Green Organizational Climates
Green Organizational Climates
In todays society an important issue has been the environment. More people are starting to do their part in keeping the environment safe and clean. As well as consumers companies are realizing the importance behind the move to go green. Research is also finding a correlation between organizations going green and the organizational environment improving on those companies who are going green.
As people become more economical aware and how the environment is being impacted businesses have started to think ecologically friendly. There are many different reasons for companies to “go green” and many benefits to going green. In the past 5 years millions of companies have gone green. Companies are moving to go greener not only for the environments sake but also for the benefits it can bring their organization.
A question that is asked in many organizations is if a greener organizational environment will have a positive impact on their organization and if it is cost effective. One study shows that companies who make their company as green as possible and encourage their employees to do the same have a better organizational climate. Employees are happier and out perform and produce companies who are not as green. The benefits that employees can experience from a green company are better natural lite from windows, fewer airborne particles, and lower background noise. (Burns)
Indoor environmental quality or known as, IEQ, has been an important topic among organizations. Inadequate building conditions can affect organizations adversely. Studies have shown that employees who work in poor working conditions are less productive, miss work more often, and lose more work hours. Once companies started improving working conditions such as better air ventilators, better lighting, and improve indoor air quality. After completing these simple fixes organizations saw an increase in production, less absences and employees reported feeling less stressed, depressed and less health issues. Employees who feel like the organization they work for cares about them and fixes issues feel a sense of loyalty to the company. If employees are happy the climate within the organization stays positive and productive. Once issues are not addressed and fixed employees will start to feel that they do not matter and production can start to drop.
Many employees are motivated by environmental issues and because of this companies who are more eco-friendly, more often than not, can recruit the best and brightest employees. Employees who are motivated by environmental issues can become more involve and committed to an organization when they feel the companys values are the same as theirs. When employees know the structure of a company and what is expected of them they feel more confident in their work. This provides stability for the employee