THE PATH TOWARD EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT “ SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPIONS ARE FOUND THROUGHOUT CORPORATE HIERARCHIES. THEY HAVE PASSION ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AND THEY ASPIRE TO PERSUADE THEIR COMPANIES TO BECOME MODEL SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISES. THEY WANT THEIR COMPANIES TO BE A MORE POSITIVE FORCE IN THE WORLD. “ - BOB WILLARD, THE SUSTAINABILITY ADVANTAGE Engaging Employees through Sustainability In many ways, the sustainability challenge is a leadership challenge. Research shows that employees who are passionate about sustainability at home would like to see those same practices valued at work – these are sustainability champions. Often times, they hold junior or middle management positions in their organizations and lack the authority to effect real change. However, in this case, leadership is a role, not a position. Sustainability champions lead by example and use their influence to engage the right people to make change happen. By forming what are commonly referred to as “green teams”, sustainability champions use their collective power to examine the sustainability of office practices and create innovative solutions. This gives each employee an opportunity to play a pivotal role in their company’s sustainability story. For instance, eBay’s Green Team encouraged the company to build San Jose, California’s largest commercial solar installation, reducing CO2 emissions by over one million pounds and saving over $100,000 annually. The same holds true for smaller companies with much less manpower. In 2008, employees from Burt’s Bees (now part of Clorox) took part in an event called “Dumpster Day”, which was held to educate employees about waste reduction. Trash destined for the landfill was collected for two weeks, after which employees donned Hazmat suits and divided the trash into three groups: items that could have been recycled but were not, things that were recyclable if the company had an outlet for them and garbage. Dumpster Day saved approximately 2.8 tons of trash from landfills and found recycling opportunities that cut the company’s waste in half, while generating $25,000 in estimated annual savings. Participation can be as simple as getting together to discuss observations, like an increase in the number of disposable coffee cups being thrown out in the break room. What is the Business Case for Employee Engagement through Sustainability According to the National Environmental Education Foundation, companies with an emphasis on employee engagement through sustainability saw improvements in talent attraction and retention, employee productivity, community recognition, customer attraction and retention, a culture of sustainability and, finally, brand strength. “ There are testimonies from hundreds of companies, including Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, that have invested in engagement through sustainability and education that has proven to be more valuable than expected. ©2012 Domtar Corporation. All Rights Reserved. In honor of Domtar’s first EarthWeek, the EarthChoice Ambassadors, along with President and CEO John Williams, dedicate a cherry tree at the Fort Mill Operations Center. (Photographed - 2012) 1 www.domtar.com However, the return on investing in green teams is often reflected in intangible value to the business, which can be difficult to qualify. For example, an educational lunch and learn session requires a budget and connecting this type of education to sales can be a challenging. In spite of these obstacles, the first 18 months of engagement through sustainability at Domtar has resulted in positive feedback from employees as they begin to take ownership of Domtar’s sustainability story. And, Domtar’s CEO is supportive of this initiative and encouraging its success. Earth Week it’s at Domtar Domtar’s Story Domtar EarthChoice® embodies Domtar’s belief that informed choices lead to better, more sustainable lives and a better world. Domtar chose the name EarthChoice Ambassadors for its green team as an extension of that philosophy. Domtar created the EarthChoice Ambassadors program in 2010, with the intent of launching a sustainable employee engagement pilot program in the Fort Mill, SC Operations Center; an office building housing approximately 500 employees. Building the business case for green teams is a relatively new concept and Domtar’s strategy was to start slow and build on small successes. A formal commitment was made in the company’s 2011 sustainable growth report - as a key performance indicator - to expand the Ambassador program throughout our facilities by 2020. EarthChoice Ambassadors Mission Statement Domtar’s EarthChoice Ambassadors are committed to promoting sustainable business practices focusing on our Customers, Employees, Company and Community. By identifying and sharing innovative methods, educating and encouraging sustainable work habits and leading by example, this group strives to push Domtar’s sustainability message throughout our organization. Chapter Size and Logistics Within the first year, the Fort Mill team doubled in size. In an effort to create a sense of exclusivity, it was decided to keep the group at a maximum of 20 participants. It is believed that a smaller sized group fosters creativity and a stronger commitment from its members. Employees were actively recruited from business sectors and management levels that were underrepresented. Domtar has administrative locations, paper and pulp manufacturing facilities, converting facilities, regional replenishment centers, distribution and personal care, therefore logistics and communications between chapters is important. Whereas all EarthChoice Ambassadors have the same mission, each chapter works on projects and goals that are location-specific. For example, the Kingsport, TN chapter chose to participate Domtar’s Starting Point After determining our pilot location, we worked with human resources to develop a multi-question survey to provide a baseline of sustainability awareness at Domtar. We solicited survey participation from over 500 employees at our pilot location. An excerpt from the survey is as follows: • What does sustainability mean to you? • Do you believe Domtar should do more to enhance its commitments and practices towards sustainability? • In the office, do you turn off your lights and computer at the end of the day? • Do you currently volunteer? • What types of sustainability projects would you like to see implemented at Domtar? • Would you be interested in serving on a Domtar Green Team? The data collected indicated that there was interest in sustainability and a population of employees who were passionate about creating awareness and a more sustainable work life. The survey also acted as a recruitment tool by providing interested employees an opportunity to create and serve on a green team. Ten employees volunteered and worked to launch the first EarthChoice Ambassador chapter in the Fort Mill, SC Operations Center. ©2012 Domtar Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 2 www.domtar.com DOMTAR EARTHCHOICE® EMBODIES DOMTAR’S BELIEF THAT INFORMED CHOICES LEAD TO BETTER, MORE SUSTAINABLE LIVES AND A BETTER WORLD. Initial Projects in a clean-up event for the Kingsport Greenbelt as one of their Earth Week projects. The first order of business was to determine the “low hanging fruit” and how smaller projects could be used to propel the team toward bigger ones. For example, in the fall of 2010, the Fort Mill office was using approximately 28,000 styrofoam cups in their break rooms each year; all of which were destined for a landfill. This created an opportunity to provide each employee with a reusable cup, and discontinue the use of the styrofoam cups. The cost of the reusable cups was essentially equal to the cost of a year’s worth of styrofoam; so the savings would be realized after just the first year. Conversely, some projects work nicely for all locations. In the fall of 2011, the Montreal Ambassadors created a rummage day where all employees were encouraged to bring in items that were no longer used, but were in good condition, for a swap meet. The Fort Mill Ambassadors took that concept and called it Freecycling – the act of giving away usable, unwanted items for free instead of throwing them away. All employees were invited to “shop” and take any items they Other qualifying smaller projects included: • Replacing plastic utensils with recyclable, starch-based options • Initiating and encouraging bottle/glass/can recycling throughout the buildings • Holding educational lunch-and-learns for employees • Chapters are encouraged to have 2 to 4 sessions/year wanted, with no limit on how much could be donated or taken. All remaining items were donated to a local charity. • Lunch-and-learn topics are determined by location, but are generally focused on sustainability at Domtar; for instance, Domtar’s NGO collaboration A SharePoint web site is maintained for all EarthChoice Ambassadors to exchange best practices, and share articles and meeting notes from all chapters. There are pictures of each ambassador, their location, role at Domtar and a statement about why they are an EarthChoice Ambassador. All of Domtar’s employees have access to this site, but it is used primarily for communications between Ambassadors and chapters. • By providing lunch, these sessions often attract employees who may not be engaged and recruit new members • Establishing the EarthChoice Hero program, which recognizes colleagues who are doing great things at home, in the community and at work - but are not EarthChoice Ambassadors themselves. In the Domtar model, the Sustainable Engagement Manager acts as • Establishing a single-use battery recycling program • Placing “reminder” labels at each light switch encourages employees to turn off lights as they leave a room a hub, and the chapters are the spokes. There is one designated captain per chapter who is responsible for facilitating meetings, recruiting Ambassadors and encouraging goal setting. Captains are responsible for reporting goals, activities and accomplishments to the Sustainable Engagement Manager. Chapters are encouraged to meet monthly and develop regularlyscheduled activities engaging all employees in sustainability at Domtar. Challenges Having multiple chapters in different cities poses the added challenge of maintaining consistency of the group name and logo throughout the chapters. ©2012 Domtar Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Visible, senior-level commitment is crucial to the success of this type of engagement. But it can be challenging when mid-level management is not seen as supportive. To use a term commonly referred to by sustainability thought leaders, mid-level management can easily become “clay” – nothing penetrating up or down. The EarthChoice Ambassador program worked through this challenge by recruiting mid-level managers to be on the team, building on the support we already had from several top-tier leaders. 3 www.domtar.com Another challenge is the difficulty some members have taking time away from their job responsibilities to attend meetings. In the Fort Mill Operations Center, there are customer services representatives whose time away from the phone is limited. Monthly midday meetings, with lunch provided, helped to overcome this challenge. Now entering its second year, the group is established and the recruitment of mid-level manager support has helped make taking time to participate on this team more accepted. Having multiple chapters in different cities poses the added challenge of maintaining consistency of the group name and logo throughout the chapters. We found that each location has an innate pride and desire for a unique identity. Although we don’t want to discourage individual pride and identity, we continue to work towards a consistent brand and collective mission in each chapter. Vice-President of Sustainability, David Struhs, and Sales Service Representative, Elsa Guzman, declare their EarthChoice during EarthWeek 2012. (Photographed - 2012) With a growing network of Ambassadors, each bringing passion and enthusiasm for sustainability to the program, the challenge will be to maintain momentum, while keeping in synchronicity with Domtar’s overall sustainability KPIs. We think this is a great challenge to have. Communications and Branding While each EarthChoice Ambassador chapter has projects unique to its location, Domtar wanted the branding and look of the group to be consistent. Just as the EarthChoice Ambassador mission complements what Domtar EarthChoice stands for, the logo is an extension of the Domtar EarthChoice mark. This mark appears on all green team communications, including emails, printed materials, posters, banners and any other form of marketing materials associated with the EarthChoice Ambassadors. Examples of communication efforts include: Blog –Domtar’s President and Chief Executive Officer, John D. Williams, has blogged about EarthWeek and other EarthChoice Ambassador events on the Domtar intranet. Top-down, visual support is critical to the acceptance rate of the masses. Company Newsletter – The company magazine Resources regularly Annual Report – At the close of the Ambassador’s first year, the Name Plates – Each Ambassador receives a name plate to be hung team produced an annual report to showcase its activities and progress throughout the year. This report was distributed to all employees, including senior management. outside their work area to recognize them as an ambassador. This has generated recognition and pride in the program. Email Blasts – The EarthChoice Ambassadors use email as a way to Ambassador team received personalized letters from John D. Williams, acknowledging their passion for this initiative and offering his support. inform, invite and remind about events or to make announcements for individual location. features articles on EarthChoice Ambassador activities. This is an important vehicle to keep the entire employee population updated on green team activities. Letters from our CEO – Each member of the inaugural EarthChoice At Domtar, employee engagement through sustainability is a function of the Sustainable Business and Brand Management Department. This unique group has the ability to sell thought leadership throughout the company and to customers because its primary function is communication; all the while, working closely with human resources, corporate communications and environmental leadership to ensure that corporate goals are being met. Conversely, in many organizations, employee engagement is often a function of the human resources or the sustainability department. It’s been Domtar’s experience that the three working in conjunction with one another is key to the success of an engagement initiative. The communicators within a company have visibility across the organization and Domtar has leveraged that to launch employee engagement through sustainability successfully. Sources The Green Workplace, Leigh Stringer The Sustainability Advantage, Bob Willard National Environmental Education Foundation Center for Responsible Business and Sustainability ©2012 Domtar Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 4 www.domtar.com