How sustainable is your business?

Sustainability is one of the buzzwords of this decade and it doesn't look to be going anywhere.

But despite the fact that the term is now commonplace, have you thought about the benefits that sustainability can offer to your business?

It might be time to, as sustainable environments for staff can increase levels of productivity and even have health benefits for your workers, according to the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

Remember, staff who are engaged and healthy are more likely to stick with your company and improve those rates of retention.

Offices with a Green Star certification – meaning they perform exceptionally when it comes to sustainability – delivered higher investment returns and lower capitalisation rates than the broader office market, according to the IPD Australia Green Property Investment Index released this September.

Green star offices delivered a 10.8 per cent annualised total return results, compared to the rest of the office market at 9.4 per cent, according to the GBCA.

Building retrofits which improve a building's indoor environment of a building resulted in a 9-20 per cent reduction of respiratory diseases, 18-25 per cent reduction in allergies and asthma and 20-50 per cent reduction in non-specific health and discomfort effects, according to the World Green Building Council.

Remember, an improvement in productivity of just one per cent or five minutes a day can mean an extra 18 hours and 20 minutes a year for each person. Imagine the potential for how that could help your business! 

How about using survey software to gauge the opinions of your staff on the issue? Perhaps you could initiate one survey before you implement some sustainable changes to your business, and one after so that you can track the changes and measure the benefits that have been achieved.

Want to trial an Australian-built online survey tool?

Click here for a free custom-branded demonstration of PeoplePulse.