Your people – beyond human resources
The phrase ‘human resources’ is rapidly becoming outdated. Cutting edge businesses realise people are very different from stationary or computers.
If you want to achieve sustainable success, your staff need to feel motivated and inspired.
Well known business guru Zig Ziglar, says: “Motivation is the fuel, necessary to keep the human engine running,” while Herb Kelleher co-founder, and former chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines, summed up his approach to success by saying: “You have to treat your employees like customers.”
It will improve your business to seek out inspiration like this for yourself, and pass it on to those you work with. Or look for success in your sector, and find out how these firms work with their people.
Perhaps the best way to motivate staff is to be enthusiastic about your work, and treat those around you as you would like to be treated. For example, Google became one of the world’s fastest growing companies, partly because of its special creative culture and its innovative approach to recruitment and retention.
Google encourages staff to bring pets to work, provides bicycles for efficient travel between meetings and lays on pool tables, volleyball courts and other sports for staff.
But beyond the facilities, this is about mindset. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said: “We hire the person, not the job.”
A written agreement on sustainability shared across your company can help motivate staff by including a commitment to investing in staff, the community and in the environment. For example, a recent study by the Simmons School of Management found that female employees are more likely to stay at companies that they believe make a positive contribution to society.
Your customers – market research on sustainability
To sell successfully to people, you have to understand them, and the things they care about, no matter where they are from or where they are.
Read the International Trade Centre's guide for exporters Consumer Conscience: How Environment and Ethics are influencing exports.
Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability
The term Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) describes a segment of the population identified by market research as ‘conscious consumers’. These people have been shown to express concern for environmental, social and economic justice partly through purchasing decisions and their support of socially responsible businesses.
They represent an enormous global market. Research commissioned by NZTE in 2008 found the global LOHAS market is worth an estimated $910 billion. Other estimates put its value at US$290 billion in the US alone.
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