Soaring gas prices that squeeze operating budgets, idle labour hours spent in travel and internal combustion engines that emit thousands of kilograms of carbon dioxide every year are just some of the drawbacks of transportation dependence. It is unreasonable to expect the elimination of business travel entirely; but there are certainly some alternative ways to adequately reduce it.
Corporate training goes green
The importance of professional development programs cannot be emphasized enough. They address operational and legal requirements and reinforce organizational values. Training keeps staff current on ever-changing legislation and procedures.

A survey conducted by the HR Certification Institute in 2010 has shown that “HR employees rate professional HR certification as being very highly valued because it reflects the practical and professional experience of the certificant, shows a commitment to lifelong learning and helps with career advancement. The survey also showed that 62 per cent of the U.S.-employer and 82 per cent of outside of U.S.-employer respondents consider professionally certified employees to have a strong impact on a company’s profitability and that most professionals and employers feel that the demand for professional certification in the HR field will grow in the next three to five years.”

The findings may be well extended to the property management field, thus by providing staff with quality training they will be more likely to stay. Another study titled “Maximizing Tenant Retention Vis-à-vis Employee Satisfaction” by Randy Daiter describes a correlation between satisfied employees and satisfied customers. Training is one of the approaches that helps facilitate and grow a positive corporate culture. However, traditional face to face corporate training comes at a high cost, not only to employers, but also to the environment.

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that sound environmental practices can positively contribute to the bottom line. The use of learning technologies, such as online programs or teleconferencing, can reduce carbon footprint by as much as 400 per cent and cut the cost of training by more than 50 per cent compared to the traditional training.

Alexander Amigud is the Manager of IT and Special Projects for O’Shanter Development Company Ltd.