How do you take a large company from having no formal environmental policy or strategies to one of the leaders in their industry on a global level in just 5 years? For PVH, the answer is through the grassroots efforts of its employees.
Back in 2009, the CEO Manny Chirico was ending his annual State of the Business meeting with employees and asked for any questions from the employee audience? One of their Assistant Buyers got up the courage to go to the microphone and ask what PVH was doing in support of the environment. The CEO was surprised by the question and acknowledged he wasn’t aware of specific efforts at the company around this issue, but promised that he would ask employees starting on the very next day to identify what the company should be doing and how they should be doing it.
Five years later, employees like Bryan Duggan, Director of Office Services in their Bridgewater, New Jersey office, have stepped forward to provide leadership on a wide range of environmental programs and activities that have made a major impact not only on the communities in which it operates, but also on the company’s bottom line performance.
Bryan has helped form an environmental team in the Bridgewater office that has grown to nearly 100 volunteers who now participate regularly in activities outside of PVH like the many environmental clean-ups they’ve performed over the past few years. The team has made trips to the Hackensack River, Washington State Park, Liberty State Park, and many other locations in groups of 20 to 25 employees. “The clean-ups have become so popular that we now have waiting lists,” Bryan said, “and the company has been so supportive of our efforts.”
PVH encourages participation in community service activities through its Paid Volunteer Hours Program which give employees the benefit of up to 48 hours paid time off each year to perform community service work on company time. Employees, Managers as well as Senior Executives all make use of the program to give back to their communities, and find this aspect of working for PVH a real motivator in joining and staying with the company. “One of the things that really resonated with me when I first joined was PVH Cares, that supporting the community was more than something on paper, that it was woven into the fabric of the culture here, and gives people a sense of pride in working for the company.” PVH Cares is how the company branded its annual fund raising campaign that has evolved to a year-round set of fund-raising and volunteer activities, not just a one-time event.
“If it wasn’t for the help and guidance that we’ve gotten from EarthShare New Jersey, I don’t know that we would have been able to do all of this,” said Bryan. “We didn’t know a lot about what was needed both inside and outside the company, and EarthShare has been great about steering us in the right direction. Now when people come to us and ask what they can do to help and how to get involved, we turn to EarthShare who helps us with answers.”
Bryan and the local environmental team have put many other programs in place inside the company including recycling programs, eliminated bottled water by installing filtered water dispensers in employee kitchens, and much more. But the biggest initiative by far was the major investment the company made in installing solar panels on the roof of its Bridgewater office, headed up by Bryan and his Office Services team. The half-million dollar investment in the solar panels has really paid off for the company and its clean energy initiatives. The office has grown to nearly 1,000 employees over the past 5 years, representing a 40% increase in the employee population at the facility, but has lowered power consumption by an equivalent 40%, thanks largely to the solar panel initiative along with other changes made on installing more efficient lighting, water conservation, and composting. “These initiatives are good for the environment, the community, AND the company all at the same time,” said Bryan.
Bryan’s interest in environmental issues is also a personal one. He is an avid photographer and has a real passion for nature photography, having displayed his work at many of the public EarthShare events. His images of the New Jersey landscape, beaches, wildlife, and forests show a real sense of affection and respect for nature. He also has a keen appreciation of the interrelationship of people, the environment and the workplace, “At our office, we’re surrounded by nature and wilderness, and the environment is literally outside the door, not just in the abstract. We have deer, wild turkeys, and bears visit us occasionally here, and we have employees out on walking trails that we’ve set up.”
PVH has also been a leader with major impact on a global level, and has focused heavily on environmental stewardship related to its facilities around the world, integrating sound environmental practices in its manufacturing and packaging of its products, and in its global supply chain. In 2012, they also announced a landmark agreement that was made possible through their leadership regarding fire and building safety in its factories, specifically in Bangladesh. “We really care about the communities in which we operate,” said Bryan. PVH has also conducted seminars on supplier environmental issues to minimize risks in their supply chain, and it is a leader in not only environmental issues around the world but in human rights issues as well.“We are very much aware that the things we sell in our stores have to come from somewhere. And making sure we do this in an environmentally and socially responsible way is very important to us,” said Bryan.
In Bryan’s case, the commitment to the environment is a perfect marriage of personal commitment and work responsibilities, “I’ve been fortunate to be able to get involved and have a direct impact because of my role in the company.” Like so many of the other PVH volunteers who formed the grassroots effort at the company, Bryan and his team nstrate the true spirit of “PVH Cares.”