Page 66 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

HR PRACTICES AND PROCESSES THAT MAKE SUSTAINABLE VALUES STICK 45

CULTURE BUILDING
Addressing these issues amounts to culture building. Anthropologists tend to define a
culture as a group of people with a shared sense of history, a language they hold in com-
mon, rituals that the group engages in, and rules of engagement that provide an overall
governance structure. Those are the ties that make a community from a loose con-
federation of individuals. These were the same elements a business such as Melaver,
Inc. needed to bind together to create a lasting community. Let’s consider each ele-
ment in greater detail.

Issues of Governance

The Oxford English Dictionary defines governance as proceedings or doings in
business having to do with one’s mode of living, behavior, and demeanor. In everyday
parlance, we think of governance as the basic rules of the road: those ethical codes that
guide wise behavior, the way a system is ordered, the various roles we all play in that
organization, and the delegation of rights, responsibilities, and authority. All of these
various facets of a system help shape the way a culture looks and feels and behaves.
In the case of a values-oriented company focused on a green bottom line, how such
facets of a system are constructed is indeed critical. Governance includes four key ele-
ments: values, organizational structure, leadership, and decision making.

VALUES
1
If you check the website of Melaver, Inc. you will find wonderful stories that tell
how it evolved into the sustainable development company it is today. One of my favorites
addresses the values of Melaver, Inc.’s predecessor company, M&M Supermarkets
(1940–1985):

During the first forty-five years in business as a supermarket operation, the term core
values didn’t exist at Melaver. Values were simply the way we all worked and lived.
“Do the Right Thing” was the litmus test for everything. The rest just fell into place.
A few years back, we sat down as a company over a period of six months and asked
each individual employee what mattered most. We distilled the long list to four values
that matter most to us: ethical behavior, learning, service, and profitability. What is
amazing is how precisely these values match how the family has managed its busi-
ness for the past sixty years.
Melaver, Inc. is in the service business. We always have been. We’ve always pushed
ourselves to innovate, learn, and of course to profit by constantly improving upon the
services we provide. But we also believe that our community profits from the ways we
give back to it. Giving back is all about doing the right thing. This leads back to being
a service company. Do Right. Learn. Serve. Profit. It’s a closed loop.