Starting a sustainability program from scratch: Lessons learned

- Starting a sustainability program from scratch could be quite daunting, I should know, I've done it for three different organizations and learned many lessons that I'd like to share with you today. Lesson number one, one size does not fit all. Each organization is unique in its operations, priorities and business strategy, of course, organizations that fall under the same industry are expected to have similar environmental and social concerns, that they would need to address yet how each organization addresses these issues varies based on culture, management style, business strategy, stakeholder needs and demands such as expectations of their clients and employees. For example, all companies in the construction industry are expected to address construction and demolition based, indoor air quality during construction and resource utilization, while a manufacturing organization, may have a bigger focus on a supply chain, factory efficiency and product development. Design companies on the other hand , may focus on workforce development, technical knowledge and experience especially around green building concepts and services from energy efficiency to acoustics to the latest technologies, products and green building trends. Yet every single corporation, would need to identify its own priorities and address these according to its mission, culture, business objectives and management style. Lesson number two, it takes time. You can't start a sustainability program right away but a mature and effective sustainability program takes time and commitment. You can come up with great ideas, set up a program and start strong but keep in mind that you need to set expectations on a long-term success plan. Quick wins are great, but one of the greatest dangers for a sustainability program is for a company to stop working on it too soon, before sustainable team matures into a well ingrained aspect of a business as usual, Lesson number three, don't let your sustainability program stagnate. A strong sustainability program is as strong as its flexibility and adaptability to address the ever changing demands and expectations around the global and local environmental and social concerns. It has to be reevaluated often at least annually to be relevant. A mature sustainability program is based on continuous improvement and change seeking to always reach a higher level of sustainability performance. Practice makes it perfect. In the case of sustainability, practice results in effective sustainability best practices that are tuned, updated and improved consistently and constantly. One way of doing so is investing in research and development staying innovative and providing continuous education for all the workforce and leadership. Lesson number four, is your sustainability program proactive or reactive? Your answer influences the roots of your program. The proactive program may have more flexibility especially since there is no pressing concern and no need to focus on damage control. It is more about taking proactive actions to avoid risks that would require immediate reaction such as a compliance issue, a fine that already caused financial harm, brand reputation that is already damaged. Whichever one shapes the sustainability program usually influences the first few years of a program, focusing on the problem to stop the bleeding rather than investing company resources into creating opportunities and added value. Lesson number five, less is more. The first time I was charged to create a sustainability program, I had a list of areas we could focus that filled a whole page back and front. I felt quite accomplished to identify so many areas we can focus on, it take me too long to realize that, the longer my list was, the more distracted my efforts became. It was impossible to get anything done. Many of our resources were stretched thin trying to do a little bit of each task. As soon as I came to my senses I identified three to four key areas of focus and set goals and measurements for success on these most impactful activities, especially when starting a program, it is best to stay focused and not cover a wide range of priorities until the program successfully includes completed tests and impactful results. That is when you build on these accomplishments and enhance your program. As I continued on my sustainability journey I continued learning new lessons and applying them to improve my future efforts. I hope you can take advantage of the lessons I've just shared with you and add your own lessons from your own journey as you practice and learn.