systematicHR

Going where I never thought I’d go… But the HRIQ blog wrote this page about the amount of waste generated by a workplace in a single year.

Apparently the average worker can throw away ONE QUARTER OF A TONNE OF MATERIALS PER YEAR, according to Eco Office! They equate this to having depth of up to 2 metres of waste on your desk! When you put it like that the amount of waste offices produce is pretty alarming. If you don’t already have a strategy for making your company more eco-friendly it’s never to late to start, just taking small steps at first can make this a more manageable task. ((Human Resources IQ Blog, July 11, 2006. “Become a Lean Grean HR Machine.” Retrieved from http://humanresourcesiq.blogspot.com on July 18, 2006.))

What strikes me is the opportunity to sell your paperless HR technology strategy and tie it to your organization’s statement that they are environmentally friendly, aware and responsible. (hopefully your organization thinks so…) As portals increase the load of processes, they are not only about eliminating paper for address changes and pay statements. Performance and compensation reviews are now or soon to be standards. Web open enrollment or the processing of benefit life events has long been a norm as have been the beautiful total compensation statements that you hopefully get on-line rather than on paper.

Not only is paperless wonderful for HR and employees, but it’s a great way to support one of the organizational goals, in turn reinforcing the employer and external brands. Imagine being able to put in an annual report that HR helped to eliminate much of the above quoted “one quarter tonne” of trash per employee per year!