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Where Am I? Sustainability > Sustainability in Action > Employee Engagement

Engaging Our Employees in the Journey

  • At Interface, we recognize that the success of our sustainability mission depends on the support and involvement of our employees. We have intentionally fostered a culture that integrates sustainability principles and seeks to improve people’s lives and livelihoods. Our employees are some of our most important stakeholders and our investment in educating and engaging them around sustainability has been rewarded. We see the results not only in increased productivity, higher retention rates and a safer and healthier work environment, but also in the thoughtful and innovative culture that now exists at Interface.

    When Interface first embarked on its journey toward sustainability, the company was introduced to organizational learning through innovative programs like “Play to Win” from Pecos River. This program taught effective and open communication, as well as support and acceptance of change through experiential learning. Impressed with this program and inspired by the framework of The Natural Step, Interface created an internal team, One World Learning (OWL), dedicated to taking these principles to all of Interface’s global employees. OWL helped Interface establish the learning and development culture that continues at Interface today.

    Because maintaining and continuing to build on this innovative culture is important to Interface, we have embraced Gallup’s Q12 process to measure and track our employee engagement. Interface surveys all employees annually at all levels of the organizations to obtain their feedback.

  • Employee Programs

    Sustainable Growth of Associates

    Interface provides associates with a variety of programs to help them understand and fulfill their role in Interface’s Mission Zero™. The programs are designed to educate associates about sustainability and provide an opportunity for them to take action to reduce either the company or their personal impacts.

    Gallup

    Interface adopted Gallup’s Strengths-Based Development program to enhance productivity and promote associate development. Studies indicate that associates who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general. To learn more about Strengths-Based Development, click here.

    QUEST

    Quality Using Employee Suggestions and Teamwork (QUEST) is Interface’s associate engagement program around waste reduction. Cross functional teams at all business units making their own suggestions for addressing waste issues. QUEST has been a huge success for Interface, resulting in $372 million in cumulative avoided waste cost since inception. Click here to learn more about QUEST.

    Cool Programs

    Interface has introduced programs that educate associates about their carbon footprint and provide opportunities for associates to offset their impact on climate change.
    Cool Co2mmute Associate-inspired program that partners Interface with associates to target and reduce the GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from their daily commutes. Associates calculate and offset their own carbon emissions from commuting. Interface pays half the cost of the offset purchases, making the net average cost to associates $12 each year to be cool drivers.

    Cool Fuel Interface’s Cool Fuel™ program calculates and offsets the carbon emissions from company cars. Since its inception in 2002, the program has offset more than 11,500 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of avoiding emissions from one million gallons of gasoline.

  • Employee Profiles

    A number of Interface associates throughout the company have found unique ways to continually engage colleagues across all levels and promote both professional and personal sustainability. Here's what some of these individuals have accomplished:

    Charlotte Extercatte
    European Sustainability Manager, Interface Europe
    Since 2007, Charlotte has run Fast Forward to 2020, a training program of more than 20 sessions designed to connect associates with our mission and educate them on sustainability basics. Charlotte has reached all Interface’s European manufacturing associates with Fast Forward to 2020, and provided in depth sessions for managers to educate and inspire them in their sustainability leadership roles. She has also trained a cross-functional team of Sustainability Ambassadors to deliver environmental training campaigns across their departments.

    Wichit Sanguannam
    Sustainability Supervisor, InterfaceFLOR Thailand
    Embracing the role of teacher, Wichit has begun educating and inspiring associates on sustainability with monthly movie screenings such as, “The Corporation” and “The Eleventh Hour” at the new InterfaceFLOR theater. Wichit has also trained all InterfaceFLOR Thailand associates on the basics of Mission Zero and sustainability during monthly Health and Safety meetings.

    Melissa Vernon
    Director of Sustainable Strategy, InterfaceFLOR
    A crucial member of Interface’s Extreme Green Team, Melissa has been engaging customers and external stakeholders in sustainability since 2002, as skilled delivering sustainability trainings to the sales team as she is navigating the intricacies of LEED. In 2005, Melissa launched Legacy Projects during Interface’s national sales meeting, which engages meeting attendees in volunteer projects to give back to the local community. Legacy Projects has evolved into one of the most anticipated parts of the annual meeting.

    Kim Matsoukas
    Sustainability Manager, Bentley Prince Street
    Kim is actively involved in the education and engagement programs at Bentley Prince Street by delivering training sessions, organizing dumpster dives to sort through trash for recyclables, and partnering with local organizations in community service. She is also part of the internal “green team” which focuses on recycling, increasing alternative transportation use, reducing energy use, and minimizing office waste in each department.

    Nadine Gudz
    Sustainable Strategy Manager, InterfaceFLOR Canada
    Since sustainability is such a personal journey for each of us, Nadine takes a critical approach to designing and facilitating learning experiences to engage a range of groups in sustainability education. She has delivered everything from a biomimicry retreat for clients to in depth workshops on Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, LEED, and other topics.

    Bruce Brooks
    Director of Associate Communication, Interface Americas
    Having joined Interface in 2003, Bruce works to make sure that our associates in the Americas are informed about important company milestones, events, people, benefits, news and successes through print and electronic materials, and in company meetings. Bruce works closely with the Interface Americas management team on ideas and programs to engage associates in Mission Zero™ and sustainability-related initiatives and to promote company values and culture. As part of this process, he strives to maintain a two-way dialogue between associates and the senior management team in the Americas through a variety of communications tools.