Friday, February 19, 2010

Sustainability-based Human Capital Management

How sustainable are you? Your company? Our world?
Sustainability-based human capital management looks holistically at moving beyond a "culture of health" to a "culture of sustainability" based on three fundamental pillars: Environmental sustainability, organizational sustainability, and individual sustainability.
Environmental sustainability is what is normally considered the "green" movement...reducing an organization's carbon footprint; adopting environmentally-friendly operating and manufacturing practices; and on a more micro level, working locally in the community to promote environmentally- and community-friendly programs and practices.
Organizational sustainability is about focusing first and foremost on the ability of the business to drive sustainable growth and profitability. This includes processes to continually assess strategy (vision, mission, values, markets, and competitive advantage); operations (structure, processes and practices); innovation (the "fuel" of organizational sustainability); analytics (the lifeblood of any effective enterprise) and talent (people execute and operationalize business strategy. When people execute well, it's almost impossible to replicate).
Individual sustainability is about helping people rise to their greatest level of achievement.Individual sustainability is driven by critical talent management practices that holistically engage people in their career, health and wealth; and inspire them to achieve their greatest potential in work and life.
People have an innate desire to be part of something greater than themselves. Sustainability-based human capital management will take the individual, the organization, and the environment to the next level.
Sustainability is about understanding the best of the current environment...externally, organizationally, and internally...and creating the path that will lead to perpetually improved environmental, organizational, and individual health.