.png)
Sustainability - an opportunity for HR to add value
21 April 2008:
It's almost 15 years since sustainability guru and author John Elkington came up with the concept of the 'triple bottom line' - where business is run not just on economic performance, but also on how it impacts on the community and the environment.
Yet attend any graduate fair or download the agenda for any senior executive conference, and the term 'sustainability' is higher than ever on the agenda. Increased pressure on corporate governance, publicity about the threat of climate change, and shifting demographics have all forced employers to think deeper about what will help their businesses to survive in the long term. And when it comes to recruiting Generation Y - the new generation of graduates - they're as concerned with their potential employer's business ethics as they are with promotion prospects.
But is sustainability really anything different from corporate social responsibility (CSR) or ensuring that every office has a recycling bin?
Strategic opportunity
"It's not just about green projects - it's about pulling it all together," explains Matthew Thorogood, a partner at business services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. "You might offer flexible working or a car-share scheme, but if these things aren't pulled together as a strategic objective they are not effective. It's about how you reward people, how you develop them, how you live your values."
One of the most striking examples of this, according to Thorogood, is Marks & Spencer's well-publicised 'Plan A' initiative, which champions ethical business practices that help both communities and the environment. The difference between this and an everyday CSR programme? Plan A will also boost M&S profitability and improve its employer brand - so far, 570 'Plan A Champions' across the business have managed to reduce in-store energy usage by 5.3% and have increased hanger recycling by 32%.
It's this "pulling it all together" that offers a real opportunity for HR to make a name for itself, says Richard Kemp, director of executive development programmes at Henley Management College.
"From a strategic HR perspective, this is an important thing to go and claim," he says. "Some organisations have brought it in as a response to climate change, but in the long run I believe [sustainability] will sit in HR or organisational development. It's part of how you see yourself as an organisation and part of building up your talent pool."
But by taking on the sustainability mantle, HR has to be careful not to preach - this isn't about policies, it's about developing a value-set that everyone in the organisation understands and most importantly, lives, says Kemp.
"Legislation will catch up, for example on carbon emissions, but most organisations have spotted this as the right thing to do already. It's not reactive - you should be able to say: 'This is how we are'. HR fosters and holds that community together'."
It goes without saying that the impetus for putting these values in place should come from the very top of the organisation, which in turn brings HR closer to the chief executive. This has certainly been the case at IT services company Logica (see case study left/right/below), where chief executive Andy Green, alongside the company's chief financial officer Seamus Keating, sponsors Logica's many environmental and community projects, but "HR is driving the delivery", according to UK HR director Pam Chase.
"It's not just a fluffy HR thing or a nice-to-have, there are business reasons for doing this," she says.
Read more...
Source: Personnel Today
