Green Business - Module 4

With this week’s required reading and videos, I have learned a lot. When it comes to sustainability, I usually think about the company’s operations, production, CSR, finance and marketing department. Never would I have thought that human resources plays and MUST play a strong role in the sustainability initiatives of the firm. While reading the article about the HC BRidge Framework, I came to the conclusion that as organization embrace sustainability so must Human Resources. Combining talent decisions and sustainability can be the foundation of a firm to achieve today’s goal without compromising the needs of the future.

I found that the video about the UC David Human Resources achieving zero waste workplace. Each of these employees seem to react well the recycling and feel intrinsically involved with what the firm was doing to achieve zero waste. I felt that these employees were loyal to UC Davis, highly motivated to make changes in their life in the workplace and possibly rewarded for their initiatives. I feel that this is what the authors of “Talentship, Talent Segmentation and Sustainability” meant when they introduced their three anchor points – efficiency, effectiveness and impact.

Their HR practices comply and seem to provide incentives that reflect environmental goals. Being in a zero waste working environment is a strong outcome of their HR policies and practices. Finally, their initiatives are of high impact. As a result, a highly agree with the articles and the videos, for it makes complete sense that an organizations human capacity must have characteristics and motivation to participate in objectives to reach sustainability success goals. Without manpower, strategies cannot be implemented. 

Module 2 - Happiness

I took the test online which aims to test my satisfaction with my life. So far, I thought that I was utterly happy with my life. However, as a completed the mini-test it calculated my score...I earned a 57. My verdict was: My life is not going in a direction I would like it to go. I need guidance in learning how to find happiness.

I decided to look at every question that I did not answer with a 4 (always) and i noticed it was the little things that were keeping me from being unhappy. Such as not having a physical, emotional and spiritual balance; or providing others with daily service.

Personal Sustainability Practices (PSP), is supposed to my life and the life of others around me. But what can i do?
I decided that i practice things that i can enjoy and are effortless. Such as not throwing away my belongings, but donating them, teach my younger siblings and cousins good habits such as unplugging after charging their cell phones, and become artsy.

Green Business - Module 1

This week I was required to interview to people at my workplace. My father is the owner of  a marketing firm in Panama. The first interview was to the receptionist and the second the project manager assistant. They both had skewed ideas of what the definition of sustainability. Both believed that sustainability was to have a steady and consistent increase of profit over time.
I came to the conclusion after the interview that the concept of green business was a fairly new concept to Panama and many employees are unaware of the their company's (for whom they are working for) CSR's and environmental improvement endeavors. In fact, many Panamanian companies do not care for helping the environment. Yet, CSR is a different story. Many participate in the annual Teleton and give thousands or millions of dollars to the needy.
Nevertheless it is necessary to begin investing on sustainable strategies for the future. Foreign companies around the world and even those that come into the country are raising the bar. We cannot fall behind.