{"id":182,"date":"2021-10-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/variousvariables\/2021\/10\/28\/sustainability-the-winning-strategy-for-you-your-organisation-and-all-of-us\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:39:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T09:39:23","slug":"sustainability-the-winning-strategy-for-you-your-organisation-and-all-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogit.metropolia.fi\/variousvariables\/en\/2021\/10\/28\/sustainability-the-winning-strategy-for-you-your-organisation-and-all-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability: the winning strategy for you, your organisation and all of us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skills mismatch. Skills gap. Skills needs. Reskilling. Upskilling. Sound familiar?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the revolution of skills needs is transforming the job market in Finland and globally. The <\/span>Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum<\/span><\/a> states that on average, companies estimate that around 40 percent of workers will require reskilling of six months or less and 94 percent of business leaders expect employees to learn new skills on the job (1). What future skills should we all then prepare for?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside digitalisation, another underlying development sets the targets and realities for organisations across sectors, and thereby also for professionals. An all-encompassing shift towards sustainability is urgently needed. As the Future of Jobs report puts it, we have reached our defining moment: what we decide and choose today will define the course of entire generations\u2019 lives and livelihoods (2).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why the know-how on sustainable development has topped several skills rankings in the past few years, in Finland and globally. For you as a professional, it means that you need to invest in your sustainability skills to be successful now and in the future.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thinking outside the green box \u2014 what do we actually mean by sustainability?<\/h2>\n

When we talk about sustainability, it is easy to be stuck on the green track: to only pay attention to environmental or ecological sustainability.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, it goes without saying: no one living in the 2020\u2019s can ignore the overwhelming impact of climate change. Clean water and air, biodiversity, environmental migration, extreme weather conditions, energy efficiency and so on; environmental issues have become part of our regular media coverage, daily discussions and, to varying degrees, our everyday realities. Even those who deny the very existence of climate change are aware of the importance given to the phenomenon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides environmental concerns, however, sustainable development in its broad sense requires action also on other important aspects: the economic and the social.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development<\/span><\/a>, adopted by all member states in the United Nations, provides \u201ca shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future\u201d. The agenda thus incorporates all three \u2014 the environmental, economic and social \u2014 dimensions into our action plan. In other words, for a better future, we need to secure the wellbeing of our planet, our people and our economies, and they are all interdependent. (3)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 17 globally agreed <\/span>UN Sustainable Development Goals<\/span><\/a> shed light on the all-embracing nature of sustainable action. To secure sustainable development, we all need to re-evaluate a wide range of our personal, professional and political choices.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sustainable<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Sustainability versus profit and performance \u2014 does one rule out the other?<\/h2>\n

Yes, sustainability is rather a complex concept requiring critical, long-term thinking. Why would organisations and companies then want to commit to sustainability?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer is simple: it brings value, better performance and profits.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n