Sustainability is a term that can be applied to just about any human activity. Mostly used in reference to the natural world and man’s impact on it, sustainability can also mean those business practices that contribute to the lifespan of an organization. Sustainability encompasses activity both within the organization, as well as its impact on the environment and people outside the organization.
Some indicators of “internal” sustainability include: employee engagement, employee satisfaction, turnover and absenteeism rates, morale, levels of collaboration and communication. These indicators may be more difficult to quantify than other “hard” indicators, such as financial data, but they measure aspects of an organization which ultimately impact the bottom line.
Absenteeism and turnover is significantly lower in organizations that have high levels of employee engagement, collaboration, communication and morale. To that point, engaged employees stay for what they give (they feel their job has purpose) and disengaged employees stay for what they get (favorable job conditions, growth opportunities, job security) according to the 2008 Blessing White study titled The State of Employee Engagement.
Happier employees work harder, are more innovative, provide higher levels of customer service and contribute positively to the bottom line. This synergistic cycle perpetuates the life of the company.
How can your organization create a sustainable culture?
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This is so well said: “engaged employees stay for what they give and disengaged employees stay for what they get”.
I think that the kind of culture that will feed sustainability for the future now is one that cultivates leadership capability at all levels. To do that people in positions of leadership must learn to source their power by empowering others rather than claim power based on their position.
I agree wholeheartedly. For me the ability to create a sustainable culture comes ultimately from the nature of the leadership in the organisation. In my experience, ‘ego-less’ cultures create sustainable environments and ‘ego-full’ cultures destroy them.
Thanks for the heads-up on that Blessing White report. Great blog. Sarah