Praise for Talent, Transformation, and the Triple Bottom Line"Sustainability is often a disruptive change that requires companies to abandon or alter traditional business practices. Now we have a book that offers real insight to business leaders about what sustainability means for them and how they can help their organizations plan and innovate to maximize the benefits it promises, both to their organizations and to the society in which they live."
—Clayton Christensen, professor, Harvard Business School and author, The Innovator's Dilemma and How Will You Measure Your Life?
"Andy Savitz shows how to inspire a workforce to promote sustainability. The bonus is that engaged employees will help their organizations to achieve financial, social, and environmental payoffs as well. It's all laid out clearly for readers by a great leadership strategist."
—Walter Isaacson, president and CEO, the Aspen Institute and author of the best-selling biography Steve Jobs
"I'm delighted that this book, which originated with Andy Savitz's work on sustainability with SHRM, is now available to human resources professionals everywhere. Andy shows how HR departments can support environmental and social initiatives while leveraging sustainability to achieve traditional HR goals including diversity, employee engagement, worker safety, and health care cost control. This is a remarkable and much needed guide for HR professionals and advisors."
—Sue Messinger, former CEO, Society for Human Resource Management
"In this breakthrough book for HR leaders, Andy Savitz shows clearly and convincingly how sustainability can help any organization strengthen its ability to attract and retain talent, increase the engagement of its employees, and develop important capabilities for doing business in an interconnected world, all in the service of core business objectives."
—Lisa G. Bisaccia, senior vice president and chief human resource officer, CVSCaremark Corporation
"A wholly new point of view on how business leaders can align corporate culture, organizational capacity, and employee engagement with sustainability. Along with a fresh perspective, Savitz provides practical guidance to CEOs, human resource leaders, sustainability professionals, and anyone else trying to advance sustainability within their organization. This is a must read for 21st century business leaders."
—Tobias Webb, founder, Ethical Corporation magazine
about the authors xi
foreword by edward e. lawler iii xiii
preface xvii
Part One: Transformation, Talent, and Human Resources 1
1 Transforming GE: Building a Sustainable Corporation from the People Up 3
Ecomagination: Why GE Is Turning Green 8
People Movers: How HR Is Leading the Way Forward 12
Healthymagination: Improving Health Care for GE Employees and for Society 14
Eight Lessons for Business Leaders, Sustainability Professionals, and HR 20
The New Winning Strategy: Leveraging HR for Sustainable Growth 26
2 Sustainability: The Global Challenge, the Business Opportunity, and the People Factor 29
Sustainability Milestones: The Brundtland Commission and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index 30
The Age of Sustainability: Trends and Realities 33
The Triple Bottom Line: How to Define and Measure Sustainable Growth 40
The Sweet Spot: How to Develop Sustainable Business Strategies 46
Sustainability and Profitability: How to Grow Your Sweet Spots 50
Transformation: Th e Business Benefits of Sustainability 54
Revving Up: Where HR Meets Sustainability 61
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 64
Part Two: From Traditional HR to Sustainable HR 67
3 Embedding Sustainability in the Workforce Life Cycle 69
Building Sustainability into Core HR Processes 72
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 80
4 Employee Selection and Sustainability 83
Johnson & Johnson: When HR Fails the Sustainability Test 84
Recruitment: Winning the Global War for Talent 87
Hiring the Workforce of Tomorrow 92
The Value of Values Alignment 94
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 105
5 Career Development and Sustainability 107
Onboarding and Sustainability 107
Training for Sustainability 108
Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders 111
Evolving Employee Assistance 117
Compensation and Incentives for Sustainability Performance 120
Nonfinancial Incentives for Sustainability Performance 122
Retention and Sustainability 125
Compliance, Discipline, and Sustainability 127
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability
Specialists, and HR Professionals 129
6 Workforce Management and Sustainability 131
Performance Appraisal: Evaluating and
Rewarding Sustainability Performance 132
Workforce Planning: Meeting Your
Future Needs 142
Labor Pool Analysis: Understanding a Changing Workforce 149
Termination and Sustainability 158
Sustainable Retirement and Postretirement 161
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 168
7 HR Deliverables and Sustainability 171
The Care and Feeding of Employees 173
How Sustainability Is Expanding HR’s Responsibilities 176
Wages and Benefi ts Policies: The Return on Investing in Employees 185
Employee Wellness Programs and Sustainability 190
Creating Better Working Conditions 193
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 200
Part Three: Organizational Development and Change: HR’s Role in Building Sustainable Companies 201
8 Sustainability and Organizational Capacity 203
Organizational Capabilities: Levers for Sustainable Success 204
Innovation 206
Collaboration 212
Long-Term Orientation 218
Outward Focus 224
Interdependent Thinking 231
Learning 234
Adaptability 240
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 242
9 Sustainability and Culture Change 243
The Three Levels of Organizational Culture 244
Why Traditional Corporate Cultures May Resist Sustainability 248
When Culture Sabotages Sustainability: Why BP Cannot Operate Safely 254
When Culture Advances Sustainability: How AEP Created a Zero-Harm Culture 262
Lessons on Culture Change from BP and AEP 271
Evaluating Your Organization’s Culture 273
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 274
10 How to Get Where You Want to Go: Sustainability and Organizational Change 277
Why Change Occurs: Danger and Opportunity 279
Three Dimensions of Sustainable Change 283
Ad Hoc Change 286
Systematic Change 288
Sustainability and the Classic Change System 292
Top-Down Change Versus Bottom-Up Change 297
Appealing to Hearts 301
Talking About Change 303
Jump-Starting Sustainable Change 306
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 313
Part Four: Sustainability and Employee Engagement 315
11 How Sustainability and Engagement Can Transform Your Business 317
The Link Between Sustainability, Engagement, and Profit 320
How “Acme Corporation” Leveraged Sustainability for Greater Profitability 322
The Golden Triangle: Seeing the Entire Business Case for Sustainability 327
How Starbucks Creates Value from Values 331
Measuring the Impact of Sustainability on Employee Engagement 334
How HR and Sustainability Professionals Can Work Together 337
Getting Started with Sustainability and Employee Engagement Programs 337
Strategic Volunteerism as a Starting Point 344
Employee Engagement, Sustainability, and Transformation 349
Questions for Business Leaders, Sustainability Specialists, and HR Professionals 351
notes 353
acknowledgments and thanks 369
index 377