RBS has rolled out a sustainability engagement programme to staff at its 1,700 locations in the UK and Ireland following a pilot scheme in 2016.
The Jump programme, provided by Green Rewards, was extended to all RBS employees in the UK and Ireland, comprising more than 60,000 individuals, on 25 March 2017 to coincide with Earth Hour.
The scheme enables staff to take part in sustainability challenges to earn points through a smartphone app. Employees that earn the most points will be awarded gift vouchers.
The pilot scheme, which involved 1,200 employees, was designed to engage employees with the organisation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals. As part of the pilot, employees participated in challenges to see how they could save things like energy, water, and waste paper, and were rewarded for their sustainability efforts.
Teams were responsible for a ‘last person out’ checklist to take responsibility for ensuring everything was switched off and no taps were left on at the end of the day to save water and energy.
The rewards included wall socket timers so that employees could install them on electrical appliances that are usually left on standby in their own homes in order to save money on their own bills.
As an incentive to join the scheme, employees had the option of claiming a KeepCup reusable coffee cup or water bottle. Over 1,000 KeepCups were distributed, which led to the bank removing disposable cups from one of its sites.
Among employees that took part in the pilot, 95% said that the scheme contributed towards employee engagement, team building and environmental sustainability.
Mike Lynch, sustainable workplace culture manager at RBS, said: “[Employees] can earn points for their team for simple actions like switching off electrical equipment, reporting leaks, travelling sustainably and encouraging others to get involved. RBS is committed to reducing the environmental impact of serving customers and Jump brings all our target areas together under one cohesive programme.”