Month: July 2022

Alex Teng is the latest recruit to the wider 100 Ways in 100 Days team. 

A PhD researcher at the University of Surrey, Alex will support 100 Ways throughout 2022 as business operations and strategy consultant. 

He is a man of many, many talents. Having previously secured a first class degree at the University in electronic engineering he’s now doing his PhD.

He’s immensely creative too. His eclectic kaleidoscope of experiences also spans a production role at The National Gallery and as a costume supervisor at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

We’re so excited to have him on board to help power 100 Ways’ employee engagement sustainability training programme forward.

Some sobering news from The Big Plastic Count (an initiative from Everyday Plastic and Greenpeace). Nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging are thrown away by UK households every year, with just 12% recycled in the UK. The research revealed that 88% our household waste is being burnt, buried and dumped overseas.

We were shocked when we counted our own plastic waste during the survey, back in May. So much is hard to avoid, even for people who intrinsically care for environment. Sometimes it really can be hard to be green.

Recycling issues notwithstanding, every little helps in terms of changing our behaviours more widely. For instance, in our 100 Ways employee engagement sustainability training programme we look at ways of forgoing use of the gazillions of [mainly unrecyclable] plastic pens that head for landfill every year.

Yep, we all have them don’t we :-(? Drying out in our desks, going blobby in the kitchen drawer, gathering dusk in our cars. Within the programme we present a host of easily achievable, everyday ideas of channelling your inner Hemingway, that are kinder to the planet – and much, much more. Plastic waste begone.

Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more.

What do you get when you cross sustainability with employee engagement? It is estimated that disengaged employees are costing the UK economy £340 billion every year. The reasons? Lost training and recruitment costs, sick days, productivity, creativity and innovation.

Even pre-Covid, the average employer was spending £3,000 and 27.5 days to hire a new worker. Since then we’ve witnessed the ‘Great Resignation’. Almost one in five employees globally say they are likely to switch to a new employer in the next 12 months. Research suggests this stampede for something better is showing no signs of abating.

In stark relief, engaged employees are much more likely to collaborate and work together as a team and overall, companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable.

Just as well then, that, as part of its sustainability behaviour change programme, 100 Ways in 100 Days truly brings people together. It’s predicated on positive social interactions.

One pilot reported: “It really brought teams cross functionally together, debating ways to both make their own personal contribution to protecting our planet but also engaging in business practice improvements.” 

Another declared: “As we continue to work remotely employee engagement and aligning our teams to our business objectives is harder and yet more important than ever, 100 Ways in 100 Days has been a really fun way to do this.”

Employee engagement? Slam dunk!

Please get in touch if you’d like to hear more.