DRAFTCase study

Law firm leads the way encouraging staff to adopt green behaviours

Shoosmiths LLP is a major UK law firm with an office in Edinburgh and over 1,300 staff working nationwide. It has worked with high-profile clients such as Hewlett-Packard, Krispy Kreme and a growing number of the FTSE 250 companies.

BackgroundShoosmiths proactively engages with staff on resource efficiency. Staff are rewarded for going above and beyond and a corporate responsibility blog ‘SHOUTBACK’ shares success.

The firm has proven how achieving ‘green’ objectives is easier by openly and continually communicating its long-term commitment to resource efficiency and integrating it into operational priorities and objectives. Resource efficiency is part of the everyday culture of the company and staff are trained, regularly reminded and rewarded for resource efficient behaviours.

Resource efficiency is part of the company cultureSuccess starts with good planning and setting objectives. Corporate responsibility is one of the company’s five priorities ensuring that it is integral to what Shoosmiths is and what it does as a business. Within the firm’s three-year plan is an aspiration to be recognised by all its stakeholders as an organisation that strives to be a responsible corporate citizen. One of the 2014/2017 priorities to deliver this aspiration is a reduction in the impact of its business on the environment.

Every year the company reviews its environmental responsibility and sets objectives. This ensures there is a focus on reducing the environmental impact of its operations, including a target to reduce electricity and gas consumption by 3% year on year.

Ensuring staff are involved from the start, one of the firms’s objectives is for all offices to support appropriate environmental awareness campaigns. This is underpinned with an objective to engage with staff about how the company lives its values and how to measure success.

Shoosmiths makes and communicates clear and visible commitments that demonstrate to staff and customers that acting responsibly, including using resources such as energy, water and raw materials efficiently, is part of the company culture and a core expectation of staff. Knowing that efforts to use resources more efficiently at work is part of the company ethos means that staff are much more likely to adopt resource efficient practices.

Multiple communications channels ensure that everyone gets the messageShoosmiths communicates with staff about resource efficiency through its employee forum, e-mails, intranet briefings, monthly team briefings, executive updates, biannual chief executive presentations, and staff surveys and votes. This ensures that communications reach all staff, facilitating widespread behavioural change.

Corporate responsibility training is included in the induction programme for new starters. Plus there is comprehensive training for staff on its approach to environmental management and the role of individuals. Learning and development continues throughout a person’s employment through seminars, workshops, online learning, mentoring and coaching.

“Maintaining a constant dialogue with staff and giving them ownership of corporate responsibility through their direct involvement in practical volunteering and themed campaigns has had a significant positive effect on how they perceive resource efficiency and their role in making a real impact.

”Nicola Ellen, Corporate Responsibility Consultant, Shoosmiths LLP

www.shoosmiths.co.uk

The company supports established global and national sustainability campaigns such as World Environment Day, Earth Hour and Climate Week, and themes its communications around these. For example, in 2013, it promoted the ‘Think. Eat. Save’ campaign in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Zero Hunger Challenge to galvanise action to reduce food waste. Staff were given tips to help them reduce food waste in the workplace. During national Climate Week, staff were provided with advice on re-use and the location of charity shops where they could take unwanted household items as well as running competitions to test people’s knowledge of climate change.

Piggybacking on existing, well-publicised campaigns serves to reinforce sustainability messaging that staff are getting from outside of work and helps them to make connections between green actions at home and at work.

Celebrate success and reward staffTo encourage staff to keep-up resource efficient behaviours, it is vital that successes, however small, are celebrated and that staff are thanked for their efforts. Shoosmiths has developed a corporate responsibility blog – ‘SHOUTBACK’. This features around 100 stories a year covering a selection of fundraising, volunteering, pro bono and environmental activities (including resource efficiency messages such as a reduction in gas consumption of about 4% across the company’s self-managed sites in 2013/2014).

The blog is a way of providing immediate feedback to staff and employees are also encouraged to contribute to the blog, which helps to give them a sense of involvement and ownership. In addition, to those members of staff who have not adopted a resource efficient attitude, this has a peer-pressure effect in demonstrating that their colleagues are playing a positive role and are part of something worthwhile.

At Shoosmiths, staff are incentivised to use resources efficiently through an employee recognition scheme called ‘Above and Beyond’.

Since the launch of the scheme in 2010, over 200 nominations have been received within the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Corporate Responsibility’ category. In addition, all staff are offered one paid day per year to volunteer in the local community.

The extent of staff participation in corporate responsibility activities demonstrates that there are high levels of awareness and support for corporate responsibility issues, including resource efficiency. This is likely to have a positive impact on resource consumption.

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Case study – Law firm leads the way encouraging staff to adopt green behavioursStaff are incentivised to use resources efficiently through an employee recognition scheme

Staff get one day per year to volunteer in the local community

Check out the Shoosmiths Corporate Responsibility blog at: http://shoutback.shoosmiths.co.uk/