Text version scenario

We are committed to be leaders in green construction and our green department recommend standards that are stricter than legislation in line with our green agenda. At times, this can create internal conflict.
In this scenario one of our projects were constrained in space. The project leaders argued with the green department about their recommended number of containers for waste segregation as the logistics would be difficult and more costly. The green department was upset with the lack of commitment to our green aspirations. They could not resolve this and the conflict negatively affected the cooperation.
How do we handle – or better: prevent - these types of conflicts? The departments need to work together and find a compromise that serves everyone.

Discussion question

• Have you experienced a situation where there was a conflict between departments over standards?
• How did you approach it?
• What did you learn from it?

Things to consider

We can learn from these situations to help us truly live our values. We can consider the following actions:

• Spend time upfront – during the sales process with the customer- to understand any potential conflict between internal and external guidelines, the environmental impact and customer needs.
• Discuss our values pro-actively and how actions we take can affect Skanska on an overall basis, not just our departments.
• Be courageous in expressing the right thing even when it may not be popular and invest in time for internal dialog in the process of finding better solutions.

For more information on this topic, read the Code of Conduct chapter on Climate and environment.