Can your workspace be more responsible?

According to a report by the European Investment Bank published in March 2023, 67% of young professionals aged 20 to 29 regard the climate impact of their prospective employer as an important criterion when deciding whether to join. For this age group in particular, building a career at companies that pay little heed to the environment, to their employees' welfare or to diversity is simply out of the question.

Organisations have to change. Leaders, HR teams and managers all have a part to play. Which levers can they pull to rise to challenges like these? The way work is organised, how space is arranged, the choice of suppliers, and so on. There are plenty of avenues for improvement. To get to grips with the subject, Hélène Bertolone (Head of Impact at Morning) and Marie Barbier (HR Director at Morning) share some very practical advice.

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"The workspace, a showcase for your commitment"

with Hélène Bertolone
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If you want to improve your company's impact, giving thought to your workspace is a good place to start. The nature of your equipment, how efficiently you use your resources and your day-to-day practices should all reflect your intentions. Hélène Bertolone - Head of Impact at Morning - shares 3 tips for turning your workspace into a showcase for your commitment.

Tip no. 1:
Transform your walls

☞ On the operations side
The areas involved are endless: natural ventilation (rather than air conditioning), "cool roof" paints, a responsible energy supplier, bio-based materials, presence detectors, LED bulbs, and so on. Tenants and owners are admittedly not on an equal footing, the latter having far more room for manoeuvre. That said, tenants can also challenge their landlords!

☞ On the equipment side
All of your equipment has an impact. When it comes to furniture, favour second-hand pieces or items made from low-impact materials. Introduce recycling and waste sorting. Choose committed suppliers and give preference to those certified B Corp. Be curious, ask them questions. Your server room matters too: ventilate it with natural airflow and you will save a great deal of energy. To bring greenery into your space, turn to aKagreen, they are brilliant!

Tip no. 2:
Optimise your resources

☞ Measuring consumption
Water, electricity, gas. To cut your consumption, you first have to measure it. Once again, challenge your suppliers and let competition work in your favour. The same goes for waste processing: insist on quantified feedback on the volumes sorted. Get in touch with the Joyeux recycleurs, Lemon tri, or the Alchimistes, they do great work.

☞ Sharing resources
As remote work becomes more widespread, office occupancy rates are falling. In 2020, they hovered between 50% and 60%. To optimise the ratio of "individual desks" to "employees on site", organisations are adopting flex office. Gone are the closed-off offices and assigned desks; in come shared areas and communal furniture. You will reduce your impact significantly. Read also: "5 tips for a successful flex-office layout".
Beyond resources, the most committed can also share their proceeds. A partnership with 1% for the planet will allow you, for instance, to donate a share of your turnover to an environmental charity. 

Tip no. 3:
Spread good practice

☞ Rally your teams
The little everyday gestures matter too. Spread good practice within your team: install Ecosia - opt for refurbished IT equipment - clear out your inboxes regularly - encourage low-carbon travel, and so on. Added together, all these actions make a difference.

You can also set about obtaining B Corp certification - awarded to companies that meet high social and environmental standards. It will help you get your whole team on board with setting concrete, measurable goals. Read also: "5 tips for obtaining B Corp certification".

☞ Attract a committed, learning ecosystem
By opening up your space - meeting rooms, communal areas - to other responsible, committed, local players, you enrich your ecosystem. Some organisations need desks; make your spare space available to them if you have the capacity. Put on impactful events, for your team and your wider community. Your workspace will become a genuine place of exchange.

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"Give your employees the means to drive change"

with Marie Barbier
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Every day, I hear candidates tell me: "I want my job to have meaning,  not to be at odds with the challenges of our times." Faced with this reality, I believe organisations should give employees the means to set in motion the changes they want themselves. 

Getting the momentum going does not take deep pockets. It takes desire, time and a little organisation. To be effective, three levers strike me as relevant: raising awareness across your entire workforce, creating (small-scale) mechanisms to encourage initiatives, and celebrating what has been achieved.

Raise your team's awareness 

IT manager, HR, office manager, procurement team… Everyone can play a part, at their own level, with a special mention for those in charge of "purchasing & suppliers". That said, not everyone is necessarily attuned to impact issues.

So bring in trainers, run Climate Fresk or 2 tonnes workshops over the lunch break. On top of that, identify your committed employees and put them in a position to bring the others along. At Morning, we have even introduced an "impact" onboarding to raise new joiners' awareness from their very first days. But there is no obligation! No one should feel forced into it.

Create fertile ground for initiatives 

Everyone has good ideas for making things better; the trick is being able to act on them. The company should make this possible by offering perks to spur on the committed: "charity leave", entrepreneurial leave, a volunteering day, and so on. At Morning, an Impact collective meets every month to champion new initiatives and hand out projects. The initiatives are wide-ranging: "veggie Tuesday", handing out lunchboxes, "repair days", and so on.  There is even a bee-nurturing project under way!

Celebrate initiatives internally

Share what you have achieved with the whole team. On your walls, in your newsletters, at your gatherings. You will celebrate the committed while recruiting others along the way. To say nothing of the boost to your employer brand. Little by little, these initiatives may filter through at every level and, who knows, become part of your company culture?

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You now know pretty much everything about the processes Morning has put in place to let everyone realise their full potential. If you have ideas to add to the conversation, do share them with us in the comments field below!
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☞ The eco-designed furniture by Morning
☞ 5 tips for obtaining B Corp certification
☞ Renovations: 4 responsible alternatives to conventional materials
☞ "Morning wants to support 10 eco-responsible solutions" via Le Moniteur Immo.