ISO-TR 30406:2017

Sustainable employability is a relatively new term that reflects the sustainability movement in business. The term “sustainability” itself refers to the capacity to endure, and this instance reflects a commitment to creating value for an organization by embedding the capabilities and capacities necessary for ongoing or enduring employment. We know it may sound like something typical practitioners may have never heard of, but sustainable employability – in short – is about drawing your perspective far enough back to reflect on how well-positioned are you are in terms of maintaining your stability over the next ten years given that you’re working in an industry that has gone through many changes during that time.

Benefits of focusing on sustainable employability

The approach of sustainable employability can help organizations save money and build agility into their own operations.

Such an approach involves:

  • Assessing market requirements;
  • Planning the workforce’s KSA needs and retraining and redeploying its workforce to meet changing business imperatives;
  • Considering workforce members’ individual life cycle and requirements.

Improvement in:

  • Organizational agility and ability to adapt in changing markets
  • Planning capabilities
  • Productivity and performance
  • Product quality
  • Right talent at right time
  • Staff retention
  • Workforce morale

 Reduction in:

  • Workplace accidents and incidents
  • Underemployment and unemployment
  • Absenteeism
  • Burnout

Quality improvement programmes

  • Track an organization’s health profile.
  • Track organization’s overall sustainable employability

 Aim of this document

This document can help you connect with any number of stakeholders from the executive board to the shop floor. It also fosters a conversation about employability and your organization’s future, as well as how you might create a structure for ensuring your workforce is happy, healthy and minds their own business – at least most of the time. This document can be part of a larger strategy designed to allow your staff to take greater control over their work life, whether that means taking a day off, switching to a part-time schedule, or perusing a project they’ve been chomping at the bit for months to finally put on the forefront of company priorities.

Scope

This document provides guiding principles for developing and implementing sustainable employment-related policies in companies.