How to Accelerate HR’s Role in
Sustainability:
The Next Big Step!
October 21, 2015
COMMIT!Forum
Jeana Wirtenberg, Ph.D.
Transitioning to Green, LLC
How to Accelerate HR’s Role in Sustainability:
The Next Big Step!

Sustainability, CSR… and Human Resources
Perfect Together?
Our Purpose Today:
Accelerate progress
towards your
sustainability and
CSR goals by
partnering with and
leveraging your HR
department.
2

What if?
Every
employee had
goals around
sustainability,
working in
concert with
the business’
goals to solve
some of our
most
intractable
problems?
And every employee could articulate
what that means to them personally?

Sustainability happens when…
Managers make
decisions and
take actions
every day that
take
sustainability
gain and harm
into account.
4

People Make Sustainability Happen!
5

THE NEXT BIG STEP IN SUSTAINABILITY IS
CULTURE.

Essential Elements of a
Culture for
Sustainability
• Sustainable Values
• Sustainable Mind-Set
• Leadership for sustainability
• Visionary
• Employee engagement
• Multi-disciplinary
• Diversity, inclusion, social
justice
• Wisdom
7

Five Talent Elements to Align with
Sustainability and CSR
1. Attracting Talent
2. Recruiting Talent
3. Developing
Talent
4. Engaging Talent
5. Retaining Talent
“It’s the talent that
makes it all
happen!”
8

Leadership for Sustainability:
Designed to work across all functions within an
organization.
9

Promote Well-Being
by Cultivating
Sustainability-
Inspired Habits and
Practices
• Silent Reflection
• Mindfulness
• Listening generously
• Both-And
• Being, Satisfaction
• Caring, Compassion, and Service
• Gratitude
• Collaboration
• Balance
10

Learning and Development:
Embed Sustainability Training in All Functions
• Fundamentals of
Sustainability
• Marketing,
Communications, &
Social Networking
• Human Resources
• Strategy and Metrics
• Operations/Facilities
• Finance
• Supply Chain
• Greening Information
Technology
11

Three Big Tipping Points to Build a
Culture for Sustainability
• Co-Creation
• Bottom-Up
• Long View
12

Thank You!
Jeana Wirtenberg Ph.D.
• Transitioning to Green www.transitioningtogreen.com
• jwirtenberg@transitioningtogreen.com
Phone: 973-335-6299
Twitter: @Trans2Green @jeanawirtenberg
• Transitioning to Green Foundation
www.TTGFoundation.org
• Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, FDU www.fdu.edu/ise