What Role Should HR Play in Sustainability Initiatives?
At a recent Human Capital Management Institute seminar on Strategic Workforce Planning, there was a break from the main topic with a guest speaker who addressed the urgent need for companies to develop sustainability initiatives. Observing the HR professionals in the room during this presentation I saw the audience go from mildly interested to completely disengaged. In fairness, the speaker failed to provide the linkage between sustainability initiatives, HR and SWP; however, I thought the linkage was obvious.
But is it?
When a company decides to make sustainability an integral part of their business strategy, HR should stand up as a key participant in supporting this
initiative as it would any other more “traditional” business priority. The opportunity to partner with other parts of the business has never been greater than with sustainability. Translating this trend into key HR programs that involve training, building awareness, employee branding, recruiting programs, workforce health and well-being, work/life balance and leadership development programs, to name a few, puts HR in a strong position to be a critical player in this initiative.
As Elaine Cohen states:
“HR must ensure that a sustainable approach to managing its employees is part of the business strategy. […] A truly sustainable business is created when all employees are aware of how their roles contribute to the sustainability agenda. […] In this way HR transforms the business impacts ON employees into the sustainable impacts OF employees.”
Sustainability is a new and very interesting topic for most HR professionals. Unfortunately, according to a survey conducted by the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University, HR leaders are not confident that they have the competencies to develop these short and long-term programs.
What will it take for our HR leaders to gain that confidence and those competencies? Share with us and the MIPRO Unfiltered blog community how your HR organization is addressing or is planning to address your organization’s sustainability business strategy. What are your challenges? Your successes? Does your company look at sustainability seriously? If so, what role is HR playing?
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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