From healthcare to manufacturing, creating an eco-friendly organization is a primary goal of nearly every business competing in today's markets. Studies have shown that green businesses outperform competitors and turn profits, even in times of economic downturn. Green human resources management also means less waste, less environmental impact, and less business supply costs. Follow these four tips to embrace green human resources management.
Shift to Online Pay Stubs
Weekly or biweekly pay stubs are a drain on employee time, company paper, and green initiatives. Employees are often only interested in ensuring that pay is correct and checking current leave balances, tossing the pay stub soon after receiving it. Online payroll software allows employees to view their pay, tax deductions, leave balances, and other pertinent information at their leisure without waiting for a pay stub. Employees can log in at work or at home to view and change withholdings and personal information. One green human resources management tactic businesses can take is to eliminate paper pay stubs and transition to an online pay stub system.
Provide Flexibility With an Operations Drive
Even small businesses can have policy and procedure manuals that run into the thousands of pages. Businesses that have multiple sites need to provide that manual to each site and sometimes individual managers. This not only is a cumbersome system that doesn't provide easy access to policies for employees but is also a drain on the environment. Stacks of paper are wasted on a manual that provides limited access and minimal information. When it's updated at the end of the year, many policies are replaced and discarded without ever being read. A green human resource management system businesses can implement is to develop an operations drive which provides policies and procedures on the computer rather than on paper. Whether it's cloud-based or on a company intranet, online operations drive can provide each employee with up-to-date, comprehensive company information without killing a single tree.
Minimize Paperwork With Responsive Forms
One of the largest drains on the environment is the mountains of paperwork being shuttled between employees, human resources, and management. Hiring new employees, requesting time off, and nearly every other decision-making task in a business requires forms and signatures. Responsive forms allow management to transmit information without the drain on the environment of traditional paper forms. Not only is this great for the environment but a time-saver for managers and human resources. Responsive forms can be created to guide managers to fill out the correct information. Rather than sending intra-office mail back and forth to get the right information or correct signature, the forms can electronically guide users to complete the correct information without the paper waste.
Implement an Environmental Responsibility Policy
Creating a green human resources management system shouldn't be limited to what forms can be converted to online forms or providing employees with information without the waste, it should extend to the entire business. Environmental responsibility practices should be committed to a policy and implemented throughout the organization. From powering down computers to using energy-efficient bulbs in desk lamps, getting the organization to follow simple practices that have a big impact on the environment is a must.
Green human resources management is more than just saving the company money or making a dent in paper use. It's about embracing an environmentally sustainable way of doing business. Thankfully, businesses don't just gain a brighter tomorrow by being a eco-friendly organization, they also can improve communication and information sharing. These four green resource management tips can help elevate your company to an eco-friendly workplace.
