Leveraging Sustainable Strategy to Attract, Engage and Retain Your Workforce

On September 29, 2016, Kristina Kohl, MBA, PMP, principal of Becoming Sustainable moderated a panel at the Sustainable Business Initiative Meeting hosted by the NJDEP and Bergen Community College. The panelist included John Queenan, Senior Director of CSR, ADP, Nicole Dube, Outreach Coordinator, NJ Board of Public Utilities, and Nick Lange, Senior Consultant, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. The panelist participated in a lively discussion around environmental and social responsibility as drivers for employee attraction, retention, and engagement.

Nick Lange of VEIC discussed the concept of a Sustainability Benefits, which works similarly to health or retirements benefits for employees. The benefit is company funded and it can be used towards environmentally beneficial expenditures such as solar panels for the home, high efficiency HVAC equipment, or improved insulation. The concept is for an organization to expand the reach of its environmental impact by engaging employees and reducing their environmental footprints as well. Sustainability Benefits provide value to employees, companies, and society.

John Queenan of ADP shared his experience with how sustainability drives engagement especially with the millennial generation.  ADP’s CSR pillars align business goals with organizational culture. The foundational pillars are employability, ethics & compliance, environmental sustainability, and associate & community engagement. From their survey, their key drives of engagement are satisfaction, pride, retention, and advocacy. Alignment between organizational and Millennial values is an important driver in recruitment, retention, and engagement. Utilizing a social media app to recognize employee actions promotes a positive impact. Volunteer programs like partnering with Habitat for Humanity to donate used office furniture to flood ravaged Louisiana helps to promote a shared corporate vision while creating opportunities for skills development. CSR drives attraction, engagement, and retention based in ADP's data and metrics.

Nicole Dube, NJ Board of Public Utilities, spoke about the benefits of the NJ Clean Energy Program (NJCEP) for businesses and their employees. She also shared several case studies that highlight the NJCEP incentives, annual savings, and payback periods to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programs. She also gave some personal insights as a Millennial and what is important to her generation.

The event was well attended and concluded with a drawing of Kristina Kohl’s new book entitled “Becoming a Sustainable Organization.”

Gotham Green Hosts JetBlue

At the fall meeting of Gotham Green held at the famed, Friars Club, we received an informative presentation on JetBlue's sustainability strategy from Sara Lindenfeld, Sustainability Analyst. Jet Blue was named a 2015 Gotham Green Award winner for their commitment to sustainability.

One of their more visible projects is the T5 farm at JFK Airport where they farm blue potatoes, herbs and kale using organic methods. A portion of the organic soil for the container farm comes from composted food waste collected from Terminal 5. The composting is done by farmers in NY state. Employee volunteer to work in the garden and they pick produce for their families to eat at home. The blue potatoes are taken to Terra's nearby manufacturing facility where they are utilized for blue potato chip in new product formulation and testing.

While the T5 farm is highly visible to staff and customers, the JetBlue team is focusing on other important sustainability issues as well such as reducing emissions through using plug in vehicles (PEVs) to service their fleet of planes and biofuels for use in for existing fleet. Sustainability is part of everyone's job everyday.

The JetBlue leadership team views sustainability as an important part of creating financial value for the organization. One of the major markets served by JetBlue is the Caribbean. If the beauty of the beaches in the Caribbean is degraded through climate change, then JetBlue stands to lose a popular tourism route. Environmental stewardship is not only good for preserving natural biodiversity, but it is also good for preserving an organization's bottom line.

Sustainable Business Initiative Fall Meeting 9/29/16

On September 29, 2016, the Sustainable Business Initiative will be hosting its fall meeting at Bergen County Community College in Wall, NJ. The event is being held from 9:00am-12:15pm. Industry experts will discuss the positive impacts of sustainability on their core business strategy. Kristina Kohl, Principal, Becoming Sustainable, will host a panel discussing the benefits of sustainability on recruitment, retention, and development of your workforce. Building a sustainable workforce creates longterm value for organizations. Come learn about real life success stories from NJ business executives.

The SBI is a program of the NJ Department of Environmental.  It's vision is to raise awareness, educate and motivate companies to pursue sustainability as a competitive business strategy.  For additional information on the upcoming meeting, please go tohttp://www.nj.gov/dep/aqes/os-sbi.html#stakeholder.

Accelerating IT Success Article

Check out Kris' article entitled Becoming a Sustainable Organization published in Accelerating IT Success by Computer Aid. 

The headlines are full of reports on organizational compliance lapses, ethical missteps, environmental cover-ups, and social disconnects with key stakeholder groups. Yet the number of public companies reporting on environmental, social, and governance metrics has increased significantly over the past several years. If companies are incorporating sustainability into their mission statements, why do they continue to have environmental, social, and governance compliance problems? There is a performance gap between organizational sustainability vision and implementation of strategy because it isn’t being fully incorporated into the culture of the organization. Why is it so difficult to create a culture of sustainability that embeds valuing natural and social capital into the daily operations of an organization? Because it requires engaging the workforce and fundamentally changing policies, processes, and people in order to drive the sustainability vision forward.
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ITMPI Webinar -Becoming a Sustainable Organization

Recently, Kristina presented an ITPro webinar entitled Becoming a Sustainable Organization hosted by ITMPI to over 165 attendees who received PMI PDU credit.The focus of the webinar was to help project management professionals gain sustainability knowledge and skills to embed sustainability into project management methodologies in order to close the gap between their organization's sustainable vision and benefits realization. If you missed the webinar it is available in the ITMPI Library Becoming a Sustainable Organization  with a short clip available on YouTube Clip.

If you are interested in having Kristina speak at your conference or event, please email Kris@Becomingsustainable.org. Kristina's book Becoming a Sustainable Organization: A Project and Portfolio Management Approach is available through CRC Press and Amazon.

Project Managers Embrace Sustainability!

At the PMI Global Congress in Barcelona, sustainability was a hot topic with several presenters including our own, Kristina Kohl presenting on the topic. Kris’ session “Closing the Gap Between Sustainable Strategy and Implementation” focused on the impact that project managers can have in driving organizations toward sustainable strategy benefit realization. Topics discussed included identifying drivers of sustainability as well as barriers creating misalignment between sustainability vision and organizational adoption. The session focused on solutions to drive sustainability in people, process, and policy through the project management process. Leveraging project management professionals’ expertise and skills around driving and managing change within organizations has a significant impact. In order for organizations to address global challenges and to create new opportunities, projects that drive innovation and new solutions must be prioritized. In order successfully transform, leadership must create a culture that promotes incorporating triple bottom line (people, planets, and profit) criteria and requirements into all projects. Sustainable strategy requires taking a long-term view to create organizational value.

Kristina is the author of  Becoming a Sustainable Organization: A Project and Portfolio Management Approach. Conference attendees were the first to see the recently released title. Their response to both the book and presentation was overwhelmingly positive. For a brief glimpse at their reactions, checkout the #PMICongress Twitter feed for information sharing and comments.

Interestingly, many of the messages that I shared in my session were echoed in the remarks of Mark Stevenson, the Closing Keynote Speaker. Mark is an author, speaker, and advisor; He is an expert on global trends and innovation. He sits on the advisory boards of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Earth Challenge, future-literacy hub Atlas of the Future, and a start-up incubator Mass Challenge UK.  Through his advisory role, he meets many wealth individuals who understand the value of moral leadership. In the age of the millennial, philanthropy is social capital. Having the most “stuff” doesn’t give one influence and power anymore. These leaders are interested in engaging employees on ways to make a better future for all of us. Developing solutions to global challenges such as air quality, water shortages, resource limitations, poverty, and social inequity requires an optimistic outlook.  Leaders need to undertake ambitious projects that allow for mistakes. We learn from our mistakes. Take a long-term view that allows for innovation, new ideas, and engagement. In order to meet current and future challenges we need to be willing to adapt and change. Mark says, “Companies are brave or dead.” Which do you want to be?

As leaders and project management professionals, I challenge all of you to take up the mantle to drive sustainable change within all of our organizations.

Bridging the Sustainability Gap Webinar June 29th

Join Kristina Kohl for her webinar "Becoming a Sustainable Organization" through ITMPI on June 29, 2016 at 11:00AM EDT.  The webinar has been approved for 1 PDU for PMI continuing education requirements.
Come learn about the challenges and benefits of adopting a sustainable approach.There is a performance gap between organizational sustainability vision and benefits realization. Learn how project management professionals can help to close the gap.
For an overview article on the topic go to:
Becoming a Sustainable Organization

 For webinar registration visit www.itmpi.org or use this link
http://tinyurl.com/hp9roja

HRComputes Honored at the Friars Club for Sustainability

On the eve of Earth Day, HR Computes was awarded a GOtham Green Award by GOtham Green during a luncheon at the Friars Club. The award is conferred annually upon organizations and individuals that make a difference in their local and global communities helping to make our world a "greener" place. The group provides a platform for businesses and professionals who seek to connect and promote sustainable business opportunities, practices, and relationships. Other 2015 award recipients included: JetBlue, Environmental Defense Fund, Vision Long Island, Sustainable Bronx, and Bernie Krause. The 2016 application process begins in October.

Come See Kristina at the PMI Global Congress in Barcelona

Kristina will be presenting on "Closing the Gap Between Sustainable Strategy and Implementation at the PMI Global Congress 2016 in Barcelona on May 11. Sustainable strategy considers the impact of organizational decisions and actions on natural, social, and financial capital. Increasingly organizations are seeking to adopt a sustainable approach because of the benefits of sustainable strategy such as increased innovation, new market opportunities, improved employee engagement, better risk management, increased access to capital, and improve operating performance. However, a gap exists between sustainability vision and organizational adoption and integration.  In order to reap the benefits of a sustainable strategy, it must become part of organizational core values and integrated into organizational culture. Yet many barriers exist for organizations seeking to transform into sustainable organizations.

Adopting sustainability begins with an understanding of the concepts of sustainability, the business value proposition, and gaining the support of the C-suite to promote strategic alignment between sustainable and business strategy. Once leadership has embraced the benefits of a sustainable approach, the challenge becomes integrating sustainability into core values that impact people, process, and policies.

To begin the process, you must understand your organization’s readiness for sustainable change. Where is the organization on its sustainability journey? Are you just beginning the process or are you experienced with sustainability programs and projects. Tools such as the Sustainability Assessment helps to identify areas of organizational strength and weakness as it relates to sustainable strategy providing a roadmap for improvement.

The key to transformational change is creating alignment between business and sustainable strategy and then effectively implementing the strategy. Project management professionals offer part of the solution through methodologies and structure for planning and implementing programs and projects that drive organizational sustainability. In order to achieve success, project management professionals need additional skills to over come organizational barriers. These include gaining tools and techniques to identify and gather requirements from a broad and diverse stakeholder group. The stakeholder engagement process is complex and multi-faceted.  Identifying material issues through evaluating an organization’s product value chain provides perspective on the full impact of operations on natural, social and financial capital. Forging relationships with key business leaders through identifying the impact that sustainable strategy has on their areas of responsibility is an effective means of forging alliances and gaining additional champions. In particular, human capital professionals can be strategic allies in the process of transforming an organization’s culture toward sustainability.

The portfolio management process facilitates alignment between sustainability and core business strategy through the portfolio component selection process. Tools such as Sustainability Portfolio Alignment Matrix facilitate the process.

In order to unlock the benefits of sustainability, we focus on driving change and embedding sustainability.  Defining metrics, gathering and managing data, and reporting on progress adds credibility to the impact of a sustainable transformation. This approach considers how sustainable strategy impacts all aspects of an organization’s value chain from raw material sourcing, supplier selection, engagement of talent, to customer requirements.

Project management professionals will learn from case studies, project plans, and interviews with sustainability professionals who have undertaken programs and projects to embed sustainability within their organizations. Project management professionals will gain a better understanding of drivers of misalignment between strategic sustainable vision and implementation as well as tools and techniques to improve their sustainability program and project success. Full benefit realization of a sustainable approach relies on effective alignment between strategy and implementation.