Innovation + Responsibility

Did you hear about the addition of a LEED Gold certified building to eBay's real estate portfolio? Libby Reder, who runs eBay's employee green team (and who is quoted in the article about the new building) is a business school classmate of mine and when I  saw Libby at a birthday party this weekend and she was aglow about the new building opening. "We're over 1,000," she beamed at me, referring to the number of employees (out of a total of 15,000) who are members of eBay's green team - the company's initiative to engage its employees in its various sustainability efforts.  I've been impressed with eBay's green team success.  And it has often left me scratching my head and wondering, "Where are we (let's face it, where am I!) going wrong?"

Anyone who reads this space knows that I spend a lot of time thinking about how to get our employees to connect to Sun's various social and eco responsibility efforts (here, here and here). Our team has established an internal advisory council (as of today there are about 45 employees - out of 34,000+ - who have signed up for this group), a Facebook group, online forums on SunWeb (our intranet), hosted an employee eco summit, etc. Not to mention the regular cadence of emails from Dave Douglas, our VP of Eco Responsibility, encouraging and empowering employees to put a green angle on their jobs. We use all these outlets to give Sun employees from around the globe an opportunity to plug directly into our team's work, offer their feedback and even run with projects of their own if they so choose.

A few months ago I started a Facebook group for Sun employees - the Sun Employee Sustainability Network.  To date, 125 employees - out of more than 6,100 Sun employees on Facebook - joined this group, which is only open to people in the Sun Microsystems Facebook network. Compare that to the 275 employees who joined the group, "Inclusion@Sun," which focuses on our company's efforts to create an inclusive workplace environment.  Then there is the Sun Microsystem Facebook Fridays group, which is made up of current Sun employees that are interested in connecting to our company's social media efforts.  This group has a whopping 1,200 members! (other Sun Facebook groups, like Friends of the Foundation, are open to anyone so they are not a perfect comparison).  Does that mean that 10 times as many Sun employees want to connect with each other and our company around social media news than want to connect with each other and our company around our efforts to be a more responsible, sustainable business?

I'm not sure this is true but I can't seem to crack this nut. Some of my hypotheses include:

1. The name: Maybe employees don't know what "Sustainability" is exactly. Should we just call it "Corporate Social Responsibility" (or CSR)? What about Eco Responsibility - that seems to have a lot of traction within Sun.  But at the same time, it feels so narrow. Then again, eBay calls it the "Green Team" and it works.
   
   
2. The size: We have 33,000 employees at Sun. That's more than 2x the number of eBay's employees.  I think this would mean that we would have more - not fewer - employees interested and engaged in our efforts.  Especially considering the global scope of our company.  But maybe there is something about our large size that prevents employees from participating in a centralized team of this nature.  That doesn't explain the nearly 1,200 folks in the Facebook social media community. But maybe it calls for more regional sustainability networks rather than one central network.
   
   
3. The demographics: I'm sure you've heard of Sun's Open Work program - if not, you can (and should) read about it here and here. It's an amazing program that allows more than 50 percent of Sun employees not to have an assigned office. That means we are able to work from the location that makes the most sense for us and the company on any given day (I am writing this from a coffee shop on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles, where I have been working all week (LA, not the coffee shop!)).  The location that makes the most sense isn't always one of Sun's campuses around the world. Sometimes it's a customer site, home, a coffee shop, a library, a hotel room - you get the point. Open Work has awesome environmental benefits.  But does it hinder our efforts to create a viable, active community of employees dedicated to Sun as a socially and environmentally responsible company?
   
   
4. The possibility: I suppose it is possible that Sun employees just are not interested in getting personally involved in our company's sustainability/CSR/Eco Responsibility efforts. I find it hard to believe, especially considering employees' high expectations for Sun as a "corporate citizen."  But then again, it is possible. People are busy, they have enough to worry about in their own lives - their families, the economy, the war in Iraq - and they are working their tails off to help Sun be successful - after all, all the environmental initiatives in the world won't matter if we can't be a successful, profitable company.  I tend not to think this is the case...but maybe I am way off.
   

Why does it even matter? you may wonder.  Well,  I believe our planet is facing an "all hands on deck" situation with respect to our environmental challenges.  And I believe strongly that as employees of large, global
companies we have an incredible opportunity to have a huge and positive
environmental impact by changing the way our companies operate
day-to-day, in addition to any individual actions we may take.

Does anyone have any insight you are willing to share?  I'm open to ideas, suggestions, help of any kind (pretty please!)!  You can post comments here or email me directly at csr at sun dot com.