Creating Sustainable Environs at Work
By Aliah D. Wright
Society of Human Resource Management
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Companies say they believe corporate social responsibility pays off—both in employee and customer satisfaction. But changing old habits is never easy.
“We still have the DNA of the industrial revolution,” Evangeline Caridas of Caridas Consulting International told members of the World Future Society Conference held in Washington, D.C. on July 26-28.
Companies are discovering that they can’t apply past practices to implementing corporate social responsibility programs. New models are cropping up that emphasize employee engagement over employer dictation.
Executives believe that corporate responsibility programs can positively impact their business and help achieve strategic goals, according to a survey of more than 500 business executives conducted by Grant Thornton LLP last year.
“Companies are realizing that strong investment in corporate responsibility programs is both a civic obligation and a successful business strategy,” said Jim Maurer, Grant Thornton’s national managing partner of the consumer and industrial products practice.
According to Fresh Marketing’s 2008 Corporate Sustainability Employee study, one-third of businesses are taking on social responsibility by attempting to assess their environmental footprints, collaborating with nongovernmental organizations to institute social programs, and developing approaches to positively impact society or reduce harmful impacts.
Employees are embracing social responsibility as well. Some have even switched careers for a more fulfilling work experience. According to the 2008 MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates Inc., between 5.3 and 8.4 million Americans have launched “encore careers,” positions that combine income and personal meaning with social impact.
Go with the Flow
Caridas has worked as a manager and consultant for more than 15 years and has helped companies move their sustainability programs forward through the use of two programs, “participative design” and “flow.”
She cited several examples of her own work in participative design (PD), which she said is based on more than 40 years of research and field testing. PD redesigns organizational structures to be self-managed instead of bureaucratic. Employees are involved in creating their own sustainability programs, instead of a manager dictating to them what those programs should be. Her work is based on the model pioneered by psychologists Fred Emery, Ph.D., and Merrelyn Emery, Ph.D., whom she said modeled it after aboriginal tribes.
The aborigines, she said, “share their leadership without damaging … the Earth.” She said they believe “everyone has something to contribute.” The theory is much like James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations (Doubleday 2004), which, in short, states that any given group of people is always smarter than any given expert.
In past business practices, which Caridas refers to as the “coercion model,” a dominant hierarchy—management—is responsible for coordination, control and the outcomes of business.
As a result, she said, employees experience low morale, aren’t as committed to performing well, compete with each other, perform poorly, are more stressed and are prone to getting sick more often.
Caridas said many of today’s business innovations talk about participation but are really designed to preserve bureaucracies.
“Watch what they do, not what they say,” she said.
In the PD model, where everyone has a say in coordination, control and the outcomes of their work, people work more efficiently, have a more collegial work environment, are more committed to their companies, are less stressed and are healthier.
Caridas also practices a model called “flow,” which incorporates clear goals and feedback. And, most importantly, employees’ challenges are matched to their individual skills.
“People have to have challenges that meet their skills,” she said. They are also able to concentrate and focus better, time flies, people interact with their colleagues more, and creativity is fostered while work is more fun.
“Participative design and flow are best for shifting corporate cultures toward sustainable practices,” she said. “People are more productive when using these models, and they are healthier and access the health care system two to four times less,” she said, quoting Robert Karasek’s Healthy Work: Stress Productivity and the Reconstruction of Working Life (Basic Books, 1992).
There is one guiding principle of sustainable development, Caridas said. “The triple bottom line, which is based on ecology, equity and economy … has a positive effect in incorporating sustainability concerns into corporate accountability.”
In other words, doing the right thing has its rewards.
“Productivity goes up, staff satisfaction goes up, turnover rates go down, waste declines and revenue goes up.”
Above all things, companies care most about shareholder value, Caridas said. However, she added, “if we don’t have a planet to live on, we won’t have shareholder value.”
Aliah D. Wright is an online editor/manager for SHRM.