KEY POINTS:
Sustainability is a long word for a big problem that packs much more than an environmental punch. The current world population is an estimated 6.5 billion and expected to rise to 9.1 billion by 2050.
Two billion people live on less than $2 a day and the global financial crisis could increase world unemployment by an estimated 20 million according to a recent report from the International Labour Office (ILO). And then there is the underlying problem of carbon emissions, global warming and the earth's capacity to sustain life under changing conditions.
On a smaller, more positive scale, the Ministry for the Environment reports Packaging Accord data showing New Zealanders are ahead of meeting waste reduction targets, recycling about 60 per cent of packaging.
As with many big problems, starting small can be a sensible way to go. Bill Shields, president of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand, says Human Resource practitioners can be leaders in getting sustainable initiatives started, beginning with small, "do-able" steps.
"Human Resources can be the catalyst for bringing the various parts of an organisation together to look at true sustainability. I think HR has a role as the conscience of an organisation to ensure sustainability is on the top table agenda," says Shields.
The definition of sustainability he prefers and works to is "meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs" (World Commission of the Environment and Development 1987).
Achieving sustainability involves balancing four key areas - employment, economics, environment and community.
He underlines the need for co-ordination across these areas.
"You can't have employment sustainability if the organisation is going down the gurgler from an economic perspective."
But there are tensions, and these are becoming more apparent as the economic recession bites.
Dunedin, where manufacturing has declined over the past two years with the loss of around 850 jobs in the sector, is a case in point.
"That's happening all around New Zealand and those skill sets are disappearing out of the marketplace. What are we doing in terms of future proofing - predicting what the new jobs are going to be and preparing the workers for them?"
HR has a role in predicting future workforce needs and planning in a way that is economically sustainable and socially responsible.
"Jobs for life have gone and no organisation can offer sustainable employment so we need to look at employability rather than employment. What can we do in your [an employee's] time with us to meet our economic needs as an organisation and to help ensure your employability should we have to change things?"
There is also tension in balancing the environmental and economic parts of the sustainable equation. Mining and forestry are areas where environmental groups and local economies come into conflict.
"People say, 'Well that's fine, but how do I feed my family and pay the mortgage?' If we want to move to environmental sustainability what do we do with people in those jobs and how do we retrain them so they can stay in employment and meet environmental requirements?"
HR has a role in balancing these factors, in forecasting future workforce needs and training, and making it happen. Shields believes New Zealand should continue to develop the creative, innovative side of work such as in the clothing industry.
He says people are looking for an emotional connection with companies and an environment that aligns with sustainable values. Companies can build a reputation within communities by being socially and environmentally responsible.
"The employee is saying, 'I don't want to work for a cigarette company', or, 'I don't want to work for a company that's cutting down trees in Indonesia'. It's that value connection as well as earning money."
Sustainable work is also about not duplicating use of resources, and forming strategic alliances with other organisations rather than "growing your own" for everything.
Roger Tweedy, director of the Nework Centre, has worked in the areas of human resources and employment in the private sector, and with government agencies. He is interested in how these sectors relate with the community voluntary sector.
While he does his bit for the planet, keeps fit and bikes everywhere, the social side of the sustainability equation is of particular concern to him. He sees a downturn in the economy as changing the focus from talent management and skills shortages to the kind of rationalisation that happened in the 1980s.
The Wall Street crash in 1987 was followed by a decade of "lean, mean" restructuring and the loss of valuable skills and institutional knowledge. One of the solutions, Tweedy believes, is for people to maintain their employability and for HR to focus on developing them during their time with an organisation.
"The people who were able to weather the storm of the 80s kept their skills current, particularly around technological literacy. From a longer-term, HR-planning point of view we need to be able to retain skills and maintain them through thick and thin rather than cry wolf every time there is an upturn, then shed them again when times get tough."
He says HR can get caught in the "short-termism" of an organisation's immediate economic needs where decisions to let staff go may cost dearly in the longer term. "In a true partnership [between employees and employers], both parties might accept lower profits and lower income.
"That scenario could work well with the ageing workforce where people might be interested in working four-day weeks. Employers tend not to look at options like that, but think, 'I need to shed 100 staff, rather than look at how the organisation could possibly be changed'."
Organisations are connected with the communities in which they operate. Tweedy sees the practice of sustainability as a way to build relationships with communities and develop skills.
"There's often suspicion that companies do it for reasons such as bringing the public around to their point of view or because it is good for business.
"At the birth of corporate volunteering it was seen as bringing strong social benefits to the organisation in helping with leadership for example.
"Most organisations saw it as a PR exercise but volunteering can also be an excellent way for people to develop their skills, putting employees in different roles and gaining experience in running projects."
A dilemma for HR has been their dual roles as both "champions of the people", listening to and representing employees' views as well as being "purveyors of the corporate view from the top down".
"An HR professional should be able to straddle both camps but most of them, understandably perhaps, err on the side of purveying the corporate view," says Tweedy.
"They're not usually the people called upon to make a difference so I believe the sustainability agenda provides a great opportunity for HR to 'add value' and as such raise their profile within their organisation."
New Zealand Post is a large organisation comprising many different businesses and a diverse workforce of around 17,000 employees. HR professional Jacqui Cleland is group manager, capability member of the executive team, and chairs the workforce governance group.
"I believe sustainability is becoming an imperative.
"Regardless of where you sit individually around the different scientific facts and figures there are some things you can't not take notice of. As a large organisation we are taking this seriously," she says.
The company has a comprehensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme called My World. CSR initiatives include Women and Leadership; career development programmes; an ageing workers' project in retail to understand the needs of the older workforce; waste management, resulting in an 88 per cent cut in waste to landfill; and many community-based involvements.
A Strategic Advancement Board predicts future workforce needs, conducting environmental scans to track demographic changes, skill gaps and skill needs.
"We have a human capital strategy for the organisation based around areas we think are going to be critical for meeting our strategic goals."
Cleland says people are enthusiastic and engaged at all levels of New Zealand Post. "HR representatives and business managers are leaders and influencers in their own right.
"CSR initiatives are not just a nice clip-on. They're part of what we want to do as an organisation."
