C-level Series: Human Sigma
Engaging Employees as Part of Sustainability Initiatives

Tags: none

ShareThis

Could business management principles developed to improve quality be applied to the human element in businesses trying to go green? It seems the answer is yes. New technology and old-school communication is coming together to create environments where employees have a voice in how things get done.

In Human Sigma: Managing the Employee Customer Encounter (Gallup Press), authors John H. Fleming, Ph.D., and Jim Asplund explain that companies need to expand internal efforts to look at customer employee interaction as a critical place to increase bottom-line profitability. The corresponding Gallup study determined that a mere 9 percent of employees are engaged and motivated to see their company succeed. The other 91 percent not only hinder growth but their efforts may actually be doing more harm than good. But inefficiency is not just tied to the customer employee relationship; disengaged employees can be a burden on companies that are already taxed with shrinking margins and markets.

Where Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects, Human Sigma looks to boost financial performance by assessing, managing and improving the employee customer experience. But can improved employee engagement translate into other areas of a business like sustainability?

Globally much of the focus on going green is on what would be referred to as macro-sustainability, which includes such larger environmental issues as bio-fuels, solar farms, LEED buildings and carbon offsets. These initiatives are driven from the top-down approach where corporate decision-makers develop an overall strategy, budget and expected ROI, and then invest in the research or products to get them to their goal.

Yet, in the current economic crisis, attention is beginning to shift inwardly to low-cost efficiency and reduction programs that need little or no capital investment—programs that can show immediate, sustainable ROI. Some refer to this trend as micro-sustainability, which is defined as small environmental actions that add up to a larger collective impact. Employee engagement is one such example of micro-sustainability and is a low-cost way for companies to increase morale, retention and reduce bottom-line costs quickly.

Some companies may find that employee engagement is a secondary strategy to their macro-sustainability plans while others may find that employee engagement is the plan itself.

"Employees are the best resources for green ideas," says Jennifer Woofter, president of Strategic Sustainability Consulting. "Many of them already consider themselves eco-conscious at home, but they have not been given the opportunity to have that translate into their work." So the development of engagement programs harnessing the collective power of the employee base has the potential to have a large impact on the company.

"Sustainability is implied," TerraCycle Inc. Senior Publicist George Chevalier says, referring to the culture at TerraCycle, a company that runs consumer-facing programs to collect waste that is typically not recyclable (think chip bags and drink boxes) and turns them into high-demand products like backpacks, toys and office items.

Although TerraCycle does not have a defined employee sustainability program, green is the default of everything they do.

"We have culture and scale working for us," Chevalier says. "We are still a relatively small company and we work in an open floor plan. In that environment, there is more accountability."

Being that TerraCycle's business is about solving problems in the field of environmental sustainability, it makes sense that the employees feel engaged in that overall effort. But what if you are like the rest of the world and don't work for a green company or a company where green is expected?

In those instances, developing a program that engages people to participate and share their thoughts is critical. Top-down doesn't always work when you are talking about creating a culture where you want employees to share feedback and suggestions on environmental improvement.

"There has to be a dialogue," says Kathy Miller , CEO of Miller Consultants, a company that helps embed sustainability and resource management into organizational cultures through a focus on change management. "Employee engagement around sustainability is easy. They want to be engaged. The resistance towards sustainability is not coming from the rank and file; it's coming from the top."

Adoption of programs that require buy-in and dialogue from the rank and file can be tricky for companies that don't have a culture of openness.

Miller says that companies that have adopted management systems like Kaizen, Six Sigma or Lean tend to be the perfect culture for adoption of sustainability programs.

"The employees are already trained to look for ways to improve processes, and the elimination of waste is the bedrock of their culture," she says.

Either way, engaging employees in programs designed to reduce wasteful behaviors; thereby, making the company more environmentally sustainable, typically has bottom-line benefits. Reductions in costs, increased morale and higher labor performance are some of the benefits of adopting a culture that respects and rewards environmentally conscious behavior.

According to Woofter, the biggest challenge is developing a program that people will actually adopt. The three key factors to the success of any internal engagement program, particularly at launch, are:

1. Do people really understand what the program is?
2. What are the expectations?
3. How can they get involved and provide their ideas and suggestions?

Defining the program and laying out the expected participation and plan for involvement is key to a program's success. No one wants to guess as to what they are supposed to be doing.

Utilizing a platform for constructive expression in the workplace around a central goal (i.e., sustainability) can become a powerful tool for progress. It could be as easy as simply asking for suggestions in a suggestion box or compiling them through a survey. Or it could be as complex as creating your own internal platform that allows for the sharing of ideas and best practices. The key is deploying a successful engagement program focused on the rank and file. Don't just push out information. Make it a two-way conversation. Give employees a platform, ask them for their opinions and let them share their expertise with you and colleagues.

Directly following Super Bowl 2010, a new program titled "Undercover Boss" debuted. The show takes corporate executives and places them undercover within their own organization at the lowest levels of the echelon. The executives spend a few days working at numerous jobs that daily corporate decisions directly influence and see the impact of these policies and actions. The executives then reveal their true identity to the employees and explain the lessons learned through their experience. The program ends with the revelation that feedback, ideas and engagement of the rank and file are critical for the growth and success of the company.

The people that work in your company have a unique perspective and can offer valuable operational intelligence around the jobs that they do and the policies that affect them. Many employees also have expertise outside of the scope of their daily work. Valuing the input and feedback they can provide is critical to creating an environment where efficiency and personal responsibility for the bottom line and the planet becomes the norm.

Employees have a vested interest in the company's success-their jobs are depending on it-and harnessing that power, creativity and passion is the key to a flourishing sustainable organization.

Now the only thing left is for you to-Start the conversation…^™