Elaine Cohen, author of CSR For HR, has a soapbox. She believes strongly that the human resources (HR) function should play a stronger role in sustainability, perhaps even own it. Her argument, however, isn't as widely accepted as she would prefer because most HR...
"Employees as Activists" posted in Huffington Post
Occupy Inside, when the activist goes to work Since the rise of Occupy Wall Street, antagonism towards the Man has risen in the employed as well as the unemployed. Employees are more likely now than ever to be frustrated by their employer, who can represent authority...
GB Talent Show: What Oat Hulls Can Teach Us About Tapping Employees' Innovation
In my One Great Idea presentation for the GreenBiz SF Forum last month, I stressed the value of tapping employees for sustainability innovations. This article takes a look at one man's idea that was held for 20 years until the time was right to act on it. Read...
Owning Sustainability: The CSO vs. the CEO
This article appeared in CSR Wire. Last Fall, the Weinreb Group published CSO Back Story, identifying 29 Chief Sustainability Officers with that exact title working in the U.S. for publicly traded companies. Of the 29, we highlighted five CSOs (from SAP, EMC,...
GB Talent Show: How Do Two Sustainability Departments Become One?
It is often said that internal initiatives and programs are often the first to come under the axe in a merger. Diversity and leadership development programs are often easy victims. Does the CSR department also fall by the wayside? Read more here in the latest GreenBiz...
GreenBiz One-Great-Idea on Employees, Innovation & Sustainability
On January 30, 2011 I had the honor of presenting One Great Idea at the GreenBiz Forum in San Francisco. My One Great Idea is that “ideas are money”. If you are not tapping employees for their solutions, you might as well be throwing away money. I identify that...
GB Talent Show: The Activist Employee: Why Business Must Learn to Listen
The Occupy Wall Street protestors marked 2011 with their resilience. With thousands of participants peacefully demonstrating outside the doors of some of the country's very large corporations, what can be next? Will employees become activists and take their protests...
Experts’ Predictions for the Sustainability Profession in 2012
Want to know what the sustainability profession will face in 2012? I asked a group of experts for their predictions and included a few of my own. Dr. Mrim Boutla – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, More Than Money Careers; Values-driven Career Coach @mtmcareers...
GB Talent Show: Bonus Time. Incentivizing Sustainability
This is the month many of us await anxiously for our bonus. Many are thinking, "I did great in my performance review last month but the company didn't meet its targets so what's that bonus going to be?" Alcoa shares the benefits of linking sustainability to incentives...
Interviewed for NPR Marketplace story on CSOs
NPR interviewed me for this story about the emerging role of the chief sustainability officer. They followed UPS’ CSO Scott Wicker for a day to cover what his role entails.