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Sustainability and Performance at Interface, Inc

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DOI: 10.1287/inte.30.3.190.11665

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Sustainability and Performance at
Interface, Inc.

Jennifer R. DuBose Interface Research Corporation

100 Chastain Center Boulevard
Suite 165
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144

Interface, Inc., the world’s leader in commercial carpet tile,

also manufactures and sells 12-foot broadloom carpet, interior
fabrics, access flooring, cushion backing, and specialty chemi-
cals. The company has made a strategic commitment to sus-
tainability and integrated this with a monetary incentive plan.
The bonus plan gave concrete direction to the company’s sus-
tainability mission and sped up the implementation of proj-
ects. The company’s progress toward becoming a sustainable
corporation is due to a number of key factors, including top
leadership, administrative direction, training, outside input,
and financial scrutiny. Interface’s experience shows that a well-
designed incentive program can motivate employees to imple-
ment sustainability practices.

I ncentive plans are useful for motivating

employees and can be key components
of successful change processes. Interface,
Inc. tied its strategic commitment to sus-
tainability to the employee incentive plan
to embed sustainability in facility opera-
tions. This linkage has yielded numerous
benefits and several generalizable insights
about translating sustainable strategies
into employee action.
CEO Issues Sustainability Challenge
Since 1994, Interface, Inc. has been striv-
ing to be the first name in industrial ecol-
ogy. In 1997, CEO Ray Anderson an-
nounced at the opening of the West Point
plant expansion that he wanted the facility

Copyright 䉷 2000 INFORMS ENVIRONMENT

0092-2102/00/3003/0190/$05.00 ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES—
1526–551X electronic ISSN MOTIVATION—INCENTIVES
This paper was refereed.

INTERFACES 30: 3 May–June 2000 (pp. 190–201)

INTERFACE, INC.
to become the first sustainable manufac-
turing site in the world. These goals are
ambitious, and Interface has made prog-
ress toward becoming a sustainable
corporation.
Interface, Inc. was founded in 1973 by
Ray Anderson in LaGrange, Georgia. The
company began by manufacturing carpet
tile for use in commercial spaces. Now the
world’s leader in commercial carpet tile,
Interface also manufactures and sells 12-
foot broadloom carpet, interior fabrics, ac-
cess flooring, cushion backing, and spe-
cialty chemicals. Annual sales top $1
billion with over 7,000 employees world-
wide. The company is made up of inde-
pendently operated business units, most of
which were acquired by the corporation.
These companies continue to market their
products under such brand names as
Prince Street, Bentley Mills, Intek, Stevens
Linen, Guilford of Maine, Camborne, and
Heuga. In 1997, the company branched
out from manufacturing into the service
sector by creating an experiential learning
company, one world learning, inc., and by
acquiring carpet dealers to create a net-
work called Re:Source Americas.
Sustainability became a strategic goal at
Interface in 1994 after Anderson read Paul
Hawken’s book Ecology of Commerce [1994].
On the first page of the Interface sustain-
ability report, Anderson summarizes what
he took away from the book: “Business is
the largest, wealthiest, most pervasive in-
stitution on Earth, and responsible for
most of the damage. It must take the lead
in directing the Earth away from collapse,
and toward sustainability and restoration”
[Interface Research Corporation 1997, p.
1]. Anderson concluded that his company
May–June 2000
had operated unaware of its environmen-
tal impact for more than 20 years, and he
was convinced that if it continued to do so
it would not be successful in the future.
He viewed sustainability as a strategic im-
perative for doing business in the 21st cen-
tury. Anderson and the senior manage-
ment of Interface felt certain that by taking
the lead in sustainability, the company
would gain a competitive advantage over
less proactive companies.
In the following years Anderson met
many of the world’s key thinkers in sus-
tainability and brought them together into
a dream team to advise the company. Dur-
ing this exploratory period, the company
became involved with The Natural Step, a
nonprofit organization that offered a sci-
entifically based framework for under-
standing ecological principles and envi-
ronmental problems. The Natural Step
framework acts as a practical compass to
guide corporate decision making in the di-
rection of sustainability. In 1996, Interface
became the first company in the United
States to commit to The Natural Step prin-
ciples. Interface gave the Interface Re-
search Corporation responsibility for the
company’s sustainability programs and for
managing EcoSense, a unit specifically cre-
ated to develop, deliver, and assist imple-
mentation of programs to enhance sustain-
ability efforts.
Sustainability Builds on Waste
Reduction Efforts
Interface suffered financially in the early
1990s beginning with a one-year 62-
percent drop in net income in 1991. Ac-
cording to longtime employees, morale
was low and the various business units
were operating like independent fiefdoms.
191
DUBOSE
To remedy this, in 1994 Anderson re-
cruited a turnaround specialist, Charlie
Eitel, to improve internal relations and to
pull the company out of financial decline.
Eitel established a new corporate culture
characterized by initiative and employee
involvement. Reacting to noticeable manu-
facturing and administrative waste, Eitel
unified and mobilized employees to work
in teams to eliminate waste.
To facilitate collaboration, the entire In-
terface workforce went through an inno-
vative growth program called play to win.
This program encouraged people to em-
brace the challenge of change, to take
risks, and to support coworkers who were
taking risks. It was this culture of embrac-
ing chance, working together in teams,
and striving to eliminate waste that set a
foundation for the organization to accept
the formidable challenge of sustainability.
In taking the step to eliminate waste, the
company created a structured bonus plan
based on specific reduction targets. It
added sustainability initiatives to this bo-
nus plan two years later.
QUEST Incentive Plan
The waste elimination program was
named QUEST (quality utilizing employee
suggestions and teamwork). The ultimate
goal was to eliminate all forms of waste in
the company. Research indicated that
measurable waste in manufacturing alone
was $70 million per year at the 1994 sales
volume of $725,283 million. Interface un-
derstood waste to be more than the physi-
cal materials that went into the dumpsters;
the company defined waste as any cost
that went into a product that did not re-
sult in value to the customer. With this def-
inition, waste included bad debt, idle
INTERFACES 30:3
equipment, administrative errors, extra in-
spections, off-quality goods, and scrap.
The company divided waste into three
major categories: internal manufacturing,
external manufacturing, and administra-
tive. It set waste reduction to be progres-
sively more difficult. In the first year, 1995,
the goal was a 10-percent reduction, then
a 15-percent reduction in 1996, and a fur-
ther 25-percent reduction in 1997, for a to-
tal reduction of 50 percent against a base-
line of 1994 figures. The business units did
not compete against each other, but rather
against their own ratio of waste cost per
unit of product. Interface indexed it in this
way so that it could compare years despite
different outputs.
All upper management participated in
the QUEST bonus system. It was applied
to other manufacturing and technical em-
ployees at the discretion of the individual
facility’s management. Although it varied
for each location, a typical employee bo-
nus package (in some cases 15 percent of
the annual salary) would be calculated as
follows:
—15 percent based on QUEST,
—50 percent based on operating income,
—25 percent based on cash-flow objec-
tives, and
—10 percent based on nonfinancial per-
sonal goals.
While QUEST accounted for only 15 per-
cent of an employee’s potential bonus, it
played an important motivating role as it
was the category over which employees
felt they had the most direct control, out-
side of personal goals, and for which they
had an objective measure of progress. It
was an unambiguous signal of what man-
agement considered important.
192
INTERFACE, INC.
QUEST Results
The QUEST process yielded many of the
impressive results expected of an
employee-involved change process: im-
proved productivity, reduced costs, im-
proved teamwork, and employee motiva-
tion and commitment [Romm 1994]. The
company saved approximately $50 million
over three years. Starting with a baseline
index of 1.0 in 1994, Interface reduced
waste cost per unit production to 0.68. Be-
low are a few specific success stories from
the Interface facilities in Georgia.
—The Prince Street facility saved $35,337
in 1996 by recycling 75 percent of its solid
waste instead of sending it to the landfill.
—The company’s chemical division,
Re:Source Technologies, started buying
and handling zinc oxide in bulk instead of
in bags. This change reduced its landfilled
waste by approximately 20 tons a year.
—Pandel, a manufacturer of foam prod-
ucts, made a similar change in the way it
handled resin, reducing waste sent to the
landfill by 640 cubic yards per year. Other
benefits included more efficient use of
purchased resin and reduced handling of
heavy bags, saving time and reducing risk
of injury.
—Through product-design improvements
and perfection of manufacturing pro-
cesses, Interface Flooring Systems reduced
material consumption and waste while im-
proving product performance. By the end
of 1997, it was manufacturing each square
yard of carpet with 4.96 oz. less yarn and
13.6 oz. less backing material compared
with 1994. It had also reduced the per-
square-yard waste from 13 to three ounces
in the same time period. Interface’s quality
control test showed that the product had
May–June 2000
measurably improved performance, refut-
ing the popularly held misconception that
performance and material intensity are
linked.
Evolution of the EcoSense Bonus
Supplement
At the end of 1996, it become apparent
that the QUEST goals for the third year
were going to be difficult to meet. The
goal of a 50-percent reduction in three
years had been admittedly very aggres-
sive. Interface management had set a high
goal to inspire continuous, exponential im-
provement, instead of mere incremental
progress. The manufacturing facilities had
made some impressive strides and were
continuing to work hard, but most of the
facilities were not going to meet the 50-
percent goal.
Because the company was now perform-
ing well and employees were rising to the
challenge of eliminating waste, the manag-
ers decided that it would be counterpro-
ductive to deny them the opportunity to
earn the QUEST portion of their bonus.
They also agreed that changing the origi-
nal goal was not a good idea. As a result,
the company permitted the facilities to
earn extra credit for achievable goals that
fit within the company’s long-term strate-
gic plan.
Since creating the QUEST program in
1994, managers had become more knowl-
edgeable about sustainability. QUEST proj-
ects were fulfilling EcoSense goals as well.
While the manufacturing units worked on
QUEST, they were also adopting projects
in the environmental arena, proactive
stances for which they were not being re-
warded, because the QUEST index did not
measure these initiatives. The best solution
193
DUBOSE
was to create a structure to use progress
on environmental initiatives to improve
their QUEST indices.
Accordingly, in January 1997, the firm
added the EcoSense bonus supplement
plan to the QUEST program. This plan al-
lowed business units to get extra credit for
specific sustainability initiatives and to use
these points to lower their QUEST index
Interface understood waste to
be more than the physical
materials that went into
dumpsters.
numbers. The plan included enough op-
portunities that each unit could reach its
original goal, albeit with some addi-
tional effort. Facilities could also get
credit for things they had already
accomplished.
This program was driven by manage-
ment’s desire to make it clear to all em-
ployees the real commitment that Interface
was making to sustainability and to speed
up the transition from rhetoric to action,
because “a policy is only a policy until
someone’s pay depends upon it”
[Haygood and Gershowitz 1996]. Upper
management had to address shop-floor
suspicions that sustainability was just a
passing interest of the CEO and that no
matter how much senior managers talked
about sustainability, it did not really con-
tribute to the company’s success and took
time away from production.
EcoSense Bonus Supplement
The EcoSense bonus plan comprised ac-
tivities that were central to the long-term
sustainability strategy of Interface. Inter-
face awarded facilities points for past ac-
INTERFACES 30:3
tions, as well as those during 1997. Like
QUEST, the EcoSense plan could use base-
lines set as far back as 1994, depending
upon the availability of accurate data. The
facilities could carry points forward into
succeeding years so long as they main-
tained the results.
The supplement plan included a variety
of activities (Table 1). In some categories,
points were awarded on an all-or-nothing
basis, while in other categories the extent
of implementation determined the number
of points. For example, the percentage of
employees trained in The Natural Step or
the number of projects implemented trans-
lated into a number of points.
Environmental and Quality Management
Systems
The establishment of official environ-
mental and quality-management systems
insures that credible international stan-
dards are in place and that progress is
continuous. Interface pursued third-party
certification of its management systems
through the International Standards Orga-
nization (ISO). The standard for environ-
mental management systems is ISO 14001
and for quality management systems, ISO
9000.
The process of achieving ISO certifica-
tion is long; therefore, Interface awarded
points to facilities for reaching set mile-
stones in the ISO process. The first step for
ISO 14001 certification that earned points
under Interface’s scheme was a baseline
review which included tracking material
and energy flows, risk assessment, basic
environmental training, and an inventory
of applicable regulations. Interface gave
additional points for the initial audit and
then finally for certification. It established
194
INTERFACE, INC.

Category Points Awarded

Environmental Management System

Baseline review 2
Initial audit 2
Certification 2
Quality Management System
Planning and training 2
Initial audit 2
Certification 2
The Natural Step Training
Level 1–25% of employees 2
Level 2–50% of employees 2
Level 3–75% of employees 2
Ecometrics
Material and energy flows 2
Recycling progress reports 2
Emissions inventory 1
Employee awareness survey 2
Purchasing
“Buy recycled” program 1
Eco-Efficiency: What We Take
Material 1 per percent reduction
Non-renewable material reduction projects 1/2 per project
Energy 1 per percent reduction
Energy reduction projects 1/2 per project
Eco-Efficiency: What We Make
Solid waste reduction 1 per 5-percent reduction
Water emissions reduction 1 per 5-percent reduction
Air emissions reduction 1 per 5-percent reduction
Emissions point source elimination 1 per point source eliminated
Table 1: In some of the EcoSense Bonus Supplement categories, points were awarded on an all-
or-nothing basis, while in other categories the extent of implementation determined the num-
ber of points. This list of categories and the points available for each category provided the
business units with direction and a strategy for working on the corporate goal of sustainability.

a similar point and implementation struc- skills in this area.

ture for the quality-management system.
Training in The Natural Step (TNS)
Facilities earned points based on the
percentage of their employees who had at-
tended a half-day training session in TNS.
The training gave employees a framework
with which to evaluate the activities of the
company from an ecological perspective
and it improved their decision-making
Ecometrics
Compiling data can be tedious and time
consuming. To encourage all facilities to
track and compile data in a similar format,
the company created a corporate-wide for-
mat for reporting these “ecometrics.” The
first portion traced material and energy
flows, particularly what each business unit
‘takes, makes, and wastes.’ One type of

May–June 2000 195

DUBOSE
waste-stream-inventory data that was
highlighted and put in its own point-
earning category was waste emitted
through smokestacks and water pipes.
Points were also given for monitoring and
reporting on material recycling.
Points were also granted for “soft met-
rics” obtained through administering a
specially developed employee-
environmental-awareness survey. The sur-
vey measured environmental knowledge,
attitudes about the company, and the indi-
vidual’s sense of empowerment. By ad-
ministering the survey periodically, Inter-
face monitored the effectiveness of its
training efforts.
Purchasing
To close the loop with regard to recy-
cling, Interface encouraged the business
units to establish a buy-recycled policy. To
earn a point for this, the business units
had to develop, implement, and internally
promote a formal, written buy-recycled
policy.
Eco-Efficiency
Eco-efficiency has two parts: “what we
take” and “what we waste.” To discourage
consumption of nonrenewable materials
and energy (what we take), Interface gave
business units points for efficiency and for
substitution strategies according to the
percentage reduction they achieved in ma-
terial consumption. It awarded points
based on the number of such projects the
unit undertook. As part of its program to
eliminate all smokestacks and pipes that
emit waste materials into the environment
(what we waste), Interface awarded busi-
ness units points for each five-percent re-
duction in their waste streams, as well as a
point per source eliminated. It applied this
INTERFACES 30:3
same scheme to solid waste as well.
EcoSense Bonus Supplement Results
To reach annual targets, manufacturing
locations quickly took advantage of the
opportunity to get bonus points. As could
be expected, their responses differed. In
some cases, they had already accom-
plished some goals and had only to pre-
sent their results to be awarded the appro-
priate points.
In one location, management chose not
to advertise the bonus points to employees
because they did not want to distract them
from their original waste-reduction goal of
50 percent, which they had a strong
chance of achieving. At the same time,
they were performing activities that
counted for EcoSense bonus points. The
end result is that this business unit
reached an index of 0.57 before their 50
EcoSense points were subtracted, taking
them to an overall figure of only 0.07. For
most of the other facilities, the bonus
points were essential for reaching the 50-
percent-reduction target. A few facilities
gathered up as many points as possible,
while others went for the minimum neces-
sary to achieve their original targets.
Fifteen business units, representing all
the manufacturing locations, participated
in the program, earning from seven to 55
points each (Table 2). It is interesting to
note which categories were favored and
which were not. The units apparently de-
cided which points to pursue according to
the effort and time required, and in re-
sponse to internal pressures. They made
the most points where Interface had pro-
vided ready-to-use tools or solutions.
The category that stands out is ecome-
trics. All 15 groups received the two
196
INTERFACE, INC.

Category Business Units Receiving Points

Environmental Management System

Baseline review 4
Initial audit 3
Certification 3
Quality Management System
Planning and training 4
Initial audit 4
Certification 3
The Natural Step Training
Level 1–25 percent of employees 7
Level 2–50 percent of employees 7
Level 3–75 percent of employees 7
Ecometrics
Material and energy flows 10
Recycling progress reports 12
Emissions inventory 13
Employee awareness survey 15
Purchasing
Buy-recycled program 6
Eco-Efficiency: What We Take
Material 3
Nonrenewable-material-reduction projects 4
Energy 3
Energy-reduction projects 2
Eco-Efficiency: What We Make
Solid-waste reduction 5
Water-emissions reduction 4
Air-emissions reduction 2
Emissions-point-source elimination 4
Table 2: The right column shows the number of business units receiving points for each cate-
gory of activity during 1997. Fifteen business units participated. Ecometrics had the most sup-
port, with all sites participating in the employee-awareness survey.

points for the employee-environmental-
awareness survey. Several factors ac-
counted for the full participation in this
area. It was quick and easy to administer.
Interface Research Corporation developed
the survey and mailed it to all facilities.
They photocopied it, disseminated it to a
random sample representing 10 percent of
their employees, and mailed back the com-
pleted surveys. The business-unit presi-
dent or another senior officer wrote a let-
ter that accompanied the surveys given to
employees.
The next highest participation rates
were also in ecometrics. Thirteen business
units submitted emissions inventories, the
results of one-time efforts to identify all
air and water outlet pipes and stacks and
the nature of the emissions. Support for
this effort was provided by the director of
environmental coordination. Because the
CEO had been publicly stating that the

May–June 2000 197

DUBOSE
company was taking inventory of all
stacks and pipes and systematically elimi-
nating them and the units realized his per-
sonal interest in this project, the response
rate was high.
Twelve facilities submitted recycling-
progress reports, and 10 submitted
material-and-energy-flow reports. These
reports were more difficult to compile be-
cause they were not supported by outside
assistance and they required a consider-
able amount of detailed data. Despite
these drawbacks, these reports were ex-
tremely useful because they provided the
data necessary to apply for credit in the
eco-efficiency category. There had been a
lot of encouragement internally to submit
these reports, and they may be required in
the future. Therefore, the benefits of sub-
mitting reports were multiple and the po-
tential future costs of not doing so could
be large. These conditions led to a high
participation rate.
Quite a few units participated in TNS
training. Seven of 15 business units sent at
least 75 percent of their employees
through a half day of TNS training. Again,
Interface provided support for this; one
world learning developed and delivered
the training program.
The business units were not at all op-
posed to doing most of these activities and
in many cases they were already doing or
planning to do them. The EcoSense bonus
supplement plan identified a specific set of
initiatives and clearly communicated these
goals throughout the company. This cre-
ated a more focused and coordinated
strategy. Instead of the vague charge to
become sustainable, the business units had
a set of understandable, yet flexible, tar-
INTERFACES 30:3
gets. These targets allowed the different
business units to see where the company
as a whole was headed and to understand
the corporate strategy for moving forward.
Interface’s progress toward sustainabil-
ity has not always been strategic. It had
earlier gobbled up “low hanging fruit”
without an overall plan for reaching the fi-
nal goal. The bonus program helped it to
set priorities and to lay out the different
pieces the facilities should target. Estab-
lishing a bonus plan based on progress to-
ward sustainability was a way to back up
the company’s stated commitment to sus-
tainability while rewarding people for jobs
well done.
In some cases, the bonus plan sped up
the implementation of projects. Previously,
the facility managers may have known
The company saved
approximately $50 million
over three years.
that a particular project was a good idea
and postponed its implementation for
many different reasons (other projects
took priority, this year’s budget will not
allow for it, and so forth). The bonus plan
provided incentive for moving EcoSense
projects to the forefront. It established a
reason for doing the project now instead
of next year. In the case of TNS, one world
learning pushed forward curriculum de-
velopment because the business units
were clamoring for training so they could
get their points.
Perhaps the least measurable but most
important result has been improved em-
ployee morale. While previously employ-
ees had had a sense of pride in EcoSense
198
INTERFACE, INC.
projects, recognition was random and not
ensured. The plan now provides rewards
for jobs well done. This helps motivated
employees to gain the support of previ-
ously unenthusiastic colleagues because
there is a quantifiable reward for their fa-
cility’s efforts. Evidence of good employee
morale is the inclusion of Interface in For-
tune’s list of the top 100 companies to
work for in the United States [Levering
and Moskowitz 1998]. This list is based on
interviews with employees.
Interface is not the only company to
have discovered the benefits of a well-
designed incentive plan. Other companies,
such as Motorola, Edy’s Grand Ice Cream,
and Xerox, have initiated incentive plans
that give employees a greater interest in
the well-being of their companies and thus
cause them to be more committed and
loyal [Davis 1996]. However, Interface ap-
pears to be at the forefront in connecting
its incentive plan with its environmental
strategy.
Future Plans
The original QUEST program was in-
tended to last three years, ending in 1997.
Interface, however, announced a new in-
centive plan to carry through to the year
2000. The new plan is called QUEST/
EcoSense 2000, and it retains many of the
waste-reduction and sustainability initia-
tives that were part of 1997s plan. The
new plan adds the elimination of non-
value-added activities.
One of the most interesting changes in
the new plan was the modification of the
energy-waste category to reflect sustain-
ability. Nonrenewable energy cost is now
considered waste that should be elimi-
nated. The company determines the total
May–June 2000
energy cost and then deducts the cost of
green energy (nonpolluting and renewable
energy). Energy sources are weighted to
reflect the varying degrees of environmen-
tal damage they inflict. This will encour-
age facilities to move toward more sus-
tainable energy sources and help to
compensate them for the cost of convert-
ing to renewable energy.
The goal is again to eliminate 50 percent
of the total measurable waste in three
years with a potential savings of $70 mil-
lion. Savings from eliminating non-value-
added activities are expected to be $90
million, for a total of $160 million poten-
tial savings. The EcoSense initiatives are
still counted as extra credit.
Sustainability and the Bottom Line
The QUEST and EcoSense programs
have played a major role in Interface’s
success. Between 1994 and mid-1998, the
company saved approximately $77 million
dollars by reducing waste and implement-
ing sustainable strategies. In 1996, its sales
topped $1 billion on increased revenue of
$200 million compared to the prior year,
with no increase in material throughput.
Net income increased 30 percent in 1996
and 42 percent in 1997. This performance
can be traced in part to the QUEST and
EcoSense programs.
Because of Interface’s commitment to
work towards sustainability, the company
has been included in socially responsible
investment portfolios (Swiss Bank, Sus-
tainable Asset Management, and Zurcher
Kantonalbank). This classification has pub-
licized the company’s stance and yielded
direct benefits. For example, Interface has
won carpet contracts when it tied with
other companies in terms of price and
199
DUBOSE
quality, because the customer appreciated
its corporate philosophy. The US Depart-
ment of Energy installed Interface carpet
in its headquarters office specifically be-
cause Interface is the kind of forward-
thinking company with which it wanted
to do business.
Contributing Factors
The company’s progress toward becom-
ing a sustainable corporation is due to a
number of key factors, including top lead-
ership, administrative direction, training,
outside input, and financial scrutiny. Most
important has been the committed leader-
ship of CEO Ray Anderson. The drive for
change comes from the top and it supports
and inspires employees in their efforts. In
addition, management gave the EcoSense
program resources and validation by as-
signing full time personnel to lead the
program, and it gave the research organi-
zation primary responsibility for the sus-
tainability programs. Placing the sustain-
ability programs under the direction of the
company’s research arm was pivotal, sig-
naling the issue’s links to product devel-
opment, innovation, and the future com-
petitiveness of the firm.
Although specific individuals are re-
sponsible for leading the metamorphosis,
the time and energy Interface invested in
training and team building engaged all
employees in the process. By creating a
common goal and language, the company
developed a bond between employees at
distant locations. The employees now
share a common sense of purpose that is
broader than selling a particular product.
This has bred what is referred to internally
as ferocious cooperation to reach targeted
goals.
INTERFACES 30:3
In the process of learning about sustain-
ability, Interface has brought in outside
consultants of the highest caliber to edu-
cate employees and managers. The firm
did not expect one person to have all the
answers but rather assembled a diverse
team to tackle the issue from different an-
gles, incorporating the best and most ap-
plicable ideas into programs and practices.
Savings from eliminating non-
value-added activities are
expected to be $90 million.
Working with visionary people who had
made positive change in other contexts
against seemingly impossible odds pro-
vided clear direction early on and served
to inspire and motivate employees.
Achieving financial objectives for the
company continued to be critical. As with
any program undertaken by a publicly
held company, the change process can
succeed only if the company itself suc-
ceeds. Commitment to shareholder value
never waned. While managers understood
that they must think about long-term re-
sults, and not just about short-term re-
turns, they never implemented a project
without subjecting it to close financial
scrutiny.
Finally, so that the change process itself
did not become rote, Interface pursued a
course of constant agitation; every time it
reached a new plateau, it raised the bar
and tackled larger challenges. While they
set clear goals to focus energy and to mo-
tivate people, managers continued refining
their short-term goals to increase the pace
at which the company moved toward
sustainability.
200
 INTERFACE, INC.

Conclusion Center Boulevard, Suite 165, Kennesaw,

Interface’s experience shows that a well- Georgia 30144, writes: “It is with great
designed incentive program can motivate pride I confirm the article written by Ms.
employees to implement sustainability Jennifer DuBose of Interface Research Cor-
practices. The EcoSense bonus supplement poration reflects accurately the QUEST
plan focused and coordinated effort by and EcoSense programs at Interface and
identifying a specific set of initiatives. The the impact they have had on our com-
program gave structure to previously un- pany. In particular, our financial success
connected environmental initiatives and through elimination of waste and the pro-
made the goal of sustainability clear to gress we have made toward becoming a
employees. EcoSense incentives also made more sustainable enterprise through our
sustainability a priority with the business EcoSense initiatives.”
units. The financial success of the Eco-
Sense program was made possible in part
by strong leadership, a team-oriented cor-
porate culture supportive of continuous
change and improvement, topnotch con-
sultants, and a commitment to employee
training and shareholder value. These fac-
tors have helped to make Interface a prof-
itable sustainability leader and to allow its
employees to live the company’s motto of
doing well by doing good.
References
Davis, Suzanne 1996, “People performance,”
Incentive, Vol. 170, No. 10 (October), pp. 4–9.
Hawken, Paul 1994, Ecology of Commerce: A
Declaration of Sustainability, HarperBusiness,
New York.
Haygood, Leah and Gershowitz, Michael 1996,
“Environmental practice at WMX Technolo-
gies,” in Design for Environment: Creating Eco-
Efficient Products and Processes, ed. Joseph
Fiksel, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 331–354.
Interface Research Corporation 1997, “Interface
sustainability report.”
Levering, Robert and Moskowitz, Milton 1998,
“The 100 best companies to work for in
America,” Fortune, January 12, 1998, Vol. 137,
No. 1, p. 84f.
Romm, Joseph J. 1994, Lean and Clean Manage-
ment, Kodansha America, Inc., New York.

Michael D. Bertolucci, President, Inter-

face Research Corporation, 100 Chastain

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