Outerwall – Kate Baker – 2013

Kate Baker assisted Outerwall Inc. (formerly Coinstar, Inc.) by researching and developing tactics to engage employees in sustainability. With nearly 3,000 employees working in corporate offices or servicing and maintaining Coinstar^®, Redbox^® and Rubi^TM kiosks in the field, Outerwall saw engagement as an opportunity to increase awareness and change behavior to reduce the company’s environmental impact. As a result, Baker was enlisted to identify gaps and propose engagement strategies that would be most effective given the company culture and organizational structure.   Throughout the summer Baker worked closely with the Corporate Responsibility team to gain an understanding of how employees view sustainability. She conducted interviews and field visits with employees in a variety of job roles and geographic locations and analyzed the success of previous engagement efforts. Baker also conducted extensive research into successful tactics implemented by other organizations as well as best practices for creating effective engagement programs.   Baker compiled her findings into a report that recommended several pilot projects such as a waste audit, focused awareness campaigns and a bottom-up approach to soliciting efficiency ideas from employees.