Originally published in the July 2005 issue of the ONSite newsletter. Reprinted with permission of the Associated General Contractors of Colorado. The original article may be found here.
Competition Brings out the Best in the Stormwater Excellence Program
The second month of the CSEP Pilot Program is now in the record books and the preliminary results are not particularly surprising. Everyone expected to see rapid improvement in the level of stormwater compliance with the CSEP participants and so far that has been the case. It is easy to predict that when a company commits to achieving positive results in any program, and they have a good plan in place, a degree of success is almost certain. All of the participants in the CSEP Pilot are strongly committed to the program and are producing good initial results. We know this because one of the key elements of the CSEP Pilot is measurement and documentation of performance outcomes. As one would expect, when a company measures and documents its performance in a specific area, the targeted performance almost invariably improves. Additionally, the more initiative Superintendents take in meeting stormwater compliance requirements, the less direct involvement those at the executive level will need to have.
The CSEP structure encourages and allows for viewing of all internal CSEP results and performance reports by all company personnel. A Superintendent/Qualified Person responsible for one project can also view the inspection and performance data for all of his company's projects. By simply accessing the CSEP reporting website using a secure password, he can compare his own scores to those of all Superintendents within his company. SRMI was initially surprised at the intense level of competitiveness between the Superintendents. It is evident that many of them are concerned with how their own scores compared to those of their fellow Superintendents, as it is a frequent topic of discussion during our audit visits with them. For those who regularly produce the desired low environmental impact scores, the impetus is strong to remain at the top of the performance heap among their peers. For those who do not score so well in the CSEP the peer pressure to do better is strong. Huge environmental fines usually come out of the company bonus and profit sharing pools (employee pockets) and the message is starting to get around between the field teams that having a lax attitude about stormwater compliance is no longer acceptable.
The competitive spirit is alive and well in the CSEP among Superintendents invested in the success of their company's stormwater compliance, and SRMI is hopeful that it will continue beyond the Pilot Program. Self-policing at the field level is always a great way to affect positive long-term changes in company performance. Kudos to the high performers for their extra efforts and for the healthy competition we hope they will continue to inspire among their peers. Thanks again to Saunders Construction, Waner Construction, Fransen Pittman and Continuum Development for their industry leadership and commitment to excellence.