The next time you clock out,
Jason Meugniot would like
you to turn off your computer. It may seem like an odd
request, but it’s just one of many
rituals that he and his 75 employees at Guidance Solutions Inc.
engage in on a regular basis.
The reason? Environmental
sustainability.
“[The green movement] brings
integrity to the business,”
Meugniot says. “In today’s economy and business climate, integrity is essential to growth.”
At the information technology
service company, the owner and
CEO has embraced the employee-led initiative, which he says
has contributed to the company
posting $6.3 million in 2007 revenue.
Smart Business spoke with
Meugniot about how to go
green at your own company.
Q. How do you begin to
establish an environmentally
friendly workplace?
We put together an environmental tool kit that lists simple
but key areas that we can look
at to understand our carbon
output and start the education
process. We talk about hibernating or turning off our computers
and using energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs, optimizing
the AC usage, or [using] light
sensors in restrooms.
We talk about things like carbon credits and working with
other companies who are committed to alternative energy
sources. We talk about looking
at your suppliers. Almost every
company purchases certain staple products: paper, electricity,
telephone service. Guidance, for
example, works with Internet
hosting vendors who use solar power instead of diesel generators as a backup source of
power.
In order to establish carbon
neutrality or really get serious
about carbon neutrality, we look
at education, measurement and
action around reducing waste,
improving air quality, eliminating greenhouse gas emissions
and finding renewable sources
of energy.
Q. How can other leaders
implement programs at their
companies?
To start an effective program, you need to walk
the walk. You need to be
carbon neutrality. As the
executive, you set the
example.
I’d also say you need
commitment at all levels.
You can’t do it alone. Let
the initiative live and grow.
Don’t stifle the conversation. When I say conversation, I mean the ongoing conversation at the
office or at the business
about the environment.
Allow employees to
share ideas. Allow them
to set up blogs. Talk
about it. Don’t just post
signs around the office.
Q. How do you get employees
involved?
Start with education. We provided, very early on, links to Web
sites. We shared personal stories.
We screened movies [about environmental sustainability] here at
the office. We talked about the
impact of our own carbon
imprint and helped employees
to determine what their carbon
footprint was at home.
We have a Guidance Green
committee. The committee meets regularly throughout the month.
They lead various initiatives, and
they collate information.
Use your core values to generate buy-in. The first core value is
honesty, integrity and fairness. If
we’re to have any integrity or
fairness in our consumption of
nonrenewable resources, we all
need to be committed to the
environment.
A key component in the program is not creating a top-down
program. It’s really creating a
program that’s created and even
led by the employees. To create this momentum, the employees
really need to be a part of it at
the onset.
Q. Do you choose the
committee, or is it run by
volunteers?
The people who serve on our
committee are not asked or chosen. It’s a voluntary committee.
Look for people with energy,
with commitment to the environment. Look for people who
are open to ideas and then sharing those ideas.
Q. How has this movement
benefited your company?
It’s really made an impact on
our employees and how they
work together and the bonds
and relationships that keep
them together.
We also have prospects who
call us out of the blue wanting to
work with us because they’ve
heard we have a green program.
I don’t want to give you the impression that it happens every
day, but we are working with
clients today who sought us out
because they were referred to us
from someone who’s heard that
we have a green program.
It also filters into recruiting.
As your employees are talking
to candidates and new recruits,
they’ll say, ‘This is an amazing
company. We take a stand for
the environment in the face of
various circumstances, and I’ve
never worked at a company
like that.’
You’ll have employees talk to
other folks about it, and it gives
them a sense of pride in the
company they work for, in the
work that they do and in their
relationships together at the
office.
HOW TO REACH: Guidance Solutions Inc., (310) 754-4000 or www.guidance.com