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Overcoming the Year 4 Problem
Solutions for Regaining Momentum
Kevin Wilhelm
@kevinwilhelmsbc [email protected]
What We’re Going To Be Doing Today
• The Year 4 Problem
• Understanding why it happens
• Solutions: Necessary Skills, Mindset and
Characteristics to move forward
• Small groups: Problem Solving
The Year 4 Problem
• Lost Momentum: It’s no longer exciting and a priority
• Apathy: Fewer people attending events, employees stop reading communications
• People going back to how things were
• Management Change: Lost focus and leadership
Carbon Footprint
CSR Report
Green Team
Earth Day Event
???
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
The Keys to Making it Stick
1) Tie to the business case
2) Fundamentals
Define sustainability for your company
Materiality and Stakeholder Engagement
Baseline your efforts
Set your North Star
Gain Management Support
3) Engagement
Systems, Decision Making, Internal Alignment
Institutionalize
Communicating Internally
Solutions by Category
The Keys
1. Business case
2 Fundamentals
3. Engagement and Value Creation
Skill: Leadership
Skill: Data
Skill: Processes & Rules
Skill: Mindset, HR, Accountability
Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV
Growth $
Environmental& Social Negatives
Radical Collaboration Systems view “Team Sport”
Hero(martyr)
PersonalInfluence
MetricsProcessEco-Efficiency
StructuralCollaborativeGame changing
IndividualTeam/
Department
Division/ Function
CompanyBusinessSystem
DominantCharacteristics:
Who:
Environmental& Social Benefits
Phase V
Random Incremental BreakthroughSystemicType of
Change:
Understanding Why this Happens
• Company does not move in lock step- there will
always be folks ahead/behind the curve
• You don’t check a box to move between phases- it requires cultural and operational shifts
• Tensions arise when you get to that trade-off conversation in Phase 3. That’s when innovation & rule breaking occurs
• The dominant behaviors of the leader & skills that are needed for success in one phase are different or derailers in the next
• It takes time for a CEO to understand what is needed in a phase -plant ideas in their heads ahead of time, then ask for their input
• As you move into later phases, you’ll need to rely less on individual heroism and more on process and systems.
1. Building the Business Case
External Forces• Investors• Customers• Supply-Chain• Debt/Lenders• Insurance• Energy Prices• Societal Pressure• Extreme Weather• Industry Leadership• Political Instability
Internal Benefits• Cost savings• Enhanced brand value• Increased retention and
productivity• Reduced risk• Lower premiums• Innovation• Top-Line revenue growth• Lower enviro footprint• Better community profile
Financial Brand Sustainability
Focus on energy optimization technologies
Use to be the #1 Polluter, now seen as innovator
Reduced GHG emissions to 72% below 1990 levels.
Saved more than $3 billion & expanded their
businesses by 30%
Removed CO2 emissions equivalent to almost 78,000
vehicles or more than 900,000 barrels of oil.
Financial Brand Sustainability
Turned costs into a new revenue stream on their income statement
Turned excess foam from Therm-a-Rest Prolitemodes into camp pillows which met customer demand and sold like crazy while reducing waste
Turned hundreds of pounds of waste foam destined for landfills, which wouldn’t biodegrade for decades, into a practical accessory
Savings: Energy, water, waste, paper, business travel, and new innovations
Use the Biz Case to Engage the Skeptics
Position Typical comment Response
Investor Relations
Maximize shareholder value.
The DJSI has outperformed the S&P 500 for 10 years.
Accounting This is going to cost more
Sustainability initiatives tend to save money both short/long term
Legal Don’t want to disclose
You don’t. But you should track, it’s risk mitigation
Operations I know how to do my job !
Yes, but this is how it’ll be different,easier, save $
Sales Market unproven, fad
Ability to sell new products to top line.
PR Don’t want to greenwash
Opp to leverage all company efforts
Supply-Chain
We’re too small to influence change
Just start the conversation. Create procurement guidelines
HR Can’t afford benefits Look at what you offer, you could switch to options/flex.
Master the Fundamentals
1) Define sustainability for your company
2) Determine materiality and engage stakeholders
3) Baseline your efforts
4) Set your North Star
5) Gain Management Support
“You can’t run before you master how to walk!”
Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV
Growth $
Environmental& Social Negatives
Radical Collaboration Systems view “Team Sport”
Hero(martyr)
PersonalInfluence
MetricsProcessEco-Efficiency
StructuralCollaborativeGame changing
IndividualTeam/
Department
Division/ Function
CompanyBusinessSystem
DominantCharacteristics:
Who:
Environmental& Social Benefits
Phase V
Random Incremental BreakthroughSystemicType of
Change:
“….engaging employees in sustainability initiatives can improve a business’s bottom line and help it reach its
sustainability goals.”National Environmental Education Foundation
“The (sustainability) campaign brought people together like we’ve never been able to before or since”
Ken Hopper of Scandic Hotels
• Training and opportunity
• Tie it to the job, day to day
• Make it personal: engage the head, heart & hands
• Intrapreneuring
3. Employee Engagement
Business Results of Engaged Employees
• 16% in profitability
• 18% in productivity
• 49% in turnover for low-turnover companies (those with 40% or lower annualized turnover)
• 12% in customer loyalty
• 37% in absenteeism
• 60% in quality (defects)
Gallup Study showed that actively engaging employees can…
Employee Engagement: Change Management
• Understanding change
– Understand your people
– Understand your culture
• Breaking down silos and coordinating across departments
• Engage the Naysayers and Skeptics
– What’s going to go wrong with this plan?
– “What has to happen for this to work?”
– At every stage of work flow – “What could go wrong in this step?”
Collaborate Oriented
• Group brainstorming sessions
Control Oriented
• Existing policies for
opportunities for sustainability
Create Oriented
• Social media and crowd sourcing
for new ideas
Compete Oriented
• Use competitive means for
project idea generation
Underlying Necessities for Success
Characteristics of each phase
• Leadership
• Data
• Processes & Rules
• Mindset, HR, & Accountability
Companies build a set of individual skills and competencies that go along with the process. “If you don’t build the muscle earlier, you won’t have it when you need it!”
People Power
• Everyone likes to be recognized
“Executive sponsors need to adapt, learn, and move with the organization as well. They have to move to deemphasize what worked in that first ‘hero phase’ and move to a new stage.”
“What needs to be changed to get to the next phase?”
“The job of the leader is to know how much to invest in skills and competencies in each phase. “ -Kevin Hagen
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5
Doing business as usual
Doing less bad instead of doing good
Focusing on cost mitigation and bottom line results
Beginning to focus on top line
Shifting and delivering new solutions.
Challenging the business model and value proposition of company’s products, services.
Using industrial ecology.
Offering regenerative products and services
Changing the world!
Prevailing Mindset
Engagement Tips
• Each phase has valuable learnings necessary for success both in the ST and LT
• Expect small dips in productivity between each phase
• You might not need every skills in every phase, but you’ll want to build them for later phases
• Start working with NGOs and industry partners early. You will need these relationships later
The Keys to Making it Stick
1) Tie to the business case
2) Fundamentals
Define sustainability for your company
Materiality and Stakeholder Engagement
Baseline your efforts
Set your North Star
Gain Management Support
3) Engagement
Systems, Decision Making, Internal Alignment
Institutionalize
Communicating Internally
THANK YOU!
Kevin Wilhelm,Sustainable Business Consulting
www.sustainablebizconsulting.com
Twitter: @kevinwilhelmsbc
MAKING
SUSTAINABILITY
STICK
The Blueprint for Successful
Implementation
Kevin Wilhelm
Your Group
1. Expected Barriers?
2. Strategic Response
Your Group
1. Roadblocks What is your biggest road block, what are you struggling with?)
2. SolutionsHow can you potentially overcome this?
