How Risky is Your Environmental Performance to Your Bottom Line and Your Business Reputation?
Being green can actually get you out of the red. Being green isn’t about ‘tree hugging’ it’s a serious business strategy which will not only save massive amounts of waste in your business but also elevate your business reputation.
Environmental Risk Evaluation Questionnaire:
Question Yes No
1. Have you ever assessed the environmental aspects and impacts of your site and/or your business operations?
2. Does your company have a formal environmental policy or anything else that could be construed as a sign of pro-active environmental management, including ongoing environmental audits, systems or checklists?
3. Does anyone in your company have environmental responsibilities included in their job description, key performance indicators or other form of performance evaluation?
4. Does your company include environmental performance in its Annual Report?
5. Does your company have a previous record of environmental non-compliance?
6. Does your company select suppliers on the basis of demonstrated track record on environmental performance?
7. Does your company have any cash flow exposure in the event of contractual or legal issues arising from an environmental incident?
8. Have your bank, other lenders or insurers ever asked you about your company's track record or liabilities related to environmental non-compliance?
9. Is your company losing good staff directly to your competitors or failing to recruit good staff on the basis of its environmental performance?
10. Has your company done any benchmarking or risk analysis around keeping ahead of the competition, future-proofing and introducing more sustainable concepts and practices?
How Risky Is Your Environmental Performance?
We've processed your results for the survey... here's how you stack up:
The Question Your Answer The Result
- Have you ever assessed the environmental aspects and impacts of your site and/or your business operations? Yes Great!
- Does your company have a formal environmental policy or anything else that could be construed as a sign of pro-active environmental management, including ongoing environmental audits, systems or checklists? Yes Great!
- Does anyone in your company have environmental responsibilities included in their job description, key performance indicators or other form of performance evaluation? Yes Great!
- Does your company include environmental performance in its Annual Report? Yes Great!
- Does your company have a clean record in terms of environmental non-compliance? Yes Great!
- Does your company select suppliers on the basis of demonstrated track record on environmental performance? Yes Great!
- Does your company have any cash flow exposure in the event of contractual or legal issues arising from an environmental incident? No Great!
- Have your bank, other lenders or insurers ever asked you about your company's track record or liabilities related to environmental non-compliance? No Great!
- Is your company losing good staff directly to your competitors or failing to recruit good staff on the basis of its environmental performance? No Great!
- Has your company done any benchmarking or risk analysis around keeping ahead of the competition, future-proofing and introducing more sustainable concepts and practices? Yes Great!
Total right:
Total wrong:
Percentage: %
Results
HOW DID YOU RATE?
Note: You probably found it annoying that we only offered you two choices - Yes and No. This was deliberate. In our experience if we offer three or even five choices, most people tend to go for the middle ground. This way you have to decide on one choice or the other.
If you answered "No" for Questions 1-6...
...then you may have some environmental challenges.
The good news is, you can start to do better right away: one of the manufacturing companies Clare worked with employed a tertiary student to do some investigations over the summer holidays and saved over $NZ 400,000 a year as a result of their first environmental initiative.
If you answered "Yes" for Questions 1-6...
...then you may have some more environmental challenges!
The bad news is, environmental issues may already be costing you money - but again, there will never be a better time to start than now. One of the contracting companies Clare has worked with was starting to lose work because of their poor environmental track record. They committed to doing better and in four years, had tripled their turnover.
If you answered mostly "No" for Questions 1-6 and mostly "Yes" for Questions 7-10...
...then congratulations! You are obviously doing well in your workplace. But remember that, in the words of philosopher Malcolm Kushner, ‘people who rest on their laurels are wearing them on the wrong end'. Carry on with that continual improvement!
About the Author of this Questionnaire
Clare Feeney is an speaker, author and environmental consultant. Her environmental career has seen her work with central, regional and local government, in universities and with manufacturers, farmers, first peoples, community groups and water supply, stormwater and sewerage utilities. She inspires people to see the world in a different way and empowers them to take practical steps towards better business, a healthier environment and a happier global community.
Her real-world environmental consulting work together with her public speaking let her share her unique take on business and the environment with a wide audience.
About Clare Feeney
Clare Feeney is a consultant, author and speaker on business, economics and the environment.