10.25.2011

Engaging Employees to Realize Your EHS and Sustainability Vision: NAEM Forum Session

Employee engagement is a cornerstone of integrated EHS management systems, but an ongoing challenge in EHS and sustainability efforts. David Zinger addressed this topic during his session at last week’s 19th Annual NAEM Forum in Tucson.

When developing and implementing an EHS and sustainability initiative, Zinger stressed, each person must be able to voice his or her opinion and be listened to. “Never do anything about me without me if you expect me to be engaged,” he said. “If you want them to be on the same page, they need to be able to write on the page.” Read More

Posted By | in High Performance Teams, Sustainability | No Comments »

10.19.2011

Innovations in EHS Auditing – Breakout Session at the 19th Annual NAEM Forum

EHS auditing is a dynamic process that requires stakeholder input for success. Speakers emphasized this point during a breakout session at the 19th Annual NAEM Forum, which focused on the innovative practices that several companies are using to deliver maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

The speakers presented highlights from the recent International Audit Protocol Consortium’s survey on EHS audit practices: roughly 60 percent of respondents indicated a high rating for detecting regulatory non-compliance; 50 percent for management system conformance; 50 percent for benefit of audit results to the audited operation; and less than 50 percent for benefit to external stakeholders.

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Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Emerging Issues, Innovation, Management Systems, Risk Management | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

10.19.2011

EHS/S Management of Change (MOC) at the 19th Annual NAEM Forum

I attended an excellent session this afternoon at the 19th Annual NAEM Forum on management of change (MOC), during which speakers presented sound advice and insights regarding EHS/S MOC management issues. Some highlights are below.

There are various types of management of change. These commonly include changes in processes, regulations, personnel, locations (M&A), and priorities and attitudes. Read More

Posted By | in Innovation, Management Systems | Tags: , , | No Comments »

10.19.2011

Winston Keynote Speech at the NAEM Forum: Green Recovery – Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge from the Downturn on Top

The 19th Annual NAEM Forum began today with a morning keynote from Andrew Winston, co-author of Green to Gold.  He based his presentation on his most recent book, Green Recovery: Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge from the Downturn on Top. Some key points from his talk are below.

Winston argued that, though it may seem counterintuitive, these challenging times actually provide the perfect moment to double-down and invest in a strong sustainability program. This kind of program can be a catalyst for unbridled innovation. Forward-thinking leaders, he said, understand this and are acting accordingly.

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Posted By | in Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Issues, Innovation, Sustainability | No Comments »

10.13.2011

Leveraging EHS/S Expertise for Non-financial Risk Management

Organizational risk management has evolved from a singular focus on financial risk to a broader perspective that includes enterprise-wide and non-financial risks. Approaches such as enterprise risk management, strategic risk management, and value risk management are morphing into an area called “non-financial risk management (NFRM).” A paradox in this arena is that even though risk management is important, it is fragmented, siloed, and poorly integrated in companies. NFRM frameworks are weak or non-existent.

A solution to this paradox can be found right down the hall in the EHS/S (environmental, health, safety, and sustainability) department. But because of the historic focus on regulatory compliance, the decades of risk-management experience that the EHS/S function has often goes unnoticed.

Click here to read full post on the NEAM Green Tie Blog.

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10.13.2011

Evolving to Sustainability 4.0, Value Chain Indices, and EHS/S Support with Developing Dimensions of Measurement

Sustainability has evolved from a reactive and defensive endeavor to one that is generative and central to all aspects of business decisions. This was a clear message expressed throughout the recent CR Commit Forum.

Commonly used was the phrase, “Sustainability equals efficiency.” That is, organizations that have a strong sustainability perspective and culture also have improved efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability. Yvon Chouinard et al echoes this sentiment in “The Sustainable Economy” in the current issue of the Harvard Business Review, which presents four sustainability eras: sustainability 1.0. 2.0, 3.0, and ideas for sustainability 4.0, where “sustainability will simply be [come] how business is done.”

The ideas presented in “The Sustainable Economy” are important for EHS/S professionals to understand and embrace. For instance, the phenomena of creating a sector-specific Value Chain Index (VGI) is innovative, cutting-edge, and appears to provide a powerful way to catapult sustainability, not only in an organization, but also more broadly in a market sector. The authors outline a process that Chouinard’s company (Patagonia) and Walmart, with assistance from BluSkye (a strategy consultancy), used to develop a VGI for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).

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Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Issues, Innovation, Sustainability | Tags: , | No Comments »

10.4.2011

First Look: Highlights from the 3rd Annual MIT/BCG Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Survey

Initial findings have begun to surface from the 3rd Annual MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Annual Sustainability and Innovation Global Executive Survey, which had over 4,700 respondents. In an earlier post, I discussed some of the findings that Martin Reeves shared last week at the CR Commit Forum 2011 in New York City. The current issue of the Sloan Management Review presents more findings and indicates that the full report will be available next winter.

An important finding is that while sustainability is an important issue in organizations, it is not a top near-term priority. As Reeves indicated in his keynote, companies are concerned about short-term volatility and, to some extent, survivability. The top three challenges reported for the next two years are: innovating to achieve competitive differentiation (46 percent); growing revenues (45 percent); and reducing costs and increasing efficiencies (41 percent). Fourteen percent indicated that responding effectively to threats and opportunities of sustainability was a challenge. Read More

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