“There is always more we can do as employees”

Nordea has set a clear target when it comes to lowering own emissions, how would you say you experience this when entering Nordea’s offices in Tallinn?

“I hope people will feel welcomed by the modern, energy optimised facilities, the attention we pay to details and how we try to involve people in making better choices. We’re located in the campus area of Ülemiste City which in itself gives us the opportunity to be more sustainable, because it’s one of the developing areas in Tallinn where the aim is to create a technology based, green hub for businesses. Both our buildings have the Green Office Certificate and smart heating systems, motion sensor lightning, great options for public transport and an electric car charging park, and both us – and the other companies surrounding us – are involved in taking the area in an even more sustainable direction.”

If the surroundings are well optimised already, is there much more that can be done to lower the environmental footprint?

“Yes, there is always more we can do as employees and individuals. A good example is our waste project where we’re now in next phase of garbage sorting. It means that cameras monitor what is put in the trash. Our partner – the startup WasteLocker – then analyses if people sort garbage correctly and gives us feedback on whether we have improved or not. We share this information with our colleagues on info screens in the buildings so they are well informed and can make better choices. We try to use data in a smart way to learn about our behaviour and to make every employee part of the progress.”

“We’re also one of the companies in Ülemiste that has come quite far when it comes to general garbage sorting. Here we have worked with an employee focus group to make instructions as user-friendly as possible. Garbage sorting is not always easy – where does candy packaging go? We experience that our employees want to be better at this, and they can also bring their learnings back home to their own households so some of our activities have a wider scope than just the office.

It sounds like the employees are quite engaged, what do you do to keep the high engagement?

“Once a year, we have a sustainability week, where we not only focus on own operations, but also discuss how we support our customers in their green transition, and we have even formed an employee ambassador group dedicated to keeping us on track and generating more ideas for our sustainable workplace. To us, sustainability is a part of our strategy. It’s integrated in our business and operations, what we offer our customers, how we build our processes and form our workplace. Our employees want to be a part of the transition to a more sustainable future and we’re trying to create a workplace where all can contribute.”