"Going for Gold" Challenge: Corporate

“I am pleased to introduce to you the Going for Gold Challenge. This challenge is about getting involved in your community and at work, getting active, being safe, and thinking up some creative ideas on sustainability and innovation. And, if you take the challenge and get involved, you will have the opportunity to be one of twenty employees to support the Canadian Olympic Team at the Beijing 2008 Summer Games and experience the excitement first-hand.”

President and CEO Don Lindsay kicked off the Going for Gold Challenge in September 2007. Running until 31 December 2007, this web-based program was designed to recognize employees who embrace Olympic and Paralympic ideals through positive action, and to encourage participation in the areas of safety, volunteerism, health and wellness, community sustainability, innovation and productivity.

The challenge was open to all employees of Teck and its affiliated entities; employee engagement campaigns focused on health and local community benefits of program participation, with the added incentive that participants had the chance to be randomly selected to win a trip to watch the Canadian Olympic Team compete in Beijing in the summer of 2008.

Participants tracked their progress towards “challenges” by working through itemized lists of activities and behavioral changes specifically compiled for each of the five categories listed above. A sampling of the challenges for Community Sustainability included:

• Consistently turned off my computer and/or unplugged any electronic equipment (cell phone charger, coffee pot, etc.) at the end of each work day
• Used/installed a programmable thermostat in my home, or manually adjusted the temperature to decrease the heat when I am away or going to sleep
• Regularly recycled at work (kitchen and paper products, etc.)
• Regularly recycled at home
• Completed a home energy-efficiency audit
• Used an alternate energy source in my home (solar, geothermal, wind, etc.)
• Purchased locally-grown fruits and vegetables
• Installed or use a compost or worm bin at home
• Regularly maintained my vehicle(s) to minimize pollutants and maximize energy efficiency
• Cleaned a community park (picked up litter, pulled weeds, planted new vegetation, etc.) in 2007

Once the program was completed and participation assessed, the success was evident: over 1700 employees participated in the challenge, at the time that represented 20% of our workforce. Overall, the category that proved most popular among employees was Sustainability.

“It made me think about what I did, and I asked myself why I didn’t do more –so I started doing things I would not have done otherwise. It had co-workers talking about the challenge; we conversed and motivated each other. Altogether, it’s a better community.” – “Going for Gold” participant