In this series of blog posts, we’re sharing our journey to adopting a triple bottom line approach (3BL) approach at Green Hill. You can find the two previous post of the series here: Introduction | People

Clinically, we focus a lot on the interconnected nature of reality. It’s important for our clients and their families to understand how personal relationships impact and shape the individual’s sense of identity. Similarly, as a corporate citizen, we’re shaped by other entities and the examples they set.

At Green Hill, we want to set the gold standard for client care and corporate responsibility, which means we’ve got to take a look at how we’re affecting the planet. When we discuss our planet based initiatives, we’re looking at three main components: (1) how we can become a more ‘green’ (no pun intended) company, (2) how we can model corporate citizenship, and (3) how we can build a culture of civic and community engagement. 

Here’s a copy of what we put in our company’s annual report regarding our planet initiatives. 

Until recently, little thought has been given to how Green Hill affects the broader planet. We’ve always taken a holistic approach to the treatment of substance use disorder, so it only seems natural that we’d take a holistic approach to corporate stewardship. Just because we’re in the healthcare field doesn’t give us an excuse to overlook the environmental impact of our company. As such, in 2021, we’re focused on minimizing our environmental impact and maximizing our service to the community.   

Green Hill recognizes its responsibility to its local community and global environment. This year we are redoubling our efforts, on behalf of all our stakeholders, to (1) lower our environmental impact, (2) exemplify ideal corporate citizenship, and (3) build a culture of civic and community engagement. 

Green Hill becoming a “Green Company” 

We believe that the local and global environment are key stakeholders in any business or organization. In particular, as helpers we are responsible for the stewardship of our environment which allows humans to enjoy the natural world. Recognizing the importance of sustainability, we are focused on making sure that Green Hill’s activities and policies serve to advance these priorities. 

Stewards of our community  

As a corporate citizen, Green Hill is an integral part of our local community. To reflect that important component of our identity we believe that giving back to our community and actively participating in local initiatives is crucial. By emphasizing service and civic engagement we can enhance our internal culture and have a transformative impact on Raleigh and the Triangle. We also see our role in addressing social injustice by focusing on how we can partner with  minority owned businesses.

Inculcating interconnectedness  

Green Hill has always been focused on how we can create value for our clients and help them reach their full potential. We know that once our clients and team members move on, they will become leaders in positions to create positive change. Our cultural values of  environmental and civic responsibility will live on with these future leaders and have an enormous echo effect on their communities and on the global environment.

3BL Planet group

Green Hill has established a working group that meets monthly to address how the Company affects the planet or more tangibly, how we affect the Research Triangle. Our organization is shaped by our community and it serves to shape the community. The Planet group provides the Company’s leadership with a review of our current impact on the community and what we can do to be better citizens.

Energy, water, trash, recycling, & waste

• How can we create less waste?
• What is our current environmental impact?
• Are there ways to reduce energy consumption?

Civic engagement & charitable giving

• How can we encourage and track public service projects by our clients and team?
• What local initiatives can we partner with to advance our civic values?
• How can we contribute to addressing major issues facing our community?

A network of leaders

• How can we instill stewardship in our clients and team members?
• How can we engage our alumni in social and environmental initiatives?
• How can we match our people’s strengths with the needs of our community and environment?

Company Value: Unity 

At its core, any company or organization is simply a group of people that come together to achieve a common purpose. For an organization to reach its fullest potential, individuals must embrace the notion of interconnectedness, or our value of unity. We have seen time and time again that the best results happen when we are working collaboratively to achieve a common goal. 

As an individual, it’s natural to be concerned with our place in the world or the exact scope of our role within an organization but we must always keep in mind the purpose which brought us to the serving profession: the desire to help others. 

In 2021, we’re committed not only to our individual success, or the Company’s success, but to understanding our role in the larger ecosystem. We will achieve the best results when we remain committed to seeing how interconnected we are: with each other, with the recovery community, and with the world at large.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how your organization is practicing corporate stewardship and how we can be a better member of the community. We hope you enjoyed this look at our ‘planet’ initiatives and in our next post we’ll take a look at the role of profits in our triple bottom line approach.