How does your printing policy drive employee engagement? Well, it probably doesn’t. At least not directly! Printing is, in many senses, a business commodity - if you need to print something, you print it.
While this might be the wrong way to think about it, this is the case for many companies.
Despite this, there is change on the horizon, thanks to digital advancements and a better attitude about sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Digital advancements are helping companies to remove and replace heavy paper processes, while corporate social responsibility is acting as a driver for change.
Not only is social responsibility driving a reduction in printing, it’s also driving increased employee engagement.
People are more engaged when they work for socially responsible companies
The idea that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can help increase employee engagement isn’t new. HR magazine were reporting on boosting engagement with CSR back in 2012 saying:
“The role CSR plays in enhancing a company's reputation among its own employees, subsequently boosting their motivation and engagement, is perhaps underrated – which is particularly problematic for companies that are inconsistent in their approach to implementing CSR initiatives.” (CSR and its impact on employee engagement, HR Magazine)
Social responsibility becomes a more interesting subject when you start to consider what it actually means - effectively, it is the idea of benefiting the society around your company and wider interest in benefiting society as a whole, including but not limited to, the environment.
CSR often includes different initiatives, from external projects and charity work to internal goals and targets that help the company be seen in a good light by both the employees and in the public.
Having an environmental goal in mind as part of CSR can be a huge advantage, especially considering more recent news about changes in the global climate and how everyone can play their part.
By enabling employees to get involved with CSR initiatives and also publishing and sharing information about the company’s CSR and sustainability efforts, you can actually increase both employee engagement and productivity as people like to work for the company that they know is doing good and helping the world.
The premise is actually surprisingly simple but by taking different steps that show your company to be helping the local society and environment, employees are more likely to be engaged and want to keep working with you.
There are a lot of different ways to approach social responsibility but it can start with an everyday process, for example, removing heavy paper processes and reducing print and paper usage in the business. If you can then prove that altering a process has led to less printing and therefore less paper usage, then as a company, you can work out the effect that’s had on the environment and work on how you’re championing sustainability through the help of employees and the company culture.