While many business leaders have a firm understanding of sustainability, putting sustainable growth into practice can prove to be a taller order. In a 2013 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), over 1,200 senior executives responded to concerns about “good growth” by focusing on diversifying their understanding of their own company’s specific sustainability-related risks and opportunities.
An opportunity that emerged for many responding executives was the chance to use hiring to nurture and maintain sustainable growth.
What Can HR Deliver?
Human resources personnel in most organizations are expected to generate a number of specific “deliverables.” Many of these are tied directly to a company’s sustainability, including:
- Workforce satisfaction, which includes competitive compensation, motivation, and worker health. These factors all directly influence productivity, which is key to staying “on target” for sustainable growth.
- Training and career development, which can address “skills gaps” that develop as an organization grows or introduces new ways to meet customer needs.
- Maintaining good working conditions that protect the health and safety of employees and support their ongoing productivity.
- Hiring strategies that work in concert with the organization’s sustainable growth plans to ensure the right people with the right skills are available at each stage of growth.
Using Staffing to Support Sustainability
When hiring managers and human resources staff focus on building the best workforce possible, they also turn their energies in the direction of sustainability. Simply put, a workforce that is supported in meeting company goals and feels as if each member is a part of the overall accomplishment is more productive, more motivated, and better able to address both the goals in place and the ever-changing circumstances that create obstacles and opportunities toward those goals.
In the financial industry, the expectations placed on the workforce have changed dramatically in recent years. Employees from junior accountants to chief financial officers are expected not only to have the detail-oriented analysis skills expected from past professionals, but also to have cultivated the ability to communicate well, manage a team, and provide leadership in good times and bad. A sustainable growth strategy addresses all of these points, ensuring a full set of skills is available from which the company can draw when needed.
Where Do We Start?
Your staffing partner can help your company create a strategic staffing plan that addresses your company’s hiring needs through the lens of sustainability. Whether you need long-term professional talent, temporary help, or to train the people you have to tackle new challenges, your staffing partner can help you identify your needs and take action.
At THE RIGHT STAFF, LLC, our experienced staffing partners can help you create a strategic staffing plan that channels your organization’s hiring into sustainable long-term growth. Contact us today to learn more about our staffing services in the Twin Cities.
