Manager Sustainability Interview Questions And Answers

I have a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. I received my master's degree in environmental engineering from the University of Minnesota. One of the reasons I was a good candidate for the job was my regulatory and environmental health and safety experience in operations and product development. My past jobs required systems thinking. I worked with teams that were cross-functional. Interdisciplinary thinking is a large part of problem solving in sustainability - looking at issues from numerous perspectives for solutions to complex problems. Training has been on the job for me, primarily through webinars and attending workshops and conferences.

There are more courses available to people interested in sustainability jobs today than when I was in school. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus has a minor in sustainability open to all majors and the College of Continuing Education is developing a professional certificate. There are sustainability programs in architecture, agriculture, and business. The Association for the Advancement in Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has resources for people interested in campus sustainability.

What won't be changing? It's very dynamic. Minnesota is at a different place than other states. It's more active on many sustainability-related issues. Jobs could shift to other parts of the country that are just starting to think about sustainability. I think we'll see shifts in jobs based on research and political support. Minnesota will play an important role in our energy future.

Other institutions are working on sustainability too. Hospitals are involved and working on this through their credo of "health care without harm." Businesses have been focused on environmental issues for years. For several years, there has been a shift towards sustainability and the triple-bottom line. Interdisciplinary research and education help bring more holistic approaches. On campus, student interest drives a lot of changes. The Internet is linking students to global ideas and solutions. It's a shift that people of my generation don't always fully appreciate. As these students enter the workforce and become consumers, they will be looking for responsible companies that are being innovative in their solutions. With Minnesota resources, our workforce has an opportunity to prepare for future jobs.

Aha. This is a great question. If your Sustainability Report is not reaching your employees (supported by a proactive process of dialogue) then you are probably not gaining all the potential benefits of reporting. How can employees reflect the company's Sustainability Performance to external stakeholders if they are not familiar with the report? Your SRM should be in close collaboration with the HR function to ensure that the internal organizational processes include engagement with the Sustainability Report.

Be prepared for a non committal response

What is it about the work environment that appeals to you? Perhaps you're applying to be a retail manager because you particularly like the idea of working in a store. Or maybe you're applying to be a construction site manager and you've always been an outdoors type. It will be particularly impressive if you can talk about the challenges and developments facing the industry.

If you're applying for role in transport you could talk about rising fuel costs, for retail you could talk about the role of online shopping and for construction you could talk about sustainability, for example. That would show that you've got business sense and are commercially aware, a crucial skill for a manager.

I'm not going to give you the 'normal' answer you may hear as to which barriers we face when trying to achieve change - I'm going to go with my pet peeve, which is the lack of readily available, and high quality life cycle analysis data. Life cycle analysis data enables you to find out where your biggest impacts are, i.e. how much water you use, how much electricity you use - unfortunately our industry is not quite at the big data age yet. There's a lot of info you can get - but it takes a long time and it's difficult to find.

My typical hours are between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., sometimes earlier or later depending on events and meetings that day. My hours vary depending on the time of year, because in the summer there are fewer student activities. I meet with student groups in the evenings or work on student events or community events during the weekend. As long as I am accessible by phone and Internet, I can get many parts of my job done. There's some flexibility to work from home if I need to. During a normal day, I meet with a variety of people - from large committee meetings that I staff to informal student meetings. I also speak to classes and other groups.

Since I am fairly new to the job, I spend a lot of time learning about everything going on at the University. I often read and e-mail in the evening. I also learn new technical information. For example, trying to learn about B3 energy standards compared to LEED. I benchmark schools and their policies in transportation, dining services, purchasing, etc.

Some people think sustainability is not definable, that it is vague. We are working to define and measure sustainability. Our efforts to show what works (and what doesn't) will hopefully help the public be more informed.

Another misconception is sustainability always costs more and is not practical or that you aren't being fiscally responsible. Reducing energy use and waste can be big costs savers and are first steps to create more sustainable operations. Terminology is important. For many people, when they hear "green," they may assume you have a radical political agenda. Not everyone does. Some people in this field are simply practical problem solvers. Another challenge is misinformation and "green-washing." I hope the university can play a role to help the public wade through information.

There's also controversy of the words "green" and "sustainability" and applying them to things that have happened for years. Regulatory jobs are now called green jobs. Other people think sustainability is a "flash in the pan" and wonder whether it will be around long-term. Making decisions that take into account future generations and life cycle concepts isn't simple, but I think there will always be people working on these issues to get the job done whether or not they are "popular."

Almost all reports are trade-offs. Legal, marketing, finance, HR team members almost always have something they prefer not to disclose for different reasons. In many cases, these "Secrets" may not be critical to the report's integrity but in some cases, they might be quite telling about the organization's challenges. As CEO, you would probably want to know what your people are fearful about disclosing and why.

Asking the question doesn't commit you to providing all the help requested, but it does give you an idea of the state of mind of your SRM. The SRM should be pleased to receive help and support from the CEO and I can think of hundreds of ways the CEO could support the reporting process. An SRM who responds "nothing, really" to this question is probably not doing the best possible job.

Lots of sustainability consulting occurs remotely - in fact, you may find that only 10-20% of billable project hours are spent onsite at your facilities. That means you need to get comfortable with working in a non-face-to-face relationship with your consultant team.

So before you commit, find out how often they expect to be in contact, what forms of communication are preferred, and how they deal with regular status updates. There is no right answer here, but the key is to discuss the options and find a mutually agreeable working relationship.

I'm the Director of Brand Sustainability for adidas, which means I focus on our brand sustainability strategy, new innovations, and business models we're going to implement across our business units and our global creations centers.

The report budget often does not include the woman/man/hours of company employees engaged in the reporting process. It includes consulting, design, PR, marketing, printing and all other associated and easily quantifiable costs. However, doesn't employee time also cost money? As a consultant, I log all my hours and can tell you exactly how much time (and therefore money) I have spent on anything from a major client project right down to this blog post or volunteering work. Knowing the time and cost of your reporting process is half the way to managing it more efficiently.

I have only been in this job for a few years, but I worked in the environmental field for 17 years in the manufacturing industry. In those jobs, I focused on regulations or integrating environmental health and safety aspects into business decision processes. My technical background is helpful in the operations portion of the job since I understand the structure and systems behind operations that can help make the university run more smoothly.

A couple years ago, I wanted to refresh my environmental knowledge and was interested in learning more about current issues like climate change. I looked into classes at the university and found this newly-formed position. It was a fortunate accident. To take this new job meant a pay cut. One thing important to understand about "green jobs" is if you're trying to get into a new field, taking a pay cut might be a choice you have to make. I decided to take this job because it was unique and not one that would open up very often. I liked the challenge of a new role. I was also motivated by the opportunity to help integrate life cycle into learning opportunities.

The reporting process is no less important than the product of the process. Quality process usually means quality report. Also, the reporting process can often be an example of how of other cross-functional projects are managed in the organization. Any reporter who begins without an action plan, timetable and allocation of roles and responsibilities (usually a Steering Team for the report is preferable) is heading for a last-minute scramble, headaches and much conflict before the report is finally published. As CEO, you should be interested in embedding good process in your business, as well as delivering a good report.

Listen carefully to this answer. Nine times out of 10, the answer you hear will be all about the consultancy - about their technical credentials and about their past experience. What you should be looking for, however, is an answer that speaks directly about YOUR organization.

Do they demonstrate an understanding of the challenges you're facing? Have they asked probing questions to get at the heart of your needs, or rushed to present a proposal that reflects "their way" of doing thing? Can they reflect back to you the real reasons that you're looking to hire a sustainability consultancy?

I mostly use a computer, e-mail, telephone, presentation software and equipment, and e-meeting technologies. I do some driving when I visit the other campuses, but we're trying to be more "green" by less travel. Social networking is on the list of tools to use more as we move forward.

Give yourself more future options by sticking out the tougher math and science classes. Find out which classes you need to get into the field you think is interesting. It can be a challenge to pick up classes later if you don't have a good foundation. Volunteer in your community or check out student internships. Getting involved in student groups that work on sustainability is a good start too. For instance, on campus we have a student group Engineers without Borders. They work on global projects and look for people (other than engineers) to be part of the team. The Solar Decathlon team included students from across disciplines, from design, architecture, and engineering. The Active Energy Club conducts energy audits. MPIRG is politically involved. You can learn good skills in student groups like these. Students show a lot of interest in these topics. On campus, we had students at forums talking about energy and wanting to be involved. Conversation at these forums revolved around what students could do. Now they are involved in re-commissioning buildings by measuring energy use, and putting up "Turn off the lights" reminders on switches. You can put those things on your resume.

Your Managers are your sustainability ambassadors and the Sustainability Report is a key tool in their arsenal, whatever their role in the company. If they are not using your Sustainability Report, your SRM is not engaging them effectively. Your SRM should have her finger on the pulse of how your Sustainability Report is being used in the organization.

This question gets at two important things. First, a good consultant will be able to quickly and clearly identify common obstacles that they will come up against. If they don't have a good answer, you should take that as a big red flag.

Second, a consultant's response to this question will give you a heads up about what kind of interpersonal, time management, scope of work, and other problems they may encounter. Every consulting approach has its weakness, but you should go into it with open eyes.

What you're looking for in a good fit is a) a consultant who thinks proactively about the challenges that will inevitably occur and b) a consultant who will work together with you throughout the engagement to quickly surface and resolve obstacles that stand in your way.

People and strong communication skills, along with the technical skills and knowledge are helpful for working in this field. My engineering background helps me understand some complex technical issues. I have an understanding of business practices and organizational management, and use those skill sets by bringing people together into ideas and engage them in actions. I rely on many people, and collaboration is important. It helps to be pro-active and willing to circumvent many barriers. Everyone I need to work or talk with is busy, so sometimes I have to get in peoples' faces - politely! Being able to listen is important. I hear many opinions about what the university needs to do or not do, and how quickly. In this type job, you have to be a self-motivator. I'm pretty introverted personally, so sometimes it's a push for me to be in front of people all day. I try to connect the dots between groups. Other times I bring people together and just get out of the way. The size of the university creates huge challenges. Culture change at a place like the university can move very slowly, so I need to be patient!

A positive and open ended question for a gentle introduction to the subject. The SRM should be able to talk with enthusiasm about the sustainability report and in response to this question is free to select the things that personally gave her the most satisfaction. Whether these things are the same as those which are important to you, the CEO, or to the business, will give you an idea as to how well your SRM is aligned with the business and with your aspirations. The response may also enlighten you about things you may not have realized were such a big deal as you read the Sustainability Report.

In our experience, this is an often-overlooked issue. Most proposals will specify deliverables - a report, a carbon footprint, etc. But few will take the next step and clearly outline how they (and the client) should judge the success of the consulting engagement itself. It can be extremely helpful to make sure you're on the same page here. For example:

If you were completely honest with yourself, would you be best suited for a more technical role (e.g., supply chain auditor), a less technical role (e.g., communications) or a managerial position (e.g., self reflection corporate responsibility director or vice president)? Use your self-analysis to filter -- or at least prioritize -- the jobs in your search.

Maybe there weren't any. Maybe the report turned out exactly as your SRM envisioned. Maybe not. Understanding how your SRM measured up to her own expectations may tell you a little about the organizational issues your SRM faces in driving sustainability processes. These are the issues where a helping hand from the CEO might just be what is needed.