Because I’m on the front end of projects, sometimes I’m in a position to say no to them.
When you see professional service firms doing work for unsavory clients, it can be easy on the outside to cast stones.
But from the inside, it’s not so easy.
Last year, my firm received an RFP from an energy technology company for an office renovation. A quick Google search told me that not only was this was actually a coal energy company. And as if that couldn’t have troubled by progressive sensibilities enough, this company was an active lobbyist against “green” legislation at the national and state levels.
In response to the RFP, I sent the following email to the business development team:
Initial gut reaction (because I’m the millennial on this chain): I would have some misgivings working with a client that is focused on the coal industry. Some Google searching points to them having a sizable pro-coal lobbying presence.…and whatever you all here may think about energy policy/climate change—I would offer that it’s likely that younger staff would not have warm and fuzzy feelings about us taking on this type of client.
The next day the principals shrugged off my misgivings.
“Having work is too important right now.”
The choice was obvious: chase the work out there, even if not the ideal client, OR turn potential work down, and risk future firm revenue, and raise the specter of having to let people go.
Of course, my firm has no set of ideals or values to refer back to—it’s more about our “gut” when it comes to these clients.
Nothing in our firm handbook outlines opposition to coal companies—there’s a commitment to sustainability, sure, but it’s less about our clients and more about how we design.
What we’re left with is individuals like me feeling compelled to speak up for our own personal principles, because there’s no set of firm principles to look to.
Does a company need to take a stand on these things? Should we? It’s a business, after all—not a nonprofit.
Taylor Coe 