Faced with the new challenges that the ESG imposes on organisations, the adoption of “sustainable” human resources practices has become a priority to accompany corporate strategies aimed at sustainable development and, where appropriate, the achievement of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. In this context, the concept of “Sustainable Talent” arises, a comprehensive strategy that not only seeks to attract and retain talent, but also to develop and “nurture” it, aligning our HR policies and processes with the ESG strategy, as a way to be a more conscious company.
The Sustainable Development Goals, and other recommendations of the Global Compact, can serve as a guide for innovation in the areas of People. While each business impacts on different objectives according to their nature, and we must take them into account for attracting and developing talent, now and in the future, Talent teams can and should have a direct impact on many of them through our most innovative practices:
1. Promoting employment and employability: It is critical for our role to adapt to the changing demands of the business in particular and the labour market in general. For many organisations today, attracting often scarce talent and securing a career is complex. This is compounded by new trends, such as #grandimmission and #jobhopping, which need to be taken into account. In this scenario, our strategy must go beyond developing internal talent so that it stays, we can and must develop talent so that it is “employable”, even before it joins (through agreements with educational institutions and non-governmental organisations), and with the prospect that it can leave and also return.
In this sense, beyond our training and development offer, we need to work on the #learnability of our employees: creating a culture of continuous learning, through formal and informal education and training opportunities that allow employees to acquire new skills and keep up to date with the latest trends and technologies, preparing them for future roles and reducing possible gaps in knowledge and skills.
2. Creating healthy and safe work environments: Today our goal cannot be limited to “not harming” the health of our employees through risk prevention. We need to go a step further and focus HR innovation on implementing policies and practices that promote the health and well-being of employees and even, as some companies have already started to do, that of their family environment.
This includes initiatives such as holistic physical and emotional wellbeing programmes, work-life balance policies, and safety measures at the workplace, extending the concept of safety to the psychosocial domain. Any innovation in this direction will contribute to the creation of decent and sustainable work.
3. Fostering diversity and inclusion: Creating inclusive work environments that value diversity of experiences and perspectives leads us to innovate new organisational models and work methodologies. Diversity of experiences and perspectives enriches our talent pool, facilitates collaborative learning and fosters innovation. Sustainable companies promote diversity and inclusion in all facets of their operations, from recruitment to leadership development, creating diverse teams that generate innovative ideas and creative solutions.
Reviewing all our processes to eliminate bias in attraction, selection, promotion and termination enables organisations to broaden their talent pool and offer fair and equitable employment opportunities that promote engagement and commitment of our people.
Undoubtedly, the benefits of diversity are only achieved through inclusion and this requires inclusive leadership and fostering collaborative environments, where co-creation and sharing of ideas is facilitated and innovation increases. Sustainable companies promote collaboration between diverse and multidisciplinary teams by creating internal and external networks that drive open innovation.
4. Create new career models: Driven not only by the demands of new generations, but also by the need to facilitate the continuity of seniors, we must reinvent career development, through flexibility and adaptability, to increase the ability of our professionals to perform new roles, functions and responsibilities at different times and in different work environments. Sustainable organisations encourage job flexibility and internal mobility, allowing employees to explore different areas of the organisation and develop diverse skills.
Upward or cross-career scenarios are no longer enough. We must consider scenarios in which our professionals can develop outside our organisation and even facilitate “reverse careers” that allow senior talent to remain active and contribute value to our organisations from other positions.
5. Stimulate organisational innovation: Undoubtedly, sustainability requires us to drive innovation throughout the organisation to meet the social, environmental and good governance challenges that legislation imposes on us. It is our responsibility to foster a culture of creativity, experimentation and continuous learning in order to develop new products, services or processes that meet new standards and generate economic growth. Sustainable organisations foster an environment that encourages initiative and experimentation, where employees feel empowered to propose new ideas and solutions.
To this end, we must support internal and even external entrepreneurship through programmes that encourage the creation of new production models, new lines of business and even new companies and, with this, the generation of employment. By providing resources, training and guidance for intra-entrepreneurship, organisations contribute to economic growth and the development of prosperous communities.Undoubtedly, by innovating along these four axes we can far exceed sustainable development goals, reducing risks and increasing opportunities. In this way, by applying innovation in human resources to the creation of Sustainable Talent, organisations can not only improve their own competitiveness, but also contribute to global socio-economic development and the well-being of the communities in which they operate to build a more prosperous and sustainable future for all.
