Sustainable Reporting

Measurement is the conscience of good intentions. Among Steelcase customers, Chevron has raised the bar on sustainability to a new level by including metrics in their furniture purchase agreement and reviewing key performance indicators every quarter during business review sessions.

For Deborah, Chevron's high standards provide another way that Steelcase can add value and make a difference.

"By collecting and analyzing every detail down to the finish level about the furniture products they purchase, we're able to help Chevron achieve their sustainability goals. It's an important part of their core values and beliefs, and they make it clear that it also needs to be important to the companies they work with."

The goals are all part of "The Chevron Way," says Elizabeth Corless Davis, who is responsible for the relationship with Steelcase in her role as Global Category Manager for Chevron Business and Real Estate Services, a division of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. Beginning in 2009, Davis worked with Steelcase to establish new measures for performance.

"As one of our foundational values, we place the highest priority on the health and safety of our workforce and protection of our assets and the environment. Every part of our organization is committed to it. So it's important that our investments in products are fully in line with our environmental and safety goals," says Davis.

Establishing the metrics was a collaborative effort. The end result was a set of key performance measures that are actively reviewed and discussed quarterly in Business Review sessions. The purpose, says Davis, is to maximize the value of the relationship for both organizations by clearly defining excellence and identifying areas for continuous improvement. The reviews go beyond a quick flip through spreadsheets: as important to Chevron as the goals themselves is understanding how they're being achieved.

Chevron was seeking metrics that were different from those Steelcase routinely collects. So at the onset Deborah formed a cross-functional committee to get the required information, and from there the questions started flying fast - for example, if the goal is to purchase products that are indoor air quality certified, how do we get to the goal?

"At the beginning, it was difficult. We met every two weeks and it still wasn't enough. Behind each door there were three more doors to get us where we needed to be. But once we started really looking at the data, we could begin to see ways to get better. It really is true that what gets measured gets done."

Today that committee is a close network of people within Steelcase who continue to collaborate to rapidly uncover information and solve customer problems. By focusing on internal metrics, we can measure the impact of customer's decisions. It helps understand where they place value, and it creates dialog about what we're doing and why. As work progresses at Steelcase to automate reporting to a full depth of detail, custom reporting for customers underscores our solid commitment to the platforms of materials chemistry, lifecycle assessment and recycle/reuse. Since 2008, customer requests for customized metrics reporting have quadrupled.

Sustainability comes naturally for Deborah. Spending summers on her grandfather's farm, she learned firsthand the importance of crop rotation as a means to make sure the soil stays enriched.

"You don't destroy what's important to you. Sustainability isn't just about checking off a box or showing a pie chart you flash through. It's a continuous commitment to learning, sharing and applying new information."

"The rigor of measurements always keeps it fresh and new." ■