Late last year, Truis officially became a 5-Star HP Amplify Impact partner. The highest possible rating an organisation can achieve, this milestone is an exciting next step in our ongoing journey with the HP Amplify Impact program—a program we’ve been a part of since its inaugural year in 2021.As an organisation, it brings us tremendous pride to be recognised for our sustainability commitments and to continue the legacy we started in 2022, when we took out two HP Amplify Impact awards. First, as global winner of the DEI Strategy award, which celebrates the most impactful DE&I strategy. Second, as national winner of the Climate Action award, which recognises HP partners with the most comprehensive carbon footprint and action plan.
Evidently, sustainability matters to us at Truis. Arrive at our Brisbane HQ, and you’ll spot the earmarks of this even before you get out of the car. Look up—solar panels. Look right—an entire business’s retired devices are being unloaded into the warehouse for repurposing and recycling. Look left—waste bins that look like they could be blown over with a strong breeze (with a strong recycling program, we’ve reduced our landfill waste by more than 30%).
Our growth towards sustainability hasn’t happened overnight—it has, and continues to be, realised through continuous, daily improvement and all-in team effort. Today, sustainability is everyone’s responsibility at Truis, but our Managing Director, Norm Jefferies, has been a big influence on getting us to where we are.
Reflecting on when the passion for sustainability took root, Norm reflects on the earlier years of Truis (then named ‘Computer Merchants’).
“Back then, the business was focused on recycling equipment,” says Norm.
“It worked like this: A business might spend millions of dollars on a system, run it for a project or two, and then no longer need it. The equipment still had plenty of value left, so we would buy it back for a fraction of what they originally paid for it. Then, we’d split up the parts of that system, and those parts would go on to help other businesses extend the life of the older technology they were running with,” he says.
“So, our heritage is in the circular economy,” he says.
On top of the business’s already firm footing in the circular space, it was conversations Norm had with his daughter that catalysed his decision to become more proactive in his actions.
“The legacy we leave is important. I absolutely want to leave good things behind—for my daughter, my family, my colleagues, and my community. It’s about living a life that makes a difference,” says Norm.
“I realised that I, along with everybody else, have a responsibility to think about the planet, community, and people—and the role we play in [the betterment] of these things,” he says.
Under Norm’s leadership, Truis was already on the path to environmental action when we were invited to participate in HP’s Amplify Impact program in 2021.
“What impressed me most about getting started with the program was the resources HP dedicated to helping us build and run our sustainability plan. We were doing things already, but building out that plan made it more specific and helped hold us accountable,” says Norm.
Explaining how the program encourages partners to ‘own’ their responsibilities, Norm says: “Each year starts with an assessment—which gives us a basis to build our year’s plan on. We articulate our commitments and goals in the plan, and [once approved], this becomes the criteria we’ll be assessed against at the end of the year.”
“I do think scoring is important, because it quantifies what you’re doing,” he says.
Embracing the quantifiable nature of the Amplify Impact program, our HP partnership also led us to including another important tool in our sustainability toolkit: Sweep, a method for tracking and measuring your organisation’s carbon footprint.
“If you cannot measure your carbon footprint, it’s very difficult to set goals for reducing it,” says Norm.
In the four years we’ve been an HP Amplify Impact partner, we’ve committed to various and continuous sustainability actions. Some big—like forming partnerships with charitable organisations to repurpose retired devices for people in need. Some smaller—like bringing in a device that converts disused cardboard boxes into packaging. But all of these things add up to something much greater—and we’re not just talking about our 5-star status.
Looking back on staff satisfaction data, Norm recognises the sustainability program as a driver of staff engagement and wellbeing.
“Measuring the overall satisfaction of our people before and after we ramped up our program, our score substantially increased. The team really liked the fact that we cared about this—and that they could be a part of it,” says Norm.
“You could say that top-down, we support and encourage—but it’s our people who are really choosing what we do and what we invest in. I think that goes a long way in creating satisfaction at work and just in general,” he says.