Green At Work: High Technology

As individuals search for ways to take positive steps toward a sustainable future, they’re taking a closer look at the choices they make at work.  As a result, workplace green initiatives are sprouting around the globe in record numbers.  As employees find like-minded, environmentally passionate co-workers, momentum begins to build that leads to positive change.  Each week Work Goes Green by GreenTech TV.com explores this new world of grassroots environmental change by talking with the people who are leading the charge in companies and organizations around the world.

 

 

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California Synaptics is a leading developer of human interface solutions for the mobile computing, communications, and entertainment industries.  Consumer electronics and computing manufacturers use Synaptics' solutions to enrich the interaction between humans and intelligent devices through improved usability, functionality, and industrial design 

 

From a workplace sustainability perspective, Synaptics also has a very progressive Green Team that is actively turning management and employees into passionate advocates of workplace sustainability.  We sat down with Jim Harrington, Vice President of Human Resources and one of Synaptics’ earliest green pioneers, to find out what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.

 

DEBORAH:

 

Why do you think grassroots efforts are so successful when it comes to shifting the sustainability culture in workplaces?  

 

JIM:

 

I’ve implemented programs in the past where it feels like it’s a top-down Human Resources initiative only.  Even when the program was successful, I wouldn’t characterize the employee engagement as passionate, or the growth in involvement as viral.  You’ve got to make people feel empowered.  Getting people involved at the grassroots level and then supporting their grassroots efforts unleashes the enthusiasm that drives change.

 

DEBORAH:

 

How do you get people involved?

 

JIM:

 

About a year ago we made communication a priority.  We use bulletin boards, the Synaptics internal website, and events to get the word out.  Now people know what we’re doing.  It sounds simple, but it’s easy to get focused on green projects and initiatives and ignore talking about it.  But that’s where the opportunity for growing the grass movement effort lies, and that’s how a green culture needs to build its foundation.

 

DEBORAH:

 

What kinds of events have you sponsored, and how successful have they been?

 

JIM:

 

A lot of people didn’t realize all the things we were doing and when they come to an event and find out, they’re really proud of it.

 

This year we held our first Earth Day event and over thirty per cent of our employees showed up.  We had sustainability vendors, a keynote speaker, and our own booth.  In addition to being a great way to communicate what we’re doing, events strengthen our sense of community, providing a great opportunity for creating social connections.  

 

At our Earth Day event we had executive management side by side with technicians talking with vendors and their interest and concern was the same.

 

We also sponsored Bike Week in May and had a record turn-out.  People biked to work for an entire week, we gave out T-shirts, and it was a great “vehicle” for continuing the green conversation, and sustaining the momentum.  Social events are the most powerful way to communicate and get people involved.

 

DEBORAH:

 

Now that people are more aware of what you’re doing, do they have ideas of their own that they bring forward?  If so, how do you work with them?

 

JIM:

 

More and more employees are submitting ideas to the Green Team.  We review each one to see if we can support it.  Most of the time we do.  Sometimes we can’t.  What’s critical is to have a closed loop feedback system.  We always communicate the outcome back to the individual who brought the idea to us.  

 

It’s usually one of three things.  We can’t do it right now, but it’s a good idea for the future or we can do it right now, or we’ll never be able to do it because it’s not in the best interests of the employees or the company.  We look to do things that are sustainable.  We don’t want to do one-shot projects.  We never want to initiate things that we can’t live up to over the long term.

 

DEBORAH:

 

Now that you’re communicating more, and the grassroots interest is growing, are you seeing a shift to an overall green culture here at Synaptics?

 

JIM:

 

Absolutely.  In fact, green has become such a motivational common denominator among our employees that we even layer green promotions and education over programs that aren’t technically about sustainability.  For example, as part of a program to reward employee performance we gave out 25 Giants tickets and added a public transportation incentive on top of it.

 

Layering green messages and programming onto existing programs is a great way to leverage your communication efforts and keep the conversation going.

 

We also had a carpooling program that had been initiated independently of the green team.  When the green team got behind it, promoting it on the website, creating incentives, and educating people, the program took off.

 

DEBORAH:

 

So what’s next?

 

JIM:

 

This month we’re working on a couple of things.  First, we’re adding a blog site to our green communication tool kit, and secondly we’re taking the team global.  The head of our green team is taking a worldwide trip to Synaptics locations around the globe with the purpose of establishing a broad worldwide green committee.

 

DEBORAH:

 

I still find it amazing that you’ve accomplished so much in a year.  How would you sum up the secret to your success at Synaptics?

 

JIM:

 

You have to have the employees with you.  To make anything successful from a social responsibility point of view- whether it’s sustainability or corporate governance, you have to have people’s hearts and heads into it.  You start with a core group of employees, not based on title, but based on their passion.  Passion is what drives change in a company and that’s what we’re trying to do.  We’re trying to drive change.