Kris Kohl

I recently attended a joint conference from The Wharton School and Sustainable Brands entitled “The New Metrics of Sustainable Business.” We heard sustainable stories not only from companies such as Xerox, Dow, and Nestle but also from people like Jackson Family Wines, Fair Trade and HIP Investor. The general consensus is what gets measured gets changed but the approaches to achieving this goal varied widely with many speakers agreeing that even with measurement a leap of faith is often necessary for the big wins.
Robert Boller, VP of Sustainability and Production, Jackson Family Winery shared their story of embedding sustainability into the operation. Rather than selecting a linear approach to reducing their carbon, waste and water footprint, they engaged employees in the process and actively encouraged new ideas and participation. While both avenues would have produced the desired reduction in footprints, the embedded structure created new opportunities such as new products and new beneficial relationships with stakeholders. One of the new products is a smart irrigation system than only waters when it is not raining. Local water authorities are so excited about the water savings with this new irrigation system that they are looking to require all agricultural operations to install them. Waste reclamation ideas generated new products such as grape seed oil and a very expensive pharmaceutical compound. Through engaging with NGOs to better understand issues, they opened a dialogue with local, state, and federal agencies allowing input into policy creation. The key difference in these two approaches is the active involvement of stakeholders including employees.
Getting your people involved in your sustainability plan is a key role for HR. Educating employees on the mission and the benefits, creating green teams, empowering people to act, and rewarding participation are all crucial functions for HR. To move forward and truly generate the maximum ROI for sustainability, people need to be engaged and involved. Who better than HR to spearhead this role. For more information on HR’s role in the sustainability process, please contact Kris@HRcomputes.com.