Employee Energy Awareness

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To help you plan an employee awareness campaign, BC Hydro offers Power Smart Industrial Employee Energy Awareness workshops. You can also use the Employee Energy Awareness handbook [PDF, 578 Kb] and follow a series of easy steps with downloadable materials.

What you need to know

• You can plan your campaign using the Employee Energy Awareness handbook [PDF, 578 Kb], which outlines the steps needed in order to plan and implement a successful energy awareness campaign in your facility.
• Posting reminders and educating your workforce are key components of successful workplace awareness campaigns. To assist you with this, BC Hydro offers posters that can be used to generate and maintain awareness as well as educate staff in and around your facility.
• Most successful organizations and individuals set goals, develop plans to meet them and continually monitor their progress. To put together a plan that will work for the unique requirements of your company, follow these six easy steps:
  • Step 1 – Establish a clear vision: Create goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and trackable ("SMART").
  • Step 2 – Create the team: Appoint an energy champion who will develop the plan, obtain approval to proceed, build your team and manage implementation. Build your team to include decision makers as well as a diverse group that represents your workplace.
  • Step 3 – Know your workplace: Figure out who are your target audiences to determine the tools you will use to communicate with them. Consider the audience’s size, where it's located and whether it is located in multiple facilities.
  • Step 4 – Develop your communications plan: Identify and document what you need to say to your employees, and how to say it. Define your key messages, choose a communications style that is consistent with that used in your organization, and then list out the activities, schedule and budget you’ll need to make your plan work.
  • Step 5 – Implement your plan: Educate your employees/occupants/students in energy-conserving habits and behaviours. Deliver the activities you and your team have selected. Monitor the program and its effects, and lead by example.
  • Step 6 – Recognize and reward: Reward those who have contributed to achieving your goals. Annual programs can help remind your employees and occupants of their energy-saving habits and accomplishments.

FAQ

Is it crucial to seek the input of senior management in developing our Employee Energy Awareness campaign?
The executive of your organization must support your vision. By having an enthusiastic and committed senior management "sponsor", the campaign's likelihood of success will significantly improve. To help secure support, be sure to quantify the savings and show their net effect on your organization's bottom line. Also, remind management that the savings are sustainable and demonstrate the benefits over time.

What makes a good energy champion?
Make sure the energy champion is empowered to make decisions. Select a good communicator and someone who is comfortable speaking with others. Most of all, choose someone who is organized, passionate about energy awareness and able to bring together a diverse group of people to work towards a common goal.

Without a lot of internal resources, how do we implement our communications campaign?
Check out BC Hydro’s Power Smart Employee Awareness tools, where you’ll find a number of samples, such as an e-mail note, letter, poster, etc., to help you deliver your message. Use the materials for your campaign or clone them and create your own materials, customizing the messages to suit your needs.