Net Zero Week 2024 - how GC Employment is leading the way
- Wednesday, July 10, 2024
- Posted By The Growth Company
This week is Net Zero Week, the UK’s official national awareness week and a reminder that we are all collectively responsible in tackling the climate emergency to meet the UK’s goal of net zero by 2050.
This is why GC is working hard to reach net zero by 2035, ahead of the UK goal, whether that’s by each of us making small changes to our carbon footprint or through our business services reducing their impact.
Grace Watson, Head of Restart GM and lead for GC Employment’s sustainability focus, highlights some of the incredible initiatives that are happening within GC Employment.
By Grace Watson, Head of Restart GM
Sustainability has always been something I've passionately believed in, and it’s been a big driver for me in the way I live my life. I’ve always been conscious of not wasting things and making sure our resources are sustainable. When moving to new offices I’d try to make sure that I utilised items from old offices rather than leaving them to be thrown away and I feel lucky that I can bring this passion into a workplace where it is embraced and encouraged.
We’re striving to embed net zero, green and sustainability into everything we do in GC Employment, focusing on four key pillars: our colleagues, our customers, our employers and cross group working with other business units.
Where it started
Around a year and a half ago we were challenged to reduce the gas and electricity bills of our 26 offices but when looking at the bills it was clear to me that there was a wider issue at play that wouldn’t be resolved by focusing on costs alone, so we homed in on the environmental impacts.
It’s so important that we think about the suppliers we use and the things we all do that impact the environment both individually but also collectively as a business. Helping GC become a sustainable organisation is imperative, and my passion for the topic has really helped me drive change forward and encourage others to do so as well.
Over the last 18 months we’ve made a lot of changes that have reduced our carbon footprint, and in doing so the way we operate has changed.
We started by making sure that all our colleagues in employment services were aware of the importance of switching off lights and other electrical items at the wall at the end of the day or when not in use, we make sure any heaters are switched off an hour before the office closes and we also reviewed the working hours of our cleaners to ensure they come in when the office is already open meaning that lights do not have to be switched on earlier in the day.
We also have specific colleagues who are responsible for taking meter readings at the start and end of each day to identify any issues and anomalies, and we work with Clare Fallon from the sustainability team to investigate any issues. From these changes, GC Employment’s carbon footprint from utilities has reduced by 105 tonnes, from 211 tonnes in the financial year 2022/23 to 116 tonnes and by 2023/24, almost halving. Nevertheless, we continue to monitor and get better at receiving accurate data from the offices.
As well as energy, there are lots of other small changes we have made across our sites. We have different bins in the offices to make it easier for colleagues to recycle, we’ve replaced plastic cups with recyclable alternatives, and we’ve also reviewed where we purchase items such as milk based on whether it is better in terms of carbon saving to purchase from a shop close to the office or from a delivery service.
With our customers, we’re monitoring the mode of transport they use to travel to appointments to feed into our carbon footprint, we’ve also shared information and resources with over 2000 customers, and we’re looking at arranging a webinar for all customers to build on this. We also work with lots of employers who are recruiting for green roles to address the green skills gap.
Our people are the driving force
All this wouldn’t have happened as quickly without the commitment and dedication of our colleagues. At the start of this year, we built a network of 29 Green Champions across all our contracts and areas who meet quarterly to share best practice and information about policy updates, strategies and awareness days which can be fed directly to their teams.
Already these quarterly meetings have generated lots of great ideas that have had a positive impact across our business unit, such as using electronic sign in alternatives to save paper, sharing information about climate awareness with customers, displaying QR codes throughout the offices for customers to scan and complete their carbon footprints and reusing carboard packaging for activities with our customers.
Beyond our Green Champions, we also have lots of colleagues who are passionate about sustainability in their personal lives. Some regularly volunteer with environmental charities and organisations, five colleagues have joined GC Team Green, and 58 colleagues have completed Carbon Literacy Training.
What the future holds
We’ve gone from being told that Employment is falling behind other business units to now being told that we’re leading the way, and that’s all because of these small changes that we’ve all made.
The priority for us now is continuing to keep sustainability at the forefront as contracts come and go and colleagues move around between roles and offices. We need to keep this on the agenda and driving the carbon literacy training.
But we also want to highlight and celebrate the achievements we’ve already had so far, as a group and as individuals. The Work and Health team organised and delivered a full day of sustainability training in collaboration with Green Economy for 10 customers at the Green Skills Academy, and the Support to Succeed team organised environmental awareness training for seven of our supply chain deliver partners with the help of Green Economy.
These are just some examples of the incredible work our teams are doing to support our goal. Each project makes a difference; even small changes can have a big impact.