Case study: using Chronos in Shell
Translating a high-level company commitment into action is a
massive undertaking. To be successful, sustainable development (SD)
needs to be understood and practiced across the whole Group, not
just by a few managers or SD specialists. Shell is doing this
with Chronos, to increase business interest in, and action on,
sustainable development.
Shell and sustainable development
The Shell Group is a global group of energy and petrochemicals
companies which operates in more than 140 countries and employs
over 112,000 staff. Shell believes it has an essential role in
finding socially and environmentally sustainable new ways of
meeting present and future energy needs. It sees this as not only
morally right, but as important for the future success of the
business.
For Shell, SD means protecting the environment, managing
resources, generating robust profitability, delivering value to
customers, respecting and safeguarding people, benefiting
communities and engaging with stakeholders.
According to Mark Wade of Leadership Development in Shell
Learning, and who was responsible for introducing Chronos into the
company, the ultimate aim is cultural change:
“We have both to hardwire SD
considerations into our policies, standards and governance and to
‘soft wire’ it into the hearts and minds of our employees. It
should be second nature for people to look through the SD lens when
making a business decision, large or small.”
E-learning as a way of raising awareness
As Shell wanted to introduce SD into training and leadership
development, e-learning was recognised as a cost-effective way of
providing an introduction to the subject to the wider workforce as
it can provide employees with a personal way of exploring ideas and
values.
In 2002 Shell discovered that Cambridge Programme for
Industry (CPI) and the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) were developing
the e-learning tutorial Chronos that would meet this need.
Shell played an important advisory role in the design and
development of Chronos as one of a number of companies that worked
with CPI and WBCSD to ensure that the content was accurate and
the situations reflected real business dilemmas.
Customising Chronos
Chronos was specifically designed so that it would be easy to
produce variants that make the material more relevant to a
particular company or industry sector. Shell was the first company
to commission its own customised version, which includes Shell’s
perspective on sustainable development, links to existing Shell SD
Learning initiatives and personalised messages from Shell employees
who are helping to translate SD into action.
The company has 10,000 licenses for use by individual employees
and business partners as well as in corporate training and
leadership development programs.
The objective is for Chronos to help to embed SD thinking into
the Shell culture. Chronos is made available on a voluntary basis,
with the incentive of a certificate for everyone who completes the
program. Shell also includes Chronos in the 'onboarding kit' for
all new employees.
User reactions
Many people felt that, as employees of a committed company such
as Shell, they were already familiar with the principles of SD.
Nevertheless they have often been surprised how much information in
Chronos was new to them.
Feedback from users has been very positive and the following
comment from a Shell Refinery Reliability Engineer based in the
Netherlands is typical of the enthusiastic reaction to Chronos:
“I enjoyed Chronos, especially the
interactive parts. As a ‘hands-on’ guy, they were my kind of thing.
The questions provoked a deeper understanding, allowing you to
comprehend various opinions. I also liked the fact that Chronos
didn’t ‘preach’ sustainable development to me. The tool has helped
me not to forget the environment and our reputation even in the
very cost-constrained world of our refinery.”
The Shell commitment
Of course it is difficult for people in a busy company to find
time in the working day for those many useful but ‘non-essential’
tasks and the danger was that this would limit the take-up of
Chronos.
Shell has therefore been stepping-up the promotion of Chronos in
ways designed to show that time working through Chronos is time
well spent, even for staff who are familiar with the concepts of
SD. For example, adverts are being drawn up for inclusion in
internal magazines and posters have been designed for what Shell
calls its ‘SD change agents’ to display on office notice
boards.
Parts of the business are also planning to include Chronos in
staff development and performance goals. Chronos is also helping
prepare employees taking part in assignments with Earthwatch as
part of Shell’s Project Better World initiative.
Conclusion
Embedding SD into a company culture requires not only aligning
systems and processes but also winning hearts and minds. Chronos is
one practical way in which the high level principles that guide
Shell’s commitment to SD are being brought alive.
Senior Executives’ championing of Chronos is just one way in
which Shell demonstrates its long-term commitment. This is the
message from Adrian Loader, Director of Strategy and Business
Development at Shell International, to all Shell people:
“The challenge is to move sustainable
development out from the specialists and into the mainstream. It is
vital that everyone has the chance to contribute – to understand
why and how to make this the way we do business. Doing so is vital
for our continued license to operate and license to grow. I believe
Chronos is an important tool for achieving this goal and I urge you
to make the fullest use of it.”