GREEN GAMING: The Case for a "CSO"
by Eric Hansel
March 1, 2010
Corporate
CEOs now recognize that a chief sustainability officer provides a competitive
advantage for a company’s growth and long-term success. In 2007 a little more
than 5 percent of the Fortune 500 had a designated corporate social
responsibility officer. In 2008 this had grown to 10 percent. These companies
are already seeing the value this position brings to an operation.
A comparable shift occurred in HR. In the 1950s, only 5 percent of
the Fortune 500 had designated HR personnel. Now, of course, nearly all have
them. As American values shift so do the roles in a company. As companies are
becoming more committed to environmental and social stewardship they see a real
need for someone to take responsibility and lead their sustainability
initiatives.
Each company needs to have a different approach to sustainability
because they will need to match it with their own core values and strategic
direction. Ultimately, the CSO will want to drive business growth and increase
profitability, as do all the other executives, but their focus will be to
integrate business objectives with social and environmental
responsibility.
CSOs can address any number of sustainability
issues:
• Managing environmental
risk
• Resource conservation and
management
• Waste reduction
• Product stewardship and life cycle
footprints
• New “green” product lines or
services
• Community involvement and
volunteerism
•”Green” communications, reporting and
marketing strategy
• Employee transportation plans and
incentives
The role of CSO is challenging and complex. A person in this
position needs to be able to see both the vision and long-term strategy of a company
as well as be creative and innovative. It is not only about having the
education and technical knowledge, but being able to lead and effect change.
This role requires someone who isn’t afraid to take risks and who also has the
ability to facilitate, create consensus and drive cultural change. It requires
a person to juggle many projects and manage them efficiently. He or she is the
sustainability champion who must raise environmental awareness among every
group and individual within a company and integrate environmental thinking into
every department.
The CSO can effect change from the top down and the bottom
up. (A great example of a bottom-up initiative is Harrah’s Code Green Team.) By
driving change in both directions he or she will get much greater buy-in from
employees, which in turn enables them to more effectively explain what they do
and involve their customers.
Several years ago, I was calling on a purchasing manager who I was
doing a good deal of business with, and I was presenting a new product. The
product was a new online template ordering system for the products that she
regularly ordered from us. (This
was before Amazon.com.) I explained to her the cost benefits of using an online
ordering system — lower PO costs, the ability to electronically requisition
product across many departments with the click of a mouse, free next-day
delivery, etc.
Sounds like an easy sell?
Wrong.
I never could have expected what she told me next, and neither
could my boss, who I brought along for this very reason. “Well the Internet is
good for sending e-mails,” she said, “but it is going to be disappearing soon,
so I don’t want to put my time into this.”
My boss and I just looked at each other, tried to explain this in a
different way, but there was just no answering her objection because it wasn’t
based on anything but fear of the unknown.
Now I can look back on that and laugh, and I use it as an opener
when I speak. Everyone usually
starts to laugh, and there are some comments about how the Internet is
everywhere now. But when I talk with companies about sustainability and the
need to use it as a cost-saving tool I get the same types of response: “Oh,
well, we have the towel program going on in the rooms.” “Green is for hippies
and tree-huggers.” “I can’t spend any money on new projects because we are
having financial difficulties.”
The last point is important, because as you look to bring a CSO
into your organization that person should explain that by implementing energy
conservation measures you will not only be doing what is right for the
environment and for the social wellbeing of those in your geographical area,
but you’ll also add dollars to the bottom line by creatively cutting costs and
improving business efficiency.
We have only a few years before the effects of global warming are
irreversible. The U.S. corporate world has been a huge part of the problem and
now has an opportunity to be part of the solution. All companies, whether large
or small, have to be conscious of how their business impacts our environment,
the community and our world. CSOs can play an influential and vital role in
moving companies in the right direction quickly.
Eric Hansel
is
the president of EGM Green, the manufacturer of the world’s first eco-friendly
casino tables. Hansel is also leading a team that is coming up with a slot
machine sustainability standard. This standard will pull 25 percent of the
energy used to power slot machines out in the first year. EGM Green also does
lighting retrofits, energy audits, and custom carbon off-set calculation and
implementation. The company also offers expertise in alternative energy from
solar to wind and geothermal. For more
information, contact Hansel at eric@egmgreen.com or (201) 927-3526.
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