V. Conclusion
To date, HR professionals have not been centrally
involved in sustainability initiatives to the extent that
their skills and expertise can contribute real value
in the ways outlined above (Harmon, Fairfield, and
Wirtenberg 17). A likely reason for this is that many
organisations are not yet approaching sustainability
in a strategic way, or acknowledging the need for
the sort of art- and science-based approach which
HR professionals are ideally placed to support.
The available evidence suggests that there is
little consensus about which functional area of an
organization should lead its sustainability initiative,
and this is likely to be one of the weaknesses that
may undermine an organization’s approach to
sustainability and perhaps even result in its demise.
However, researchers in this area have
argued that this HR professionals as a group also
need to become more proactive in understanding
business trends, opportunities and risks in the
area of sustainability, as well as the perspectives
and concerns of relevant internal and external
stakeholders and how to ensure that these are
effectively engaged in the strategy Harmon,
Fairfield, and Wirtenberg 17). This understanding
can then be converted into HR policies and processes
designed to support strategic sustainability and
generate business benefits which will help convert
even the most skeptical stakeholders to the cause.
In other words, HR specialists need to become
advocates of as well as experts in sustainability, and
business partners to senior executives in its overall
implementation.