May 07 2008
Green Teams: The Limits of Success
Last Wednesday, I attended a great workshop put on by Sustainable Silicon Valley on the topic of “Green Teams: Employees Making a Difference.” Speakers from eBay, Genentech, BJG Architecture + Engineering and Gunn High School described the work being done predominantly by “green team” volunteers within their organizations. I was truly impressed with the passion, commitment and growth of their teams. At the same time, all that effort, coordination, passion and fun is often missing significant corporate sponsorship in the form of resources and budget. The result can be that green teams end up focusing on consciousness-raising among employees and on activities that make an important — but relatively small — impact on the carbon footprints and financial success (!) of companies.
Wouldn’t it be great if the senior executive teams would do more to nourish and cultivate these efforts? Integrate some stretch environmental and corporate responsibility goals into the overall business goals of the company. Allocate some resources. Incorporate environmental performance measures into the performance objectives of key managers.
Executives can either run to the front of the parade or get swept along by their employees. Leadership, vision and resources could really accelerate the positive impact of these teams. This would enable companies to reap the rewards* much sooner than by staffing these green initiatives with an underfunded, volunteer force.
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* Companies can benefit from “going green” by reducing costs (through more efficient use of resources), increasing revenue (with new products to address emerging needs), doing a better job attracting and retaining employees, mitigating risks and better managing their corporate reputations.
I am glad you are keeping the dialogue going. I enjoyed being part of the panel presentation you attended. As a small company we have the unique advantage that our president is an active member of our green team. We are also very nimble so we can make changes quickly. At the same time it is amazing to look at the sea of solar panels on the roofs at eBay and see the impact they can make on their campus.
I like your challenge. Starting small is great. And let’s keep the momentum going to make big change - or stretch goals.
Incorporating environmental performance measures into the performance objectives of key managers is an interesting idea. We have both view points on our green team. Some of us are driven from the business and economics perspective. And others are driven because they feel it’s the right thing to do. I think it is important to balance both of these view points and to feed and reward both types of individual.