Taking Care of Business
Sep 10, 2007 - Joel Makower - GreenBuzz
I've long maintained that human resource
managers are the real drivers of sustainability inside
mainstream companies. Every time I see how-to advice
on greening a company that includes the suggestion
to "get top-management buy-in," I think, "Sure, but
what about everyone else?"
The potential of human resource professionals
-- whose dominion includes hiring and training, among
other things -- is significant, and largely untapped,
in helping to make sustainability a strategic activity
inside companies. With a growing number of companies
competing to be seen as an employer of choice, and
with sustainability and corporate responsibility looming
increasingly larger in some sectors, the ability for
HR folks to attract, hire, and retain green-minded
job seekers can play a huge role in the success of
a company's long-term sustainability goals.
Sometimes, motivating employees starts
with teaching them "how to fish" -- that is, helping
them be more aware and engaged in sustainability in
their personal lives. That's what Wal-Mart is doing
in helping its 1.3 million employees engage in Personal
Sustainability Projects. As Judah Schiller, whose
company developed the concept for Wal-Mart, explains
this week, "Just as sustainability is being used more
frequently from an operational perspective to improve
internal processes, reduce costs and create efficiencies,
personal sustainability can also be used as a powerful
tool to improve upon a range of HR issues: commitment,
attrition, education, health & wellness, motivation,
and engagement."
The Wal-Mart experiment is -- well,
an experiment. We don't yet know whether and how sustainability
will "stick" with the company's employees. But it's
an intriguing notion: by demonstrating the benefits
of sustainability -- from improved health and well-being
to creating a more eco-conscious community -- in their
personal lives, employees just might help their employer
be similarly less wasteful, more resourceful, and
more engaged in the local community.
And that makes human resources a critical
link in the quest to make sustainabiilty a part of
everyone's job.
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