There was a recent program at work to gather employee suggestions to reduce costs, or save time, or help morale, etc. A committee was set up to make sure that every idea was reviewed. The goal was to find one or two ideas from each floor to put into place. (And then continue getting more and getting everyone involved.) They mentioned no idea was too little. There was a submission form to explain the idea, the possible benefits, and what it would take (including costs) to implement.
So I put some numbers together. Every four coffee drinkers in the office was using a case of paper cups a year. Each case had a cost, but I also noted the total paper weight of those cups. In a company with something like twenty thousand employees that adds up. I noted the cost of decent quality insulated travel mugs with printed logos. They'd pay for themselves in about 6-9 months.
There were a dozen or so total submissions from our floor. I figured at least I spoke up. This was a couple of weeks ago.
Then I came in today. There was a nice red travel mug on my desk. Insulated, stainless steel liner, not cheap plastic. There are no paper cups to be found on the floor any more. Even the plastic ones for water are gone. I haven't checked any of the other floors to see if it happened everywhere or not.
Hrm. Whatdyaknow? :-)
Posted by fictionman at March 23, 2009 12:35 PM | TrackBack (0)