Blog HR climate

Not a 'soft side' but the backbone

Semeijn dispenses with the idea that sustainable HRM is a 'soft' pillar in the sustainability story. On the contrary: if as an organization you really want to make an impact on people, planet and profit, it does not start with solar panels or carbon offsetting. It starts with how you deal with your people and how seriously you take them. Only then can you see when things get rough.

As soon as companies reach out for development, customization or workload relief, their true priority comes to the surface. Not coincidentally, Semeijn sees that this is precisely when it becomes clear whether sustainability was a marketing story - or a core value.

Do you want sustainable behavior to hold up under pressure? Then it has to be in your DNA. Not in the margins of the annual plan, but in the decision-making process itself. Not as a project, but as a principle.

The sustainability officer does not solve this

Many organizations have now appointed a sustainability officer. Well intended, but often ineffective. Why? Because the rest of the organization thinks: "that person does the sustainability, we do the business."

Semeijn sees it time and again: sustainability professionals get stuck as long as they experience no mandate, no support from the top, and no shared responsibility. Then they remain separate initiatives. Frustrating, tiresome, and ultimately ineffective.

Sustainable HRM only works when the CEO himself leads the way. When leadership, culture and policy are unified. And when HR is not on the sidelines, but sits at the drawing board.

Customization is not a luxury, but a necessity

So what does work? Customization. Semeijn describes how even small interventions - such as personal workload management - already have a huge impact on the job satisfaction and sustainable employability of employees. The secret? Giving people the feeling that they matter.

It sounds simple, but it takes guts. Because customization requires attention. For dialogue. For space. And yes - the realization that not everything fits into a dashboard. But that is precisely what makes the difference: those who dare to invest in development, in flexibility and in job satisfaction not only see people perform better, but also stay longer.

That is not a cost. That is sustainable return.

Autonomy is not a recipe

Another important point Semeijn makes: self-direction is not sacrosanct. Autonomy works, but only if it suits both the type of work and the person. Without structure or direction, freedom can also lead to stress or paralysis.

So sustainable HRM requires nuance. It is not a blueprint. Not a one-size-fits-all model. It is a continuous game between frameworks and space, between trust and responsibility. And it requires that you as an organization keep listening, keep learning and dare to adjust.

HR must go back to the heart of the organization

As far as we are concerned, Judith Semeijn touches on the core of the future of work: as an organization, you cannot make a sustainable impact without a strong, people-oriented HR foundation. HR must return to the heart of the organization. Not as an executor, but as a strategic partner. Not as a facility counter, but as a system change agent.

At ImpactWork, we see this in every transformation: sustainable growth requires new choices in leadership, culture and HR policy. In our programs - from HR Transformation Advisory to Employee Experience - we build organizations in which people are not the closing factor, but the lever for progress.

Because in the end, it's simple: you can't be a B Corp with an old school HR policy. And you can't build a sustainable brand on a culture where well-being is optional.

So the real question is: how principled do you want to be?

The four biggest HR challenges explained briefly.

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