A 2022 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report suggested that 58% of talent acquisition and retention executives believed that embedding sustainability in a firm’s HR strategies should sooner or later become a key objective. While many reasons are responsible for this move, some strategic advantages include business resilience in the long run, employee well-being, and the motivation to put forth environmental responsibility.
With sustainability becoming a buzzword in today’s times, we at the Tribhuvan College of Environment and Developmental Sciences, positioned among the leading environmental science colleges in Delhi, believe it is high time for HR managers to spot the significance of sustainability to bring about balanced and ethical outcomes in people management and growth. So today, in this blog post, let us discuss the top sustainable practices that we believe every HR team should implement. Let’s quickly have a look.
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Consider Remote/Hybrid Working Environments:
In the post-COVID era, organizations from around the world have not just been working remotely, but many have been thriving in this transformational setup.
Taking note of this, HR personnel can come forward to give remote/hybrid working environments a shot in their respective firms. With this, the HR can help reduce commuting emissions, significantly pull-down office energy consumption, and optimize the use of office-based resources.
We at the Tribhuvan College of Environment and Developmental Sciences see this as a win-win situation for the firm, its employees, and, undoubtedly, the environment.
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Choose Office Spaces kissed with Sustainability:
Speaking of the go-to sustainability practices a firm’s HR can get into play, we cannot but overlook the importance of sustainable office spaces.
As of date, the market is buzzing with options in terms of interior and décor choices that complement sustainable office spaces. For beginners, it proves to be a wise idea to invest in energy-efficient lighting, environment-friendly furniture, and recycling stations, to list a few. You will be delighted to know that in the process, you will end up raising an environmentally conscious workforce.
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Prioritize Green Hiring:
When it comes to the sustainable practices that HR must adopt, how can we overlook the importance of green hiring? Essentially, this form of hiring involves recruiting candidates who are active advocates of sustainability, which shall reflect through their priorities and actions. As an HR involved in hiring processes, one must focus on selecting such candidates, as more often than not, they are involved in environmental and social initiatives.
Many HR executives have gone on record to claim that green hiring helps improve a firm’s employee retention rates, for employees now want to stay back with companies whose values and vision align with theirs, in this case, the sustainability goals.
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Go Paperless:
People working in the 9 to 5 setups know that irrespective of the nature and scale of the company, most operations are 100% paperbound. Not to mention, there is an insane level of duplication and wastage as far as internal and external paperwork goes.
This is where we at the Tribhuvan College of Environment and Development Sciences believe that HR managers must step up and switch their day-to-day work from paperbound to paperless.
Some of the initial steps that HRs can take in this regard are to make a prompt switch to digital documents and, of course, take help from electronic signatures. Doing so would ascertain a reduction in paper waste and optimization of related resources.
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Focus on Sustainability Education:
It is important for the HR team to understand that for the firm to walk on the path of sustainability, it is not enough for their team alone to understand the principles and objectives of this concept.
What is required is for the language of sustainability to be understood by every employee who forms part of the said organization. This is where the need for continuous learning is felt. HRs must come forward to invest in offering training on sustainability-related topics to the employees, highlight the environmental impact of various activities the firm engages in, underline the need for resource efficiency, and, of course, throw light on the need for ethical labor practices.
It becomes equally crucial for HR to conduct diversity and inclusion programs, a huge part of which involves building a sustainability-pro, inclusive workforce that is all for equal opportunities, innovation, and workplace well-being backed by sustainability.
Sustainability is Not a Choice but an Obligation for Today’s HR:
In this blog post, we at the Tribhuvan College of Environment and Developmental Sciences, one of the well-known environmental science colleges in Delhi, have attempted to take you through the top 5 actions that a firm’s HR can take to imbibe sustainability in their respective firms.
The obvious question is whether it’s a pressing need. Well, yes, and that’s because the rate at which our planet is suffering and degrading cannot be ignored any further. It is high time that HR professionals in responsible positions understand that applying sustainability principles to their HR practices is no longer a choice that they can make. Instead, it’s an obligation they need to work on. We’d say sustainability and HR are now the two sides of the same coin. What do you think?