SOCIAL - BLOG
Ross Abbate Chief Executive Officer - Mace
Operate linkedin.com/in/rossabbate The
future of the workplace is still looking
uncertain. As people are coming back to
workplace, it is clear that workplaces are
unlikely to ever be the same again – but
what does that mean in practice? How can
companies ensure that they are making the
right changes at the right time? How can our
workplace help to ensure we are fit for the
future? https://bit.ly/3qOTwY8
IOSH @IOSH_tweets “As OSH professionals,
a key skill is knowing we’re not experts on
everything and don’t always “know best” on
every possible task. We should help others
develop the “how” of their solutions” - great
feedback and points happening in the chat
area at #IOSHFutureLeaders conference
Acas @acasorguk There are loads of
steps employers can take to support their
employees’ #MentalHealth without a big
budget. Find out more: https://bit.ly/3iRvfMC
IFMA @IFMA FMs in EMEA: World Workplace
Europe features closing keynote Katja
Schipperheijn, an internationally recognized
learning strategist, consultant and author on
engagement in the connected world.
Get tickets https://bit.ly/3y9kNa2
Kate Morris-Bates linkedin.com/in/
katemorrisbates Good fun supporting Liz
Kentish and Jackie Cupper with their Plan B
initiative, helping women in the Workplace
& Facilities Management sector progress
their careers and break through barriers to
success. I’ve volunteered to be a Mentor! It is
time to pay it forward. #careers
JLL @JLL Hybrid workers thrive when they
can follow their own working rhythms and
workstyles: how can businesses transform
their offices to support their people? http://
co.jll/9H7250IuBPc
@BRE_Group Why is poor indoor air quality
an invisible threat? Our BRE Environment
Director & air quality expert Dr. Andy Dengel,
appears on the Manifest Density podcast,
hosted by Microshareio’s @TheUnraveler to
explain why.
18 APRIL 2022
BLOG FROM LOUISE HOSKING DIRECTOR OF HOSKING ASSOCIATES,
IOSH PRESIDENT & ONEWISH CO-FOUNDER
CATCHING THE
WAVE OF SOCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY
How we do business has and continues to
change. Change is our current constant
and we are not going back to how we
worked before. The pandemic has fuelled
technological advancement, astonishing
agility, and globally interconnected networks.
However, infectious disease, social divide,
burnout and isolation mean how we manage
health & safety and the work undertaken by
facilities management professionals within our
organisations has had to adjust at the same
rapid rate. Between us we have had to create
new adaptations, document, and communicate
changes e ectively within the backdrop of
social justice movements and strained supply
chains. We have learnt to prioritise in a manner
we have never had to before.
At the heart of all this change are people. Those
who stepped forward to work under extraordinary
conditions, embracing hybrid work models
and increased use of technology. Adaptive,
collaborative leadership styles kept our essential
services moving and our buildings operational as
we learnt just how interconnected we all are. We
put our people and their health first and, in the
process, harnessed a new way of working.
Combined with a global skills shortage, and
in response to worker needs, we can now
see how social and ethical principles cannot
be compromised in favour of financial and
environmental considerations. Richer, larger
organisations and governments understand they
are going to have to invest in infrastructure and
dig deep to support poorer nations, communities,
their supply chains and themselves.
Social Sustainability
This is why, and how, social sustainability is
inequitably intertwined with Health & Safety.
What we do now has never been more critical,
which is why business leaders are opening board
room doors and focusing on good governance
practice.
Sustainability focuses on the very real issues
facing our planet and the environment, but it is
so much more than this. There must be balance
between people, planet and profit for a business
to be sustainable in its broadest terms.
When we focus on profits our people,
communities and customers su er. We can’t
buy our way out of the global climate crisis
because our financial resources are limited. Our
organisations, governments and nations are an
ecosystem, so if we restrict one aspect it a ects
another.
Our people have the solutions and by putting
their needs first; by creating psychologically and
physically safe work, which is respected, they will,
Louise Hosking Director of Hosking Associates
in turn, solve these highly complex issues.
It is time to transform our current patterns
of production, operation and consumption.
This can only be undertaken by considering a
whole sustainability model. We need to work
collaboratively and be transparent and honest
about where we are now, in order to be realistic
about where we need to be and how to get there.
This is an evolution not a revolution.
Putting our People First
At the Institution of Occupational Safety and
Health (IOSH), we understand work is not just
a source of livelihood for workers to support
themselves, their families and their communities
but also a foundation of self-worth, dignity and
growth. From the starting point that work should
be safe and healthy for all workers. We have
demonstrated that good work is not only about
wages, salaries or productivity, but also how an
organisation looks a er its people and its supply
chains.
Investors, regulators, consumers, the media and
politicians are rightly asking how organisations
care for their people. There is a growing social and
ethical dimension not only to the choices made by
consumers but also in investment decisions and
how capital is being invested by fund managers.
Organisations of all sizes and their suppliers are
choosing who they do business with, and looking
at social sustainability to do so.
Articulate to Advocate
Facilities management professionals are adapting
to this changing world of work. Together we will
create psychologically and physically safe places
ready to innovate and inspire. How we articulate
this is crucial. A new generation of workplaces
designed to place our people first will contribute
to a new world of work to bring value. These are
collaborative, inclusive workspaces designed
around flexible working needs where work life
balance is being given a higher priority than ever
before. In turn, our people will feel they can bring
their whole selves to what they do and together
usher a new approach to how we work across the
world and with our supply chains.
It’s time to catch the wave with IOSH – or risk
getting le behind.
Visit www.iosh.com/catchthewave
ADVICE & OPINION
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