Collaboration
- Many organizations will benefit from aligning the contribution of many functions and locations into a unified strategy. I have done this multiple times in a multi-business global environment and can help your organization collaborate better.
- Within any organization, the successful subject matter expert (SME) needs to influence associates and leaders in many functions. This has always been the key to my success. I can’t personally make the dramatic changes that are needed to deliver on company-wide culture change and global sustainability progress. What I can do is to encourage local leaders throughout the company to make changes in their own areas.
Information sharing is paramount. The organization has to know what their environmental impact is. They have to know how to determine the impact of their actions and potential choices. And most importantly, both leaders and employees have to believe that their changes are encouraged.
I have always been amazed by the power of best practice sharing. For years, we have held quarterly sustainability dialogs, we talk about positive changes happening in many different parts of the company. Associates in one function find gains from hearing about others, sometimes in seemingly unrelated areas. Product design, packaging design, manufacturing, product distribution, and consumer messaging all touch the same products. And associates in one business love to learn about what others businesses are doing so they can show their own leadership that striving for sustainability progress is ‘normal’.
An underrated group is the continuous improvement initiative. Within many organizations, each operation is expected to deliver a certain percentage of cost savings each year. The relentless search for ways to save money is very much aligned with our desire to continually reduce environmental impacts.
When we find a way to purchase less material to make the same amount of product we are also reducing the amount of waste that is produced. This might save us some money and wasted effort to handle the waste materials… but the biggest savings is at our supplier, where they can use less material.
An oft-overlooked concept is to have a formal start-up and shut-down procedure. One business I know of saved $25,000 per year by turning off an infrequently used furnace that was formerly left running day and night. When they need the furnace, the length of time for the furnace to come up to temperature is about the length of time needed to prepare the material to go into the furnace.
Recommend using Life Cycle Assessment to inform cases where there is a trade-off. One example is the conversion to returnable packaging. It sounds like a great idea to eliminate cardboard and plastic packaging. But this reduction is balanced with the environmental impact of returning packaging to the supplier for reuse.
- It is the sustainability function to educate and empower others to make positive changes on their own. In this way the organization can take action in the myriad functions and projects that are needed for systematic and meaningful change.