{"id":48,"date":"2019-06-17T20:44:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T20:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=48"},"modified":"2024-04-25T01:47:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T01:47:32","slug":"human-resources-and-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/chapter\/human-resources-and-sustainability\/","title":{"raw":"Human Resources and Sustainability","rendered":"Human Resources and Sustainability"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Discuss the role of human resource management in advancing sustainability<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-343\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/06\/19193402\/photo-1551836022-8b2858c9c69b-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"Two women in business attire are standing behind a desk and talking to one another.\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/>\r\n\r\nGiven the business case for sustainability, what can a human resource management do to advance sustainability within their organization?Here are four key actions, derived from the Human Resources chapter of <em>The Business Guide to Sustainability,<\/em> to move the discussion forward:[footnote]Hitchcock, Darcy and Marsha Willard. <em>The Business Guide to Sustainability.<\/em> Earthscan. 2006[\/footnote]\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduce the topic to senior executives: If senior management isn\u2019t thinking about sustainability, present the business case and related resources or arrange an executive briefing.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Align HR systems to embed sustainability in the culture: Incorporate sustainability into job descriptions, selection and evaluation criteria, employee orientation and training, evaluation and compensation.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Model sustainable practices: Assess HR impacts and make changes to practices and procedures\u2014for example, recycling and leveraging technology to minimize paper use and waste\u2014to set an example and get a sense for what\u2019s possible.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measure the impact: Incorporate sustainability initiatives in existing measurement systems in order to quantify the benefits and track progress.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHitchcock and Willard also identify classic change management mistakes to avoid, including:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spray and pray training\u2014Providing training without an associated plan and systems for implementation.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The big black hole\u2014Conducting training and soliciting implementation ideas that are never assessed, acknowledged or acted upon.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Language hijack\u2014Failure to recognize that terms such as \u201cenvironmentalist\u201d or \u201cclimate change\u201d may evoke different responses, from engagement to resistance.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/3fad6828-a647-4eaa-9dcc-3d1be55cf8d2\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs is true at an organizational performance level, Human Resource management stands to benefit from a successful implementation.Sustainability positively impacts employee recruitment, engagement and retention. To illustrate, here are 3 key takeaways from a 2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement study:[footnote]\"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.conecomm.com\/research-blog\/2016-millennial-employee-engagement-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study.<\/a>\" Cone. 2016. Accessed July 18, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">64% of Millennials consider a company\u2019s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">88% of Millennials say their job is more fulfilling when they are provided opportunities to make a positive impact on social and environmental issues and<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">83% of Millennials would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to social and environmental issues.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nFor perspective, millennials currently represent 50% of the workforce and are projected to constitute 75% by 2025.[footnote]Donston-Miller, Debra. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/workday\/2016\/05\/05\/workforce-2020-what-you-need-to-know-now\/#8613ef32d632\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Workforce 2020: What You Need to Know Now.<\/a>\" Forbes. May 5, 2016. Accessed July 18, 2019.[\/footnote]","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss the role of human resource management in advancing sustainability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-343\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/06\/19193402\/photo-1551836022-8b2858c9c69b-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"Two women in business attire are standing behind a desk and talking to one another.\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Given the business case for sustainability, what can a human resource management do to advance sustainability within their organization?Here are four key actions, derived from the Human Resources chapter of <em>The Business Guide to Sustainability,<\/em> to move the discussion forward:<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Hitchcock, Darcy and Marsha Willard. The Business Guide to Sustainability. Earthscan. 2006\" id=\"return-footnote-48-1\" href=\"#footnote-48-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduce the topic to senior executives: If senior management isn\u2019t thinking about sustainability, present the business case and related resources or arrange an executive briefing.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Align HR systems to embed sustainability in the culture: Incorporate sustainability into job descriptions, selection and evaluation criteria, employee orientation and training, evaluation and compensation.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Model sustainable practices: Assess HR impacts and make changes to practices and procedures\u2014for example, recycling and leveraging technology to minimize paper use and waste\u2014to set an example and get a sense for what\u2019s possible.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measure the impact: Incorporate sustainability initiatives in existing measurement systems in order to quantify the benefits and track progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hitchcock and Willard also identify classic change management mistakes to avoid, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spray and pray training\u2014Providing training without an associated plan and systems for implementation.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The big black hole\u2014Conducting training and soliciting implementation ideas that are never assessed, acknowledged or acted upon.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Language hijack\u2014Failure to recognize that terms such as \u201cenvironmentalist\u201d or \u201cclimate change\u201d may evoke different responses, from engagement to resistance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_3fad6828-a647-4eaa-9dcc-3d1be55cf8d2\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/3fad6828-a647-4eaa-9dcc-3d1be55cf8d2?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_3fad6828-a647-4eaa-9dcc-3d1be55cf8d2\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As is true at an organizational performance level, Human Resource management stands to benefit from a successful implementation.Sustainability positively impacts employee recruitment, engagement and retention. To illustrate, here are 3 key takeaways from a 2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement study:<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study.&quot; Cone. 2016. Accessed July 18, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-48-2\" href=\"#footnote-48-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">64% of Millennials consider a company\u2019s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">88% of Millennials say their job is more fulfilling when they are provided opportunities to make a positive impact on social and environmental issues and<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">83% of Millennials would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to social and environmental issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For perspective, millennials currently represent 50% of the workforce and are projected to constitute 75% by 2025.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Donston-Miller, Debra. &quot;Workforce 2020: What You Need to Know Now.&quot; Forbes. May 5, 2016. Accessed July 18, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-48-3\" href=\"#footnote-48-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-48\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Untitled. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Amy Hirschi. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Unsplash. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/uwpo02K55zw\">https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/uwpo02K55zw<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Unsplash License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-48-1\">Hitchcock, Darcy and Marsha Willard. <em>The Business Guide to Sustainability.<\/em> Earthscan. 2006 <a href=\"#return-footnote-48-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-48-2\">\"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.conecomm.com\/research-blog\/2016-millennial-employee-engagement-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study.<\/a>\" Cone. 2016. Accessed July 18, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-48-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-48-3\">Donston-Miller, Debra. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/workday\/2016\/05\/05\/workforce-2020-what-you-need-to-know-now\/#8613ef32d632\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Workforce 2020: What You Need to Know Now.<\/a>\" Forbes. May 5, 2016. Accessed July 18, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-48-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Untitled\",\"author\":\"Amy Hirschi\",\"organization\":\"Unsplash\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/uwpo02K55zw\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Unsplash License\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"26c67822-77ad-461e-acaa-73b11e5e9caf, bcc7a9de-74a7-4408-bdc7-e67caff56bca","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-48","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":21,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3417,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48\/revisions\/3417"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/21"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}