Is Doing the Bare Minimum Ever Good Enough?

While a ship captain may want to get past the waves to smooth sail down the coast, a leader in environmental management needs to be aware of changes in the industry. Whether it is regulatory forces, budgeting, the effects of the pandemic, or adapting to new technologies and innovation, there is rarely a time to “coast.”
It doesn’t matter if you are a significant waste management company, a utility dealing with CCR management, a small private/public landfill, or a development company trying to transform an environmental eyesore into usable space. It is critical to have an environmental management plan that can be flexible with the changing regulations and expectations.

So, no- doing the bare minimum is never enough. Maybe a better question is, “Is your environmental plan malleable?”

A quality environmental plan is not carved into stone, unable to change. It’s the opposite. Setting your plan to be prepared for the oncoming waves and continuously improve is a plan for success.

With a continuous quality improvement in your processes, you won’t be coasting, but you will weather the waves.

Continuous Quality Improvement

An organization can improve its environmental management processes and outcomes through a good plan and the right tools. Benefits are not restricted simply to internal operations. By demonstrating a commitment to environmental management, you can develop positive relations with external stakeholders, such as investors, insurers, customers, suppliers, regulators, and the local community. This, in turn, can lead to an improved corporate image and financial benefits, such as increased investment, customer sales, and market share.

A good example of this process is taking the lead from one of the “waste industry experts,” Waste Management. When asked about the possible election results during the most recent earnings call Jim Fish, President and Chief Executive Officer, responded;

“… we’ve said that regulation is actually, in a strange way, a good thing for WM because we hold ourselves to a very high regulatory standard, environmental standard.
And so any additional regulation actually tends to work in our favor. So to the extent that that comes out of tomorrow’s election, that could be a good thing for us.”

The confidence in which a sound environmental plan can yield at the highest levels of environmental stewardship is evident when leadership is flexible for any possible outcome and can be obtained across the many participants in the environmental space. It all starts with self-awareness and planning.

Consider asking yourself these questions:

Does my organization foster environmental management plan improvement?

As mentioned, space for continuous improvement is imperative. Your process needs to be able to intake any new changes, apply necessary adaptations, and continue business activities.

With a stagnant process, your data can be unreliable and out of compliance. By the time a decision to modernize the processes to current expectations is made, you are climbing a mountain. With continuous improvement, the changes are part of the regular activity and will not be as challenging.

Does my organization have the right internal and external influencers?

If you lost your keys in the living room but are looking in the kitchen to find them, there is a 100% chance you will not find them. Leaders in environmental space cannot have tunnel vision when looking for solutions to their environmental challenges. Instead, being aware of a variety of resources will widen your options when solving the challenges faced. These resources include internal teams and external partners, like consultants.

Does my organization have an environmental management plan that is flexible, adaptive, and systematic?

If you can check these three boxes, your organization is ready for any external forces changing the environmental landscape. A flexible, adaptive, and systematic plan will be successful with each change in the environmental management industry.

Here at EnCAP-IT, we pride ourselves on our CORE, which we continuously improve. We are working to raise the standards of Mechanically Stabilized Earthen structures with creative solutions that can answer unique challenges. A standardized solution platform provides resources and tools to leaders in the environmental management space to know new and innovative methods.

When we think that we have figured it all out, we restart the process all over again.