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Building Green in a Black and White World-- Chapter 4

The following is an exerpt from the book Building Green in a Black and White World. Section 2; Chapter 4; Part 2; Creating the Vision--Building Your Company For the Long Run

David Ritchey Johnston
January 1, 1900
HousingZone

-------Building Your Compnay for the Long Run--------

In his book, Change Leaders, management consultant, Peter Drucker, states: "One thing is certain: We face years of profound changes. It is futile to try to ignore the changes and to pretend that tomorrow will be like yesterday, only more so. . . . The changes are not predictable. The only policy likely to succeed . . . is to make the future."

Pulling Together Through Change

Focusing on your company’s ability to change creates flexibility in how you do things. That built-in flexibility allows you not only to lead the market by building green, but it can help you deal with the ever-changing market itself. The economy has been good for an unprecedented length of time. But any builder who has been around for a few decades knows that building homes can be an economic roller-coaster ride. You have to be able to withstand the down times by knowing how to ride it out. A strong commitment to a corporate vision can help everyone get through the hard times together.

A case in point was my construction company, Lightworks Construction. We were committed to creating a culture that was employee-friendly. We spent a great deal of time creating an environment where employees felt that they had a role in the direction of the company and how it was managed, and that they shared in the profitability of the entire operation.

Boat-people We created a corporate mission together. In developing the mission, we explored variations of management styles and job production and discussed the quality of buildings we wanted to build. Each month we had a town meeting with an outside facilitator to keep personal issues from building up and to improve open communication. Each field employee had experience in being a part of a crew. They built such trust, cooperation, and flow that every member of the crew knew exactly his/her job. The crew experience created a bond between them that was, at times, deeper than family. Laying a good foundation from the beginning gave us the strength to make things work over the long haul.

We made a significant investment in our people, knowing that replacement was difficult and expensive. We often "mixed it up" to give our crew the experience of working with different people. We trained young carpenters under different lead carpenters. This training increased their skill base and brought the team closer together. As a result, the guys spent a lot of time together both at work and after hours.

We experienced good times and tough times, as in all construction companies. When times were good we played together and celebrated our successes. When times were difficult we pulled together to figure out how to get through them. This was the real test of our corporate culture, because with tough times come fear and apprehension of the future. Human nature is such that fear often brings out self-interest over the collective good.

The greatest test was during the recession of the late ‘80s. The Washington, D.C., market was supposed to be recession-proof. The market had been hot for years and we had been able to build and grow as if there were no tomorrow--only tomorrow hit us like a ton of bricks falling from a scaffold. When the recession hit D.C., it was as though someone threw a circuit breaker, and the market just stopped. The recession-proof city took an economic dive, and construction was one of the hardest-hit sectors.

The only option we saw was to downsize, but we couldn’t downsize fast enough. For the first time, we started losing money month after month. The overhead monster was nipping at our tails. It came to the point where we had to start laying off carpenters. It was a tough decision. We knew their wives and kids. We knew their dogs by name. We knew their life stories. These were friends, not just employees.

We went through the first round of layoffs with much anguish. There was a little fat in the company and that went first. When we got down to the real meat, the highly skilled carpenters, it became even more difficult. We called a town meeting and discussed our plight with the entire company. It was clear that there wasn’t enough work for everyone and that a few field employees had to go or the company was going to go down. I asked the guys for input and suggestions.

Dennis Allen
Allen Associates, Santa Barbara
(805) 682-4305

Dennis Allen is president of Allen and Associates, a 60-person construction firm that focuses mainly on high-end residential homes while doing some commercial building. Dennis got involved with solar energy in the mid-1970s, but it wasn’t until 1999, that others in the company decided to make Allen Associates a green company, incorporating sustainable measures on all their projects. For the past two years they have won the Green Builder of the Year Award for their region and have had projects featured in national publications, including one especially innovative project that was on the cover of Solar Age.

Unbeknownst to us office guys, the field employees went to a bar after the meeting to discuss the situation. They sent a representative into the office the next day to tell us what they had decided. Rather than lay anybody else off, they each committed to take a 15 percent cut in wages. Their back of-the-napkin calculations the night before showed that they would save enough to keep everyone employed. We were blown away by the generosity of spirit behind the suggestion. We could only honor their wishes and keep everyone on board.

Over the next few months, they worked their tails off. They would come to the job on weekends to get ahead and not bill the company for the hours. They would salvage materials from one job-site to augment another. They helped each other bring jobs in under budget so the surplus could keep the office staff employed. We produced like we never had before.

We made it through the worst of times by everyone pulling together and working as one mind and one heart. The company was more that a job: it was their life. And together they made it work.

The bottom line is that you are not just creating a sustainable green company, you are doing better business. And better business is not just getting the technical know-how you need; your real competitive advantage lies in your leadership and how well you work with your people.

Creating a Green Culture

Dennis Allen built some of the first solar homes in Santa Barbara. He sees a revival of solar in the marketplace and a burgeoning interest in green building. A group of architects, planners, city officials, interior designers, and Allen, the only builder, started the Sustainability Project in Santa Barbara. Allen Associates did most of the green projects in Santa Barbara. They never imposed it on clients, partners, or their supervisors, but they kept getting green work.

"During a business planning process with a consultant, the core group of company participants wanted to make the entire company green. It’s quite a process to integrate new values into a company. Ten key employees started the process, with a retired VP of Gillette as facilitator. Then we held subsequent meetings with the partners and business manager," says Allen.

Re-Envisioning the Company

The process was not just about greening the company, but re-envisioning the company. To make the company consistent with the values identified by the core group, Allen Associates looked at how it conducted business across the board. This included starting a process of management by objectives. Once the company had identified its mission and objectives, each key staff member developed personal objectives to meet company objectives. Extra compensation and bonuses were tied to meeting the objectives.

Training Employees and Working With Trades

Allen trained junior employees and foremen in bimonthly sessions that included the specifics of green building, managing the trades, dealing with clients, and being more productive. In addition, Allen reached out to the trades and talked to them about how to make it work for them as well. This resulted in keeping costs in line, increased productivity, and other basic benefits to the trades companies.

In summary, to make the change to green values within your company:

Start with your vision. Talk about it, get input on it, and invite your employees to think about the vision and add their ideas.

Create a mission statement that will guide your decisions.

When it comes time to actually implement the vision and mission, empower you employees to make decisions and take actions in line with the vision.

Develop a strong team that will be flexible enough to pull through even the hard times.

Your employees, after all, are the ones who are "hands on," and they know the daily workings of the business well. Their buy-in and their expertise are key to implementing green changes.

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