Going Green™ 1-day workshop
The starting point for your Going Green™ membership is participating in a 1-day workshop; these are either a mixed workshop with a cross-section of participants from other businesses & industries or an in-house workshop with your staff, depending on the number of employees in your business.
The Going Green™ workshop is also available as an in-house option for non members interested in embedding green more significantly into their operations, without joining the Going Green™ programme.
The workshop covers:
1) the process of cost effectively making “going green” work for your business - at your own pace with no complicated compliance, reporting or rules,
2) the big picture when “going green” is applied across every part of your business’s operation,
3) the economically viable green products and services options available that will enable your business to pivot away from the non-green equivalents that you are currently using,
4) how “going green” can be turned into competitive advantage for your business,
5) setting up the framework and small incremental green steps in a phased approach for your business,
6) how to quantifiably measure progress of “going green”.
Purpose of workshop
To set up each business with the simple building blocks needed to start your transition to “going green,
Demonstrate the full depth of embedding sustainability, beyond the obvious,
Show how embedding sustainability across the full breadth of your logistics, operations and supply chain can genuinely build revenue, and how the transition doesn’t necessarily have to increase your cost base,
Enables our team to learn about your business, so that we are able to provide you with best-possible mentoring support.
Why this workshop is important
The lack of simple yet customisable frameworks and detailed guidance, for businesses that aren’t giants, to pivot towards sustainability make it difficult (or near impossible) for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to know what the desired end result should look like, and the steps to get there. Unsurprisingly, studies continue to confirm that the majority of New Zealand SMEs are not engaging with significant sustainability, citing reasons as “too hard in this economy” or “too expensive”.
The learning approach is practical and gives businesses dedicated time to apply the framework to your own unique businesses during the course of the day.
World Economic Forum studies found that businesses which integrate environmental priorities into their business model, tend to outperform peers and attract larger customer bases —provided they also outperform on the fundamentals.
Workshop structure
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Having a calculable baseline is imperative for being able to see and track the impact of bringing sustainability into and across your business. For this we use the Growth through Sustainability (GtS) Multiplier calculation.
The GtS multiplier is a calculation for identifying and tracking incremental revenue value generated from embedding sustainability practices across the key growth drivers of your business. GtS can be used as a key performance indicator (KPI) for your business.
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The Going Green model recognises and optimises the interdependence between revenue, environment, and societal well-being through its operations in the normal course of business.
Identifying and mapping your unique independencies will give you insight into where these independencies sit across your business drivers, and will expose any potential risks, scope, and opportunities for sustainability to be leveraged into revenue growth.
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Looking at your independencies and operations from a different perspective is fundamental to identifying opportunities, anticipating challenges, and future-proofing. Really successful businesses, past and present, are founded on this same principle of capitalising on a new, fresh perspective.
However, most SMEs don’t have the luxury of time to look for different perspectives; they’re too busy being knee-deep in the day-to-day business.
With this in mind, Going Green uses a proprietary business tool called paradox perspective for sustainability; a fast-track method of viewing your unique business through different lens. The paradox perspective is about how two opposing solutions for your particular business drivers, customer experiences, and interdependencies, can be framed into new perspectives, whereby revenue and sustainability go hand-in-hand. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
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To put structure and prioritisation into each business’ unique pathway to Green, insights and ideas are framed into different sized story blocks; each detailing the human component, desirability, and actions required to implement. Each business has their own unique set of story blocks.
Collectively, these story blocks form the single narrative and pathway for your Going Green journey.
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The economic viability & potential growth value of your Going Green pathway is evaluated by revisiting the Growth through Sustainability multiplier. This time, rankings are given based on knowledge and insight gained throughout the day. Story blocks are refined accordingly.
It’s important to revisit your Growth thru Sustainability multiplier every 3-month, to check that you’re doing what is needed to drive new revenue with the Triple Play.
Carolyn Managh is a sustainability expert, former Brand Director at eBay UK, and founding Director of Eco Shepherd, a purpose-led consultancy specialising in making sustainability for businesses more accessible, and sourcing economically, viable sustainable products for small to medium enterprises. Eco Shepherd works across various countries, with offices in Dunedin NZ and New Delhi, India.
Carolyn’s experience comes from 30-year background in marketing and strategy in UK, Europe, Australia and NZ. Working for brands including eBay, Unilever, Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Diageo, Kelloggs and Microsoft.
Carolyn has worked as an impact strategist alongside UN Environment, Global Penguin Society, Men’s Health Australia, India’s Save the Loom Foundation, and NZ Department of Corrections.
Lead moderator