Policy, ‘politicking’ and organisational culture – barriers to engaging employees in behaviour change initiatives

摘要

The energy savings potential within non-domestic buildings/commercial buildings from behaviour change initiatives is becomingwell known. Low-cost interventions centred on simpleenergy efficiency behaviour changes have been shown to contributeto local, national and EU policy commitments to carbonreduction of between 10–20 %. Yet, research also shows timeand again that these straightforward behaviour changes can beanything but simple. Notwithstanding the psychological andsocial complexities inherent in behaviour, human behaviour innon-domestic buildings is affected by organisational culture,departmental ‘politicking’ and conflicting internal politics andbusiness goals. No-where is this more evident that in local governmentwhere municipalities are expected to lead on carbonreduction initiatives whilst operating in changing politicallandscapes and juggling decreasing operational budgets withincreasing expectations on public services.This paper presents findings from a UK Research Councilfunded ‘research in the wild’ case study exploring therole of digitally enabled engagement in a UK local authority.Innovative methods of combining the digital economy anduser-engagement were trialled in an effort to increase userinteractionwithin their buildings and foster a more collaborativeapproach to energy management. A qualitative researchapproach was undertaken and findings are discussed from ananalysis of a focus group and a set of semi-structured interviewswith members of the user group and key actors withinthe municipality.Findings show that whilst there are positive signs with regardsto the potential of increased user-engagement and ICTdigital tools to facilitate behaviour change, barriers remainwith regards to the implementation in ‘real world’ contexts ofinnovative approaches. For this particular organisation theseincluded a staff reduction programme amidst financial cuts, arisk-averse culture to new technologies, and fundamental questionsaround where responsibilities lie with regards to energymanagement. Future innovations must take account of thesewider issues in order to be ‘fit for purpose’ and achieve the energyreductions required.