BY LUKE MULUNDA
Joseph Uimbia cuts the perfect image of the upward mobile young manager. Like many of his generation, he is well-educated, ambitious, tech-savvy and has something else: a big heart for the environment. The skin factory production manager at Unilever Kenya is behind a team of trainee managers who have offered to plant trees at Kereita forest in the Aberdares.
In December, Uimbia led over 30 management trainees deep into the forest where they planted 10,000 tree seedlings to boost the company’s green initiatives. “We were challenged by the board to make a difference in the business,” Mr Uimbia said, digging out soil with a hoe as his enthusiastic colleagues planted seedlings fuelled by a unison chant of solidarity. “We decided to do something with an impact. So we picked transforming the environment.”
Environmental matters – smoked out by global warming – have infiltrated boardrooms and forced many businesses to stop and think of their surroundings. From preventing air pollution to reducing or eliminating wastage of resources, most companies worth their salt these days run a conservation project. This trend, it seems, is breaking age and management barriers as the Unilever case illustrates. Not many managers have a passion for weather patterns in an era where technology has brought gadgets that can make life enjoyable without bothering whether it will rain today or the sun will be hotter tomorrow.
“The current young manager is all-rounded and does not only focus on his or her career but on all other factors that impact the business,” says Unilever East & Southern Africa managing director Yaw Nsarkoh. “The environment contributes significantly to the performance of the business.” Unilever’s young managers target to grow 70,000 seedlings in 2011/2012. This initiative is aligned to its Sustainable Living Plan, its environment conservation plan.
Mr Nsarkoh says deforestation is responsible for approximately 20 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions and has an adverse impact on ecosystems and biodiversity. “The young managers and the rest of the employees are participating in this activity because they have a personal obligation to contribute towards conservation of the environment,” he says. “The leadership has also supported the initiative through dedicated budgets.”
With the country’s forest cover at only 1.7 per cent, young environmentalists like Uimbia and his colleagues have an uphill task. The team has partnered with UNEP, the armed forces and local community to protect water catchment areas. “We will be planting trees twice a year,” Mr Uimbia said. “That is during the short and long rains every year. As a manufacturer, we impact on the environment through printing of paper, use of water, palm oil and production.”
He said they had pegged the planting of trees on the factory’s production capacity, which translates to 10,000 trees to cover for 10 per cent of production. Or simply, one tree for every 10 tonnes of production. He said the programme is voluntary and has attracted a good number of young managers and earned the support of their elders.
“We are the future leaders of business and we want to lead in a good environment,” he said. “Also we are giving back to society to show that it’s not just about business and profits. A part from being managers, we are part of this large community. Two of our colleagues come from this area (Aberdare), so you can see they are coincidentally direct beneficiaries.”
Mr Nsarkoh said Unilever has been proactive in managing environment concerns which has won it various environment awards and recognitions among them, the ISO 14001 and various Cleaner Production Awards. “We have ambitious plans to grow our company, creating jobs and income for all whose livelihoods are linked to our success,” said the MD. “But growth at any cost is not viable. We have to develop new ways of doing business which will increase the social benefits from Unilever’s activities while at the same time reducing our environmental impacts.”
He said there are systems in place, systematic assessment of environmental aspects, which have yielded significant results in the areas of waste, water use, energy consumption, release of air pollutants and effluent discharges to sewer. It hopes to pass on this environment consciousness to the new generation of managers.
