Green Team Standardisation

A group of 8 GE employees were sparked into action by a simple question, asking how they can take the lessons from the One Young World Summit and make an impact in their own company. Instead of duplicating efforts, they wanted to amplify and accelerate the work already being done by other passionate employees.

In September 2019, GE Renewable Energy announced its plan to become 100% carbon neutral by the end of 2020. Inspired by this ambitious commitment, a group of passionate volunteers created the Green Team Network to support and further GE’s sustainability goals. Various grassroots Green Teams had sprung up in the different offices, many using different methodologies and structures. The team of Ambassadors identified a need for standardised work and structure within the teams.

The group’s aim was to standardise the Green Teams’ structures and replicate them widely. The first stage was to interview over 15 of the different groups. From this, they have produced multiple ‘how to’ documents. They even interviewed McKinsey’s Green Teams’ through a contact they met at One Young World and incorporated the learnings in their own company.

These documents are being used to ensure that the green transformation in GE can be replicated and scaled, in all the businesses in GE, but also they have been shared externally to exchange best practice with similar groups of employees in other organisations.

The Green Teams are also working to drive culture change and support the various initiatives which are tackling the climate crisis. Crucially, the teams are offering an essential connection between GE’s goals as an organisation, and the individual employees who are crucial to achieving them.