2009 The Natural Step
“A real live one”- Iron Maiden
Level 1 Course
27th April 2010
2009 The Natural Step
• Swedish farmers’ movement founded on site in several stages
Business case
• Business school for young farmers established in 1944
• A rich farm since the late 1700’s
• Final formation of Federation of Swedish Farmers on site april
1970 . All education activities moved from headquarters to Sånga-
Säby. Residential college est with two political parties and an
adult study organisation
2009 The Natural Step
Huge wear-and-tear of all establishments after the economic boom
The setting: late ’80s
Dramatic industry expansion; conference hotels, due to lift on alcohol taxation
The market pitch: ”beautiful nature scenery by the lake in less than 1 hour from Stockholm Central” now fits over 800 000 hotel beds
Owner is member based, culture is ”deliver to the member”
Having in-house AND external operations is difficult and expensive
One student takes environmental inventory of establishment as exam paper...guess who...
2009 The Natural Step
Recession hits Sweden badly
Early ´90s
Develop or sell? Project team assembled.
Decision: ”Trust the brand - go all in!” Renovations made at market value of SEK 70M, cost SEK 35M. Full environmental and quality scope.
Seasoned hotelier recruited as new CEO. Environmental- & marketing manager recruited to report straight to CEO and be part of corporation environmental strategy team. (Yup – same guy...)
2009 The Natural Step
All staff trained by TNS
Late ´90s
Strategy 1; ”most environmentally
developed hotel in Sweden” by saying ”don’t trust us – trust the proof”. Breaking Holy Law.
Trust, mandate and budget given all staff: meet economic goals first,
quality second and environmental third – that builds the bonus.
Strategy 2; some cost-inefficiency is
accepted short-term; ”prove them wrong” is key.
2009 The Natural Step
Maximum exposure and transparency – no CBS
System
Success
Strategy
Actions
Tools
Staff will make or break – let them create and trust the process
Prime tool: environmental manager coaching and serving in-house, communicating outside
Added value beyond expectency will win – if credible
Severely over-crowded marketplace of ”same-same but different...”
A five-level Framework
2009 The Natural Step
Sustainability Principles
and in that society...
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing...
1...concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust,
2...concentrations of substances produced by society,
3...degradation by physical means,
4...people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.
2009 The Natural Step
2009 The Natural Step
1 100% renewable energy
System condition-sorting
2 80% chemical reduction in housekeeping/cleaning
3 Only food from swedish farmers, as much eco-labelled as possible, only swedish natural materials in
design/deco, 100% recycling on all biomass (including sewage)
4 Staff turnover half compared to industry, virtually no long- term sick-leaves, not a single workplace accident for six years
2009 The Natural Step
First in Europe with double ISO
First with EMAS
Enforced Nordic Swan labelling (and first)
IH&RA world champions in 1998
David & Goliath: Scandic Hotels friend/foe
Called ”liars” = 8-12% net profit 1997-2001
Free marketing in media and ONE self-made marketing product: last years’ environmental report (64 key ratios in 4 SC format)...
Still ahead of the pack and guest buy-in is still there
Some outcome
2009 The Natural Step
The ABCD-process
Awareness & Vision
Baseline analysis
Prioritisation
Future
VisionActions & solutions
2009 The Natural Step
Build the team first, the process second
Some learnings
”Walk your talk” is a clichée. ”Prove it” is evidence...especially internally! You will be scrutinized.
”Love hurts” – Nazareth. ”Change hurts more” – Jimmy Sjöblom. Be humble.
Kill your darlings and check your tractors...