HRAI (HR Association of India) recently asked me to be in a panel discussion on Green HR. HRAI is led by some enthusiastic, young HR professionals. So when they reach out, I always agree. But one peculiar characteristic of HRAI is that they first sign you up for a talk/panel discussion & only much later, after you have accepted, they inform you the topic. Sometimes this can be disconcerting, as it was this time. On my own, I would never have said yes, to such a topic. Green HR?? What is that? Have I done anything in this area in my 40+ years of experience? Will I be able to add value to the listeners? Will my co panelists take me for a fool? ( which I am of course: but why make it public?)
Total self doubt clouded my mind. ( Sotto Voce: those who know me will tell you that is my तकले आम…. my signature tune… faced with anything new. I am a follower of Napoleon in that regard who advised : Train Hard, Fight Easy!!) so then I thought, I can prepare myself for the topic & that is what I did. With homework done, on that fateful day, I was confident & prepared. Though I am saying it myself, I think I was the best speaker on the topic that day. This was validated by many who attended the Panel Discussion & spoke to me after the event. Having done all the prep, I thought why let it go waste? Why not capture my thoughts in a blog, so that I can reach a wider audience? so here goes…hope this adds value to you, my readers.
So what is Green HR? The simple way to understand this is to ensure that every HR touchpoint must promote sustainable practices and increase the employee awareness on issues of sustainability. There is no gainsaying the importance of sustainability in today’s world. So this is HR taking an evangelist role for making sustainability top of the mind, through spreading awareness & engaging all employees in this important task. De facto, HR has to expand its traditional role to emerge as the chief supporter for the organization’s pursuit of sustainability. The first step in this journey is for HR to ensure that “environmental responsibility” becomes an integral part of the corporate mission statement. This will ensure that 1) it remains top-of-the-mind in all organizational initiatives & 2) it gets tracked regularly by the management for fulfilment. HR plays a key role by working towards participation of all organization members to create & keep the organization green.
In a way this is not a new concept. Green HR is not New Wine in Old Bottle; it is a NEW WINE in NEW BOTTLE. For long, organizations have been socially responsible to reduce the environmental impact of it’s operations. A path-breaking example would be Tushar Tanti building a totally Green Corporate HQ way back in 2009. A million square-feet of ground plus two levels in a 10.4 acre urban setting achieved a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum & Teri Griha 5 Star certification, with its annual energy generated on-site through photovoltaic panels and windmills. No other buildings have achieved this kind of cost efficiency. 92 % (4 MW) being consumed by the project is ‘sustainable energy’ making this a Zero Energy Project!
The refrain ,” Do not print this mail, unless absolutely necessary” was a green initiative ages ago. Relocation of factories from cities to remote locations were the sustainability governmental regulations willingly followed by companies like Asian Paints, Cadbury & J&J. The focus on energy usage & efforts to drive down consumption was not only economic need but also a green initiative. Alternate sources of energy championed by Thermax helped corporates to walk this path. Recycling and Waste Disposal in an environmental sensitive way, reducing water consumption and ensuring zero discharge plants achieved by Mahindra & Mahindra in their plants all show us the way. All such initiatives help achieve the Triple P objective: People; Profit & Planet!!! Following such Green HR practices, organizations can save money and at the same time reduce the carbon footprint to further sustainability goals.
The word Green HR also has long legacy. It was way back in 1996, Walter Wehrmeyer in his book aptly entitled “Greening People” first talked of Green HR viz. joint focus of sustainable use of resources and preserving the natural resources.
A host of practices have steadily grown up under this head of Green HR: Going Paperless; Energy Audits & action plans; Using Recycled Materials in offices and shopfloors; Walking, Cycling, Car Pools to reach workplace; Bring your Own Mug for coffee at office reducing plastic/paper/washing requirements; Flexible Work arrangements as we all experienced during Covid; Reducing Travel; Recruitment & Selection online; On Boarding, L&D and PMS online, Procurement only from Vendors who are into recycling… these are just a few examples which people are experimenting with. Setting up Employee Committees to generate more such ideas helps new thinking and also ensures involvement & buy-in of employees.
Such greening of policies & practices has significant benefits. To name a few obvious ones: Improved Communication & Collaboration; Increased Employee Engagement; Reduced Costs; Reduction in Carbon Footprint; & Reduced Costs of Operations. In India many organizations already have enacted such policies and are following such practices to reap business benefits. Notable amongst the early movers are: HCL Tech.; Idea Cellular; ITC; IndusInd Bank; Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Paper; Wipro; Suzlon; ONGC; & TCS , to name a few
Clearly this is an idea whose time has come. So implement for your organization & start reaping the benefits. And to my younger HR brethren: you are always looking for ways in which to move closer to the line of business in your company & to add value & make an impact:- Green HR is the way to go. You will become an important driver of business , cost and sustainability agenda creating a niche for yourself and ensuring a place on the strategy table.
Travel this interesting path to a greener future for yourself and your organization: vikas
PS: Remembering the song penned by the Bard (As You Like It):
Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird’s throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
Vikasblog 
Great one. Any company willing to support Green HR initiatives, please do reach out to me on +919820856145 or preeti.shirodkar@gmail.com. I have been working in the area of sustainability and have been felicitated for it by TMC too. Thought of using Vikas’ popularity for reaching out to willing corporate houses.
Kudos for the blog Vikas and for the topic HRAI
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Thanks Preeti
yes this is an initiative which must be supported and encouraged by all
and I know you will add value to anyone who reaches out
all the best
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Hello Sir,
Topic well presented… I am fortunate to work for the organisation which has already initiative in place for sustainability. And HR is an integral part of these initiatives.
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Excellent Ganesh
with an evangelist fervour you must try and propagate these ideas to your other HR friends & colleagues
Jyot se jyot Jalate chalo
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Vikas dada,
Good one! The topic is new to me too and hence the post was insightful.
And your meticulous research shows in the way you write your posts too – complete with relevant quotes, pictures interspersed within the prose. No wonder your piece was the best!
-Nilu
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Hey thanks Neelu
Yes for most of us, Green HR is a new concept
But I am sure it has great potential to make a difference and so look Fw to some inspiring outcomes as we go along
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Hi VS:
First of all, my apologies for not commenting on your previous blog ,which too was a brilliant one! I had some thoughts which I could not pen down in a timely manner.
This new one is another interesting and informative blog. I was not aware of the term “Green HR” till I saw your blog!
It is obvious that the subject is of increasing importance and your article will provide a new path and inspiration to young HR professionals.
On one hand “Green” has become a very fashionable adjective to be attached to any and every thing..On the other hand, what you have described as the scope of this initiative can indeed have very positive impact on the environment and the lives of people in the real sense of the term.
For us ,Atulites, the value of greening has been in the DNA. To the credit of the founders, they made this large campus of 1200 acres absolutely green in the 1950s, when no such concept was on the horizon. Every dwelling was ‘gifted ‘ with a couple of trees from the beginning..which made the place likable and liveable!
I am not surprised that your presentation was ranked the best. You cannot do anything less than that ..even though a very new subject is placed before you.
The article is very rich on the content and of course on your style which always reflects your passion for any subject that you are dealing with !
So VS: continue to surprise us with new titles and absorbing paras!
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Jagdish bhai
you are more than kind in your praise
I was pleasantly surprised to see many brick & mortar organizations have already done path breaking work in terms of popularizing Green HR
While at one level “greening” can be sheer flirtation, I see Green HR as a solid commitment; more a marriage than mere flirtation
Beauty of this concept is that makes perfect business sense and can deliver significant value
eg while Kasturbhai’s vision is planting trees and making the campus totally green was really commendable, we cannot forget that for a highly polluting industry of dyes and intermediates & bulk chemicals….it was also a REQUIREMENT
not merle nice to have, but something more of a MUST have
The Lalbhai leadership is seen in understanding the importance before it was made mandatory and doing it with a passion and commitment which one rarely sees
very similar to the fact that Tatas introduced 8 hour working in Jamshedpur, and free medical facilities for employee and families well before it was made a law Even the Provident Fund was introduced by TISCO first and then it became a national law.
India is fortunate, unlike US & Europe, to have had entrepreneurs who were socially conscious and left giant footprints for others to follow.
Premjis. Godrej. Narayan Murthy have truly practiced Swarth and Parmarth together. Only that can explain the friendship of Gandhi & Birla.
Sheer Profiteering was never their motivation unlike the rapist American entrepreneurs or the present gen Ambanis in india
I only hope Greening HR does not merely become fashion fad, but materially changes the way companies do business
as has been shown by Kasturbhai & Siddharthbhai whom we were fortunate to work with so closely
Thanks again for your comments
and the last blog was a movie review, so I only hope you are motivated to watch the film
that will be the best “comment”, he he
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Actually, while reading the article, I stopped thinking about Green and was more absorbed in the changing role and responsibility of the HR function, as it could be or should be.
Imparting Core business and functional knowledge like technology, software features or even accounting standards etc should be left to the specialists in the organisation. Perhaps even new management ideas.
The rest relates to the person – the human – and that should be led and driven by HR.
Green is one of several social behaviour patterns that HR should take ownership of.
What’s CSR? It’s not just about reporting a figure in your annual report – it is about people who make up the company behaving in a socially responsible manner. It’s an attitudinal change that has to be driven by HR.
Attitude change can be something as mundane as being a more socially conscious driver – no high beam, for example!! 😎😝😝
I could go on and on about this – but you get what I would expect a present day HR to do …..
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Ravi
you hit the nail on the head
let us not miss the woods for the trees
initiatives and policies show the way, but we require far more clarity on how we can “contribute”
contribute to the organization, to the value adding which happens in a company
fundamentally to how work is done
Given that machines and systems and processes are all run by people : I have always propagated that the real business of HR is BUSINESS itself
their specialization has to be engaging and empowering people to do the right thing in a right way looking to the future
Sustainability , in short
have been an evangelist to say that HR is the most interesting role one can play, as it is about alignment, communication and asking the right questions which help a company to course correct
Great times to be a live in HR
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Very well thought of blog depicting depth of your study on the subject. The blog truly reflects that it is “new wine in new bottle”. Thanks for sharing the blog. Truly eye opener. Thank you, HR Community, for your contribution to Green…
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MMP
thanks for your comment & feedback. Yes indeed HR has a huge task ahead of them’and with support from enlightened line leaders like you am sure we will get there
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It’s a well thought out expression expressing the serious need of the day . Green sustainability practices emerged may be about 20-25 years since but never so much committed.
Two important feature 1. Environment friendly HR Practices . ( Appraisals , Recognition & Rewards)
2. The preservation of Knowledge Capital.
” Colourless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously” Naom Chomsky.
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Ram
what a fab quotation of a thought leader like Noam Chomsky
loved the visual of sleep furiously:
indeed we must be positively dissatisfied if we are to achieve great results
HR has today not lived its true promise: I saw this with humility as a HR Practitioner myself for 40 years
But a lot can be done. All HR processes including the Appraisals & Reward & Recognition can go green. We need to re-thing the how and what & that will fall in place once we understand the Why of Green HR
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Vikas, another well written blog arising out of your HR Panel Discussion thoughts. Good that you see HR job expanding to other areas as many of them have reduced due to online communication, business practices and priorities. You have extensively covered small areas that would help reduce carbon footprint, word in vogue. But environment management, sustainability, green energy, solar energy, renewable source of energy, ozone depletion etc. are specialized subjects other than examples of saving paper, 3 Rs, time taken to complete a job etc. At the same time, in any area you envisage HR to get involved is a good point of view and will overall support saving environment. About paper affecting environment, at least at present, all key documents are on paper and paper comes from trees which is a renewable source to the extent when you plant trees to provide usage in paper. Thanks for providing us food for thought. Regards.
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Dr Kelkar
thanks for your comments and correcting me where I am going wrong. As a career HR person, I a feel HR has to move away from the routine and champion the major initiatives in a company. Finally it is about people and changing their mind sets. Functional expertise may come from SMEs but who knits it all together and who makes it top of the mind for all organizational alignment? The task is so important and we have already wasted so much time that the earlier we a;; get together and start on the right journey of conservation and sustaibility, the better for Mother Earth, our children and our companies. The ask is laid out and clear. We cannot now prevaricate.
That was all I was trying to propagate.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this very important issue that too identifying on the contribution that HR fraternity could make towards environmental issues that are faced by all of us today. Such seminars with seasoned HR leadership brain storming on this subject surely passes on a very positive message to the community in general. However, to carry on the work that such message entails would require a larger interventions across organisation and in the society of which the entity is a contributing member. I have had the opportunity to participate in some pan organisation level interventions(not on environmental awareness) and such intervention aims at reaching out to the last member in it’s lowest rung even. I feel this intervention must be at that level since environmental impact is always lesser understood and greatly undermined in the developing world. Such interventions would entail higher cost for the organisation but the leadership must convince the shareholders that such cost being incurred at present would ensure a brighter future and sustainability for the organisation. Great share. 🙏
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Kabir, mere bondhu,
Indeed the work is well laid out in front of us.
I have always felt that HR main contribution is in Change Management.
Here is a direction, an agenda which is important and well defined
Unfortunately people are not buying in.
Who can make it happen? That is where I see HR playing a major role
Yes large Organization wide interventions are required, That is where HR can take up the torch and run ahead.
Communication and bringing people on board this new agenda is the task ahead of us. Again , if not HR, who will champion this?
HR has always been the conscience keeper of the organization. Time has come again to polish our swords and arguments and make battle with the inertia we see all around us.
I for one see this as the most critical task ahead of us
I end with 2 of the greatest teachings of Bengal
Cholbe Na Cholbe Na (what is happening today)
( and going FW) Ekla Chalo re
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Greening prove was the best part of article …superb …Thank you VSS sir
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Manish bhai
Greening People is not only a slogan but a direction
not only a catch phrase but a true game changer
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Truly a eye opener. We HR folks can do great contributing to a greener world. A fresh and new ways to serve the world around. In our daily routine battles contributing to people is one thing but making a difference to the world is a big game.
Thanks Sir
You continue to inspire the world around you.
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Pravin bhai: You are the MAHA DEVAn
so happy to hear your comments
yes we as HR can do a lot
and till today we unfortunately are busy with payroll and leave management
Green HR is a clarion call to step up and change the game and our contribution
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Hi Vikas
The blog represents your name in terms of approach towards HR.
To come to think of it, the concept is so important and critical to our earths survival, that it should be included in curricula in appropriate forms from KG onwards.
Kudos for yet another excellent blog.
Nikhil
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Nikhil bhai
cannot agree more
This subject is too important for our collective future
so important that we cannot leave it to someone else
All Hands on Deck as the Navy says
and in my way I am talking to a lot management schools to start discussing these subjects up front so that we can make a difference
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After seeing the Seminar, this was a good refresh of the ideas shared that day in your inimitable style. Thanks for giving such valuable information in a witty manner not losing the main plot and yet keeping the story telling intact. Great reading as expected.
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Thanks Col for your kind words
when in corporate roles I tried to always say that my role is of a court jester
have to make people laugh if you want to get their engagement to travel the arduous path ahead
You were there in the seminar and so your comments are all the more valuable
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Green HR is just a beginning. A lot of awareness needs to be created amongst employees. Papers are wasted without making use of blank side of it. Paper cups, Kulhada and tissue paper are non-recyclable. It has become a fashion to use all the three.
Let us join hands to keep our Mother Earth lush green.
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Nilesh kaka
thanks for your comments
indeed today we are confused and do not know which way is the right way ahead
Awareness is abysmally low on such important topics. Wastage of electricity, paper and even natural resources is deplorable
we have a lot to do and long road to travel to do what is right by Mother Earth
fortunately these debates have begun and am sure we will reach there over time
how much time we take will be critical for our future
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