In order to successfully deliver the art and science
skills needed for strategic sustainability, there may
also be a need for the HR department to redesign
its own policies and processes, especially relating to
performance management, rewards and recognition,
and recruitment and selection processes. There
are two main objectives: first to ensure that the
policies and processes are designed to provide
the organization with the required mix of art and
science skills for strategic sustainability, and second
to ensure that sustainability-related factors are
incorporated in organizational competencies and in
individual, team and departmental plans and goals.
It might be argued that, traditionally, staff
selection and performance appraisal procedures
have been focused primarily on the assessment of
“science” skills, such as formal knowledge and
experience of the techniques used in a particular
area of work, while the softer “art” or people-related
skills have been explored less systematically. As
discussed earlier, art skills are highly important in
the achievement of strategic sustainability; but it
is also becoming increasingly evident that both art
and science are required in most jobs and should
be reflected as such as job descriptions and core
competencies. Widespread organizational benefits
can then be expected to ensue from a redesign of
selection and assessment systems to ensure that both art and science skills are being properly evaluated.
Doing so may involve, for example, an increased
reliance on more qualitative or holistic methods in
recruitment and performance evaluation, such as indepth
interviews or the use of 360 degree appraisals
to complement more structured knowledge tests.
Incorporating specific sustainability-related
goals into job descriptions and core competencies
will also help to ensure that employees are
motivated to work towards sustainability goals and
that these receive similar levels of attention as any
other criteria against which individuals and teams
are formally assessed. They should be linked to the
organisation’s rewards and recognition systems,
including for example performance-related pay
systems, promotion eligibility criteria, or “employee
of the month” schemes (Daily and Huang 1548).
These types of reward systems might also be used
to reinforce a direct emphasis on sustainability, for
example by introducing some form of “sustainability
award” for outstanding achievements in this area.
More generally, as Colbert & Kurucz
observe, HR strategy and processes are instrumental
in supporting the implementation of new business
directions, such as sustainability, not only by
ensuring that the right skill and expertise are
available, but by promoting the development of
“organizational capital” such as good teamwork,
employee empowerment and a positive culture (28).
These are likely to evolve as the art and science skill
balance of the organization improves, but can also
be stimulated by the use of specific types of training
such as brainstorming sessions, teambuilding events
and consensus-building workshops