will be automatically ‘rolled over’ and locked-in to an uncompetitive rate for up to two years.
The ‘Assumptive Renewal’ trap that suppliers use is legally-binding even if you do nothing and ignore their letters.
Be A Serial Switcher. Savvy businesses review their rates and switch, if necessary, every year. It only takes a few minutes over the phone and, by doing so, you are always guaranteed the lowest bills. Datamonitor reckons energy suppliers loose money on new business customers in first year but make 32% profit from them in the next.
Serve Notice Regardless. Not everyone has the patience to keep a track of when their contact is up for review. The best way to get around this is to send a notice letter immediately, irrespective of how long your contact has to run. Save a copy as proof so you have all your options open when it is time for renewal. You cannot be cut-off for doing this and, given that your current supplier knows your intentions, they will be more inclined to offer you competitive rates at your renewal.
Refuse Winbacks. Those that switch are often contacted at the eleventh hour by their old supplier with a better rates or a cash-back offer. This ‘winback’ practice is banned by Ofgem as it can often mean the customer ending up with two contracts and a fine from the new supplier for reneging on their agreement.
Other Overheads. Review other overheads at the same time such as water, mobiles, landline and broadband to see where else you can save money. You may find that there is a way to get out of existing contracts and find savings to be made on things other than gas and electricity.
Sign-up For Help. For those in any doubt about their existing contract obligations or just looking for an easy solution, Make It Cheaper offers a free service which logs your utility renewal dates and, during the notice window, will contact you to recommend the best available rates in the market to switch to. If requested, we will then serve notice on your behalf and arrange new contracts, making sure that you are not rolled onto expensive rates further down the line.
Established in 2007 and based in Central London, Make It Cheaper receives more utility price comparison enquiries (2,000 a week) and arranges more new contracts (1,000 a week) than any other commercial-only price comparison service. These enquiries include those from the business customers of most of the major domestic price comparison services as well as business membership organisations, charities and trade associations. Acting on behalf of these customers with total impartiality and without charge, Make It Cheaper offers cost savings across a range of products including electricity, gas, insurance and telecoms. The prices it offers are often better than could be found by going direct to suppliers because of the volume of deals its negotiates.
There is a thought that ‘green’ does not mean ‘lean’. With the focus today on cost-cutting many departments and organisations within the public sector are sidelining environmental initiatives in favour of ‘cheap’ alternatives – despite still caring about the core issues.
In reality, green can be lean. Following are a number of easy-to-implement process and policy changes that will immediately help you eliminate waste, reduce carbon footprint and simultaneously cut costs.
1.Reduce energy waste
A single PC left on 24 hours a day will cost £50* (at 6p pkw) a year, yet the average PC is in use for just eight hours a day, resulting in 681,333 watts of wasted electricity, equating to £1,070 a year, based on an office with 10 PCs.
When purchasing new equipment consider a low energy, reduced footprint model made from recycled and / or recyclable components
Turn heating down and close windows. By turning heating down by just one degree, and keeping windows closed in air conditioned rooms, you can immediately save hundreds of Fix all dripping taps. A single dripping tap can waste 500,000 litres of water a year costing business approximately £400*
Turn off unneeded lights and fans
Turn off non-critical medical and office equipment at night
Replace traditional light bulbs with low energy bulbs
Set power saving options on all equipment
Limit the time any fridge door is left open
Don’t over fill the kettle!
2. Swap office equipment and time-intensive administrative tasks for online or outsourced business services
Most administrative processes {in a school / council / library etc} are now PC-based so there’s little need for a {school / council / library etc} to maintain consumables or energy-hungry fax machines, colour printers and binding machines.
Replace fax machines with subscription or pay-per-use online fax services (SaaS), which send faxes as PDFs from PC to fax or fax to PC. This also provides a far more secure means of sending sensitive information due to password protection to the mail boxes
Many equipment suppliers now offer discounts for web-based accounts. Not only will you get better rates, you’ll save paper, as well as the cost and time needed to request cheques and administer postage
3. Replace routine letters and public information collateral with emails and web pages
An increasing number of {residents / visitors / customers etc} have access to the internet and email services. Take advantage and offer them the option to receive information updates electronically. A surprising number will prefer this to post
5. Introduce green incentives into the {school / council / library etc} daily routine
Introduce car share and walk-to-work incentives for staff and for patients if appropriate. If possible, offer season ticket loans to employees to encourage the use of public transport
Encourage recycling of all plastics, metals, paper, card and food stuffs by providing labelled bins
Centralise purchasing to enable bulk buying of recycled stationary, paper and toilet rolls
Consider shopping for office supplies at supermarkets. These are competitive; have promotions and some offer reward points on green and Fair Trade items
Forgo paper cups for reusable beakers and mugs
As you can see, becoming more environmentally-friendly doesn’t have to cost your {school / council / library etc}, or conversely, the earth.
Steve Adams is Vice President of Marketing for Protus (www.protus.com), provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for SMEs including the award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service.
The Observer Suite from Network Instruments was implemented to provide visibility across the network.
The Challenge
Sussex HIS needed to upgrade its network to support a robust image archiving system and to replace the existing WAN with a newer, more resilient one.
The project started over 3 years ago, and Sussex estimates it will be completed two years from now at a total cost reaching £15m.
To justify investment Sussex HIS required complete visibility so it can troubleshoot future rollouts, as well as guarantee the delivery of sensitive, mission critical data to organisations across Sussex Health Authority.
The Solution
Mark Walker and Bruce Wright, two consultants at Sussex HIS were looking to build a solution that could implement and troubleshoot wired and wireless networks, VPNs, dial-ins and intrusion protection systems.
They worked with PTC, a leading Network tools consultancy and solution supplier, to build a blueprint for the future. A number of competitive solutions were trialled, but Network Instruments proved to be the winner.
Karen Dodson, Managing Director, PTC explained; Network Instruments’ Observer is the best network monitoring and analysis tool there is. It was built from the bottom up to meet the variable needs of organisations. Its beauty is its ability to hang modules off the core solution to meet differing needs of departments or seasonal fluctuations for example. It makes life very easy.
Prior to working with PTC we took the objective decision to purchase a low-end product from a competitor. We trialled the solutions with our General Practitioners, but it soon became clear that it was unable to handle Gigabit traffic without drops, explained Mark Walker, Consultant, Sussex HIS.
The Observer Suite offered powerful application and expert analysis, MultiHop analysis, and SNMP device management as its primary analyser.
In addition to this Sussex HIS also deployed 15 Gigabit Advanced Probes across its network and a Gigabit Observer Suite System (GOSS) to provide portable, all-in-one field service solution.
Network Visibility
A high number of third party applications are hosted and run over the Sussex HIS WAN. Because these are not managed in-house it is vital that Sussex HIS has complete visibility to ensure they are no impacting negatively on network flow and to enable potential problem diagnosis to be performed.
Of key concern was a new digital image archival system which Sussex HIS was implementing to replace traditional X-ray machines. The picture-archiving vendor told the team they would need to invest in Gigabit WAN links to ensure performance. However, Observer was able to test the network and established that the existing 100MB links were sufficient.
“Analysis showed that the need for more Gigabit WAN links was only necessary on rare occasions,” Walker explained. “Observer has given us immediate ROI by proving we don’t need to go and invest in these huge links.
In addition, Observer’s MultiHop Analysis tracks conversations through multiple segments, hops and routes, which allows the team to determine faults occurring on the applications and networks of the various organisations that make up Sussex Health Authority.
“With MultiHop Analysis, we can track all the way to the data path. This is invaluable to us because we are able to trace application and network faults,” Wright explained. “It enables us to easily identify where the problem is, or who the problem is with. On many occasions it has allowed us to granularly identify exactly what a problem is with a specific supplier. This saves a lot of time and money because we’re able to save on consultancy fees.”
The Business Case
Wright and Walker initially used Observer to help them understand their network environment and then to establish the exact reasons for performance issues.
They also used the integrated wireless and VoIP functions to build a business case for encrypting vulnerable areas on the Sussex HIS network. With Observer’s VoIP interface, it was easy to capture data and reconstruct phone calls to ensure future compliance and regulation.
“There were arguments against investing in encryption technologies,” Walker explained. “This was resolved quickly when we were able to prove to the customer and the supplier the security issues surrounding unencrypted voice and why the investment was needed.”
The Future
Sussex HIS continues to use Observer and is currently reviewing the Observer Reporting Server with a view to providing customer facing reports on security and performance. They have also convinced clients to purchase the Observer solution for end-to-end analysis.
Walker said implementing the Network Instruments solution was simple: “It is one of the easiest analyser technologies I have come across. It is literally plug and go – very little preliminary work, very intuitive analysis.”
B&Q, the UK’s largest home improvement retailer is delighted to announce that it has gained a chain-of-custody certification for both Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC), effective beginning of July 2008. The award has followed a strict audit of B&Q’s procurement and handling of certified wood products by the SmartWood programme of the Rainforest Alliance.
Chain-of-custody records the path wood products take from the forest to the final consumer. It includes all stages of manufacture, transportation and distribution and identifies the movement of the product from one link in the supply chain to the next. It is achieved by each link in the chain having a management system that can demonstrate how certified wood products are identified and controlled throughout the time that the product is in ownership. Therefore B&Q can now ensure that all their certified wood and paper products come from either proven, well-managed forests or recycled material according to the requirements of the FSC or PEFC schemes.
The awarding of the chain-ofcustody certification follows a long history of sustainability at B&Q, which began in the early nineties when the retailer became a founding member of the FSC through to January 2008 when B&Q announced that all of its kitchens are FSC certified. B&Q is proud to assure its customers that every purchase that bears the chainof- custody certification has been produced in such a way as to avoid wood from areas where the management practices damage ancient forests, harm wildlife or jeopardise the future of the people whose lives depend on the forest.
New environmental regulations in the construction industry make it ever more important for tradespeople to prove they are using sustainable materials for building projects and B&Q’s new chain-of-custody accreditation brings real benefits for its customers who can now point to B&Q’s FSC certification for their clients. In addition, local authorities are able to purchase from B&Q in the knowledge that many of the materials they need come from well-managed forest sources.
Diarmuid Walsh, Director of Building and Decorative for B&Q said: Sustainability has always been hugely important to us and we are delighted to see that our efforts to gain the certification have paid off. We are passionate about using responsibly sourced materials wherever possible and I am pleased we can now make the promise that the wood our customers purchase at B&Q has been sourced from wellmanaged forests.
Charles Thwaites, Executive Director, Forest Stewardship Council UK added: B&Q has been a valued supporter of FSC for many years, both through the promotion of FSCcertified timber products within their stores and for the financial contributions they have made to us as a charity. Achieving their chain-ofcustody certificate, which requires much hard work and dedication from a large number of staff, is yet more proof of the company’s commitment to sourcing timber from responsibly managed forests. I congratulate all those involved.
Rainforest Alliance SmartWood auditors visited numerous B&Q stores, questioned its employees’ timber-related knowledge and probed, first-hand, the resilience of its management systems. All PEFC and FSC materials sold under B&Q’s chain-of-custody will be identifiable and reportable and team members will be trained in chain-of-custody procedures in line with the requirements of the appropriate standards. Every time a customer buys a product that contains certified timber, B&Q’s unique chain-ofcustody certification code will appear on the receipt next to the item.
The Government’s Green Travel Plan notes that commuter and business travel constitutes nearly 40 per cent of miles driven by cars in the UK every year. Aside from the millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide that this generates, contributing heavily to global warming, the negative impact of extensive car-use begins with the detriment caused to local communities and business.
As it stands, transport networks in the UK are under great strain from over-congestion. The cost of road maintenance is one thing, but the knock-on effects on business are extensive. They include increasing journey times significantly, causing costly delays and unreliability for businesses dependent on travel and transportation, and the need to provide and maintain adequate parking facilities to accommodate the high levels of cars in our towns and cities. This can start at a hefty £400 per parking space.
The Government’s Green Travel Plan outlines a number of solutions that can be adopted by organisations looking to promote corporate social responsibility and improve the local environment by encouraging changes in employee commuting habits. The report advises that cost-effective alternatives to single-occupancy car use Arguably, it is financial savings for employees (especially during these difficult economic times) that provide the best means of incentivising staff to change their commuting habits. Salary sacrifice schemes, whereby employees become eligible for tax and NI breaks when paying for selected travel benefits through deductions from their pay packet before tax each month, are one of the most popular and easily administered solutions.
Many organisations are now offering their employees the chance to claim major discounts when acquiring the use of bicycles, safety equipment and cycle clothing through a salary sacrifice scheme, for example. This government-backed initiative is helping to encourage more people to leave their cars at home in favour of using a bicycle as the healthier, cheaper and environmentally friendly option for getting to and from the workplace.
Brighton & Hove City Council, for one, launched a successful a cycle to work scheme, as Helen Marshall, travel plan officer for Brighton & Hove City Council explains: ‘We were keen to introduce a scheme which would encourage staff to travel using healthy and sustainable transport, in line with our Staff Travel Plan – the cycle to work scheme does just that and we are delighted to be able to offer this excellent benefit to our staff.’ Cycling, however, may not be for everyone.
For those that don’t fancy or are unable to take up cycling to work, public transport offers another alternative to cars. One of the targets of The Green Travel Plan is to increase bus journeys by 12 per cent by the year 2012 and there are salary sacrifice schemes available in line with this that generate savings for employees on the cost of annual travel passes for public transport.
Often the biggest employers in major towns and cities, local authorities throughout the UK have so far led the way in promoting the use of bus travel to their employees. Nottingham City Council was the first to offer staff savings on the cost of an annual bus pass through salary sacrifice initiative entitled Greentravel2work provided by employee benefits specialists P&MM. This scheme, as part of the council’s overall Work Perks benefits package, has received substantial take-up from staff and has won several prestigious HR awards. Throughout 2008, many more local authorities and now commercial employers too have also set up similar schemes that offer staff up to 41 per cent savings on the cost of an annual bus pass.
Angela Carr, employee travel coordinator at Oldham Council, commented: ‘As the largest employer in the area we consider it our responsibility to promote environmentally friendly policies to our staff, local companies and the community as a whole. We have had a Travel Plan for a number of years at the council, which includes many initiatives to encourage staff to use alternatives to the car. Greentravel2work is a fine example of one of these initiatives that will hopefully encourage even more employees to choose to travel to work by public transport.’
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s executive councillor for transport and planning, Councillor Anna Waite says: ‘The Greentravel2work scheme provides an affordable, environmentally friendly alternative for commuting. It shows our continued commitment to environmental issues such as reducing road congestion and pollution as well as raising community awareness.’
Offering employees assistance and incentives for finding alternative methods for travelling to and from the workplace can make a huge difference towards reducing car-use and achieving the Government’s recommended target; that a good travel plan should reduce the number of people driving to work by 15 per cent.
Salary sacrifice schemes such as cycle to work and Greentravel2work are prime examples that prove that making positive change towards more sustainable policies do not have to be costly at all. In fact, salary sacrifice schemes actually save both the employee and employer money through tax and NI breaks along with significantly enhancing the benefits package on offer to employees!
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