Entrepreneurial Blog

For my first post here is the link to my E-zine Article.

http://www.articlealley.com/article_1876853_15.html

Human Resource Planning in the 21^st Century for a Green Environment

By Jeanette E. Marceau

Does your organization have a human resource plan to hire and retain a 21^st century workforce?  Organizations should have short and long range objectives to better the economy and the environment.  With a specific plan your organization can combat the global challenges of the 21st century.

Organizations need to sit up and take notice of how their organization affects the economy and the environment.  With the challenges facing the 21^st century of saving the earth, reversing poverty, steadying the population growth, and protecting the biosphere many organizations can help.  If the organization can align their mission statements and human resource practices to help achieve these goals then we can help the environment and save the planet.  Saving the earth should be the most important goal for every person and organization living on planet earth.  By incorporating environmentally green practices organizations can take the first steps.

When more citizens of underdeveloped and wealthy countries are able to work then poverty can be reduced.  Organizations can look locally and global to see if they can have an impact on increasing employment.  When more women are educated in underdeveloped countries; leading to more being gainfully employed; then we can reduce the world’s population.  Global firms can have programs to help, by bringing education and employment opportunities to different countries.  These newly educated people will become worthwhile employees.  Organizations can use a strategy of providing education, training, and employment to deserved citizens in third world nations.  If a shoe maker like Nike, plans on producing 500,000 pairs of the New Nike Shock in their factory in Malaysia, they can educate, train, and hire the indigent unemployed workers of that area to help reduce poverty and reign in population growth.  This would be part of Nike’s organizational and Human Resource strategy.  Nike can also look to other underdeveloped nations to assess putting a factory in these nations to also help planet Earth.   If a company cannot help globally thru Human Resource efforts to educate, train, and hire unemployed; then they can try to purchase from companies who do.

Companies now have a carbon footprint and are charged for exceeding certain standards, the government could also put into place programs that reward organizations that help the world by educating, training, and hiring the unemployed or they can charge fees to companies that do not make any attempt to help sustain the earth.  Organizations can have plans in place for short term and long term human resource needs to help reduce their carbon footprint.   This can include flextime and working from home positions to help decease the need of fossil fuels.

When an organization builds new factories they need to plan on building environmentally friendly factories to also help sustain our planet and protect the biosphere.  Human Resource should have guidelines in place to hire engineers and maintenance personnel whose jobs are to ensure that their organization is as environmentally friendly as possible.  The Human Resource department and line managers should use a strategy-linked Human Resource Plan so that the line mangers and Human Resource can work together to achieve a more environmentally friendly organization.  The line managers should feel free to suggest ways to improve the organization’s eco friendliness.

If all organizations in the world do not put forth an effort to save this planet then there will not be a planet.  If our planet’s biosphere and ecosystems change; and the Earth become uninhabitable then all organization will cease to exist.  We need to ensure that there is a planet for our children so saving the planet is vitally important.  Even small local organizations can do their part to save the planet.  The Human Resource departments of small local firms can have most of their Human Resource functions computerized to help save trees.  They can education, train, and employee the unemployed in their local area.  They can have outreach programs with the high school to have students perform internships with them or have students follow a business person for a day to experience the job world.

Communities can have competition to see which local business is the most eco friendly and have ways for others to achieve this.  Some ways would be for reduced paper use and reduced electricity.  The Human Resource department can train their employees on frugality; saving trees, saving utilities, reduce waste; etc.  It would be part of the Human Resource function to properly train employees on being eco friendly which would hopefully spill over into their own lives.  If their organization is recycling then why not recycle at home?
With proper Human Resource Planning we can achieve a 21^st century workforce dedicated to bettering the economy and the environment.   We can save the earth, reverse poverty, steady the population growth, and protect the biosphere.

Jeanette Marceau is the founder of Nantahala Cabins in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.  She is also currently enrolled in the Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship Program at Western Carolina University.  Webmasters and other article publishers are hereby granted article reproduction permission as long as this article in its entirety, author’s information, and any links remain intact.

Copyright 2010 by Jeanette E. Marceau.