Does your company have the right culture to ensure its viability and sustainability for the next 50 years and beyond?

Most companies would say they understand what it takes to be viable 50 years from now, and based on our experience the common answer to the viability question would be revenues and profits. We would add that business viability also includes growing and maintaining a loyal customer base but that is a subject for another article.

Indeed, many organizations define sustainability as their impact on the environment but building a truly sustainable organization means much more than being a responsible corporate citizen. Being a sustainable
organization 50 years from now means understanding the impact of what you do such as quality improvements, operational effectiveness, efficiency, as well as employee and customer satisfaction/loyalty. Being sustainable is about aligning all of the organization’s resources for the best outcomes. However, many small to medium-sized organizations are in search of a well-tested road map to help them define and achieve sustainability as an organization.

In our experience, the plan requires looking at the seven key areas of your business, because when sustainability is planned properly it becomes an outgrowth of what you are already doing. We refer to it as the STAR Model©- Sustainability Through Alignment of Resources. The seven areas of the STAR model include: a company’s strategy, structure, processes, rewards and recognition system, people, their customers, their results, and the commitment of leadership. In addition to the organization’s strategy, the two areas that are the most connected to creating a new culture for the organization are your people and your rewards and recognition processes.

Gallup did a research study in 2007, 2008, and 2009 to measure employee engagement. Consistently from year to year, only 30% of the employees surveyed were actively engaged in their company-leaving a consistent 70% not engaged or actively disengaged. Companies need committed people to get things, done and your rewards and recognition processes have a lot to do with creating and growing employee commitment.

How does your organization reward and recognize your people? In what way does your rewards and recognition program compliment your overall strategy? How will those things change or be enhanced by adding a strategy of sustainability? Having a rewards and recognition system that aligns with your strategy will get your people committed and engaged to do things differently.

Equally important do your people have the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to implement an organizational strategy of sustainability? Are your employees’ goals and departmental goals aligned with the overall strategy of the organization? Do your employees know what the strategy is? Keep in mind, sustainability may not be just about the people you currently employ; it is also about recruiting future talent.

When working with your people to improve results and create a new culture there often times needs to be a positive behavior change. People need to think about and do things differently. In our experience there are four drivers of positive behavior change.

Skills and Knowledge: Do you people have the skills and knowledge necessary to make the change happen. What will your people need to understand, learn, or do differently to make your company sustainable?

Attitudes: Do your people have the appropriate attitudes necessary to fuel the needed change? Are they attitudinally committed to change?

Finally, Goals: Are the departmental goals and your employees’ personal goals aligned with the organizational goals? Are they excited to be part of the new strategy because it is meaningful to them personally in some way?

Creating a new culture of organizational sustainability may feel like turning the Queen Mary, but it does not have to be as time intense or difficult as it first appears. There are proven processes like the STAR model that have successfully helped companies define and implement sustainability strategies specifically connected to their goals and objectives, and they were able to implement them quickly. The question really becomes, “Is your company committed to become a sustainable organization?”

Author Bio: Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC, through their Institute for Sustainability, has specialized in helping businesses define and implement a common sense approach to sustainability while achieving high levels of excellence and results. Learn how at www.theinstituteforsustainability.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: sustainability, culture, viability, environment, alignment, star model, gallup, resource associates