Transforming Service Providers:
A Roadmap for Going Green   

As we bid the winter a long overdue farewell and eagerly embrace the first signs of spring, Green Edge focuses its sustainability lens on the wide universe of organizations that provide services rather than products. Ranging from global law firms and financial conglomerates to local real estate brokers and accounting firms, all of these organizations stand to gain exponential benefits from reducing their carbon footprints----and face enormous risk if they don't. Their clients, investors and employees are increasingly demanding and rewarding responsible carbon management at the same time as government regulators are incentivizing those who take action and penalizing those who don't.  

So here's our Green Edge Roadmap for developing a bottom-line oriented sustainability strategy that will result in carbon reductions and financial improvements.  Like any other creation, you begin by planting the seed. Then you nurture its growth as it blossoms and matures.

Step 1: Commit and Engage 

The keys to success, in our experience, are long-term leadership commitments to sustainability and continuous bottom-up and top-down cross-functional engagement throughout your organization.

The message from the C-suite must be loud and clear and authentic----and the involvement of everyone in the solution must be encouraged, supported and recognized. For service firms that are essentially in the talent business, this is a great way to empower, attract and retain the talent that is critical to your firm's success.

Step 2: Define and Assess 

Next, your firm must clearly define what success means and assess the status quo. Defining success can be tricky and will be most meaningful when preceded by a data-driven understanding of current carbon emissions. For many service firms, two areas of focus are electricity consumption and travel related emissions. Once these and other carbon hot spots are understood and evaluated, plans and goals for reduction can be developed, which brings us to the next step.  

Step 3: Plan and Implement 

Once your firm understands its current carbon footprint and has defined reduction goals with meaningful key performance indicators, it's time to develop a plan to achieve those goals.This will involve choices that must be justified by cost-benefit and return-on-investment analyses. 

One global consulting firm we know tackled its #1 carbon hot spot----travel----by including a videoconferencing initiative in their carbon management plan. They installed state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment in 80% of their offices throughout the world. This turned out to be a gift that kept giving: after reduced travel costs enabled them to recoup their initial investment, continued cost savings fell to their bottom line. Their global clients, who often reimbursed the firm for those travel costs, also enjoyed ongoing savings.  

Step 4: Communicate and Improve 

For service firms to achieve the most robust returns on their carbon reduction investments, it is essential to transparently communicate with clients and employees as the journey unfolds. Let everyone know that your firm is actively addressing this issue. When the time is right and verifiable results justify it, let your clients know that your firm is a carbon footprint reduction solution for them.   

In order to make sure that your communication efforts don't backfire (as we noted in the March Newsletter), stay close to the facts, be ready to support claims of success with reliable data and remain open about challenges and mistakes.

Finally, in order to maintain ground, continuous improvement must be your mantra: what was extraordinary yesterday is routine today. Enlist everyone in your organization in the effort. Take the first step on your firm's sustainabilty journey today. The results could be worth millions!

Let Green Edge help you wherever you are on your sustainability journey. We'll work with you to develop a plan, implement it and engage with your employees, clients, investors and regulators. Schedule a free consultation today, you can't afford not to.