No12 | Just Green - HR World Magazine by HR World

Welcome to this Just Green issue of HR World, where we focus on something that transcends trends and buzzwords — sustainability. As we celebrate five years of HR World magazine, both in digital and print editions, we’ve decided that this issue will take a bold step forward. For the first time, we’re going fully digital as part of our commitment to a greener future. This isn’t just about reducing paper use; it’s about embracing a larger, more meaningful shift in how we approach sustainability in everything we do.

Going green is no longer optional; it’s essential. But what does that actually mean for HR leaders?

Sustainability doesn’t stop at energy-efficient offices or eco-friendly products. It’s about creating sustainable practices that support our people and the planet. It’s about asking ourselves: How can we build a future that’s good for everyone, not just our bottom line? As HR professionals, we are uniquely positioned to drive this change, to embed sustainability into our company culture, and to lead by example.

Think of it as green leadership. This involves promoting work environments that value not only profit but also social responsibility. It means designing policies that encourage employees to be mindful of their impact, whether it's through supporting remote work to cut down on carbon footprints or fostering mental wellness as part of a long-term, sustainable strategy for human capital.

But beyond policies and initiatives, there’s an even greater call to action here — we need to inspire. By showing our teams that small, conscious efforts can lead to big changes, we can create an organizational culture that thrives on being part of the solution.

So let’s ask ourselves: How can we make sustainability personal? How can we ensure that every decision, every new project, is made with a greener future in mind?

This issue is packed with insights, ideas, and strategies to help you make that happen. Our planet is calling for change, and it’s up to all of us to answer. Let’s be the leaders who don’t just talk about sustainability — let’s live it.

Nevena Stanisavljević Editor-in-Chief

06 GREEN CLIMATE CRISIS MEETS GREEN TECH - A PATH TO GLOBAL CHANGE AND LOCAL PROSPERITY

MAŠA NJEGOVAN, LEAD CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY EXPERT, CLIMATE LENS ADVISORS (CLA)

12 GREEN NO ONE CAN BE GREEN ALONE KOSTA ANDRIĆ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ICT HUB

EXPERIENCE REIMAGINING THE TALENT EXPERIENCE BEYOND MOMENTS THAT MATTER

DIETER VEDSMAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST: HR & OD, AIHR, MARNA VAN DER MERWE, ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT, AIHR

22 GREEN

CHAPTER ZEROTODAY'S PATH TO SUCCESS MIGHT BECOME TOMORROW'S ROUTE TO RUIN LADEJA GODINA KOŠIR, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, CIRCULAR CHANGE, INSTITUTE FOR CIRCULAR ECONOMY

26 AI BEYOND THE HYPE: PEOPLE LEADERS’ GUIDE TO AI ADOPTION

MAJA NINKOVIĆ SHAPERA, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, SQUIRRO

34 GREEN BALANCE AS A KEY CONCEPT IN THE ESG UNIVERSE DUŠAN STOJAKOVIĆ, SENIOR MANAGER FOR GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY, HEMOFARM, ALEKSANDRA PETROVIĆ, PROJECT MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION

40 GREEN SUSTAINABILITY: HR’S GREEN SUPERPOWER! NIKO SLAVNIČ, PROFESSOR, BLED SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, ALENKA RECELJ MERCINA, HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY, NLB D.D.

LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION WHY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS FAIL? (MOSTLY)

MARIO GRILC, CO-FOUNDER, MENTMOVE

49 HR STRATEGY IN AN ERA OF FUNDAMENTAL UNCERTAINTY - WHAT SHOULD YOU PRIORITIZE IN YOUR HR, L&D AND PEOPLE STRATEGY?

NATAL DANK, CO-FOUNDER, PXO CULTURE

56 GREEN 10 ESG PLUG AND PLAY IDEAS FOR COMPANIES

MILENA MIĆANOVIĆ, CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, WESTERN BALKANS ESG FOUNDATION, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, MINTED ADVISORY

LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION BUILDING BRIDGES IN THE ORGANIZATION THROUGH CONFLICT MANAGEMENT DANIJELA ĐURIĆ, FOUNDER, HR CONSULTANT, GROWTH CODE

LEADERSHIP HR EXCELLENCE ROADMAP IVAN STEFANOVIĆ, MANAGING PARTNER, ORGANIZATION ACCELERATOR

HR STRATEGY PAY TRANSPARENCY IS COMING — ARE YOU READY? LARISA GRIZILO, FORMER SR. DIRECTOR PEOPLE, CULTURE & SUSTAINABILITY, A1 SLOVENIA & SERBIA

70 PR

MAGLIAN CAMPUS ELEVATE YOUR BUSINESS RETREATS AND TEAM BUILDING ON MOUNT DIVČIBARE

EXPERIENCE SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT THROUGH CUSTOMIZED ONBOARDING AND MANAGEMENT TRAINING LIDIJA MILJKOVIĆ, HR STRATEGIST & ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

77 COLUMN THE PARADOX OF PARENTHOOD AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ABOUT IT DANICA RISTIĆ, HR ENTERPRENEUR

CLIMATE CRISIS MEETS GREEN TECH

A PATH TO GLOBAL CHANGE AND LOCAL PROSPERITY

Maša Njegovan Lead Corporate Sustainability Expert, Climate Lens Advisors (CLA)

INTRODUCTION TO CLIMATE SCIENCE

In the first half of the 20th century Serbian astronomer, mathematician, and climatologist Milutin Milankovic made a great contribution to science with his astronomical theory of climate change which explained how variations in the Earth’s position and orientation relative to the Sun – the so-called Milankovic’s cycles

FEW OF THE PROBLEMS ON EARTH ARE AS MASSIVE AND INVOLVE SHARED RESOURCES THAT ARE COLL ECTIVELY OWNED OR MANAGED BY ALL OF HUMANITY TO BE CONSIDERED A “GLOBAL COMMONS” PROBLEM. CLIMATE CHANGE IS ONE OF THEM AND SOLVING IT REQUIRES INNOVATION ACROSS VIRTUALLY ALL SEGMENTS OF THE ECONOMY TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGIES THAT REDUCE RESOURCE CONSUMPTION, LOWER EMISSIONS, AND PROTECT NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS WHILE SUPPORTING ECON OMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

BY NOW, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE CLIMATE CHANGE WE OBSERVE TODAY POSES A SEVERE THREAT TO THE EXISTENCE OF LIFE ON THE PLANET AS WE KNOW IT. OR DO WE?

AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS ARTICLE, I AM STAYING AT PETNICA, SERBIA’S LARGEST YOUTH SCIENTIFIC RE SEARCH CENTER, AND THE GEEK IN ME FEELS TEMPTED TO START THIS ARTICLE ON SOLID GROUND.

IN THAT SPIRIT, LET’S TURN TO CLIMATE SCIENCE.

- influenced long-term changes of climate patterns. Milankovic’s theory has been verified over periods dating back several hundred thousand to millions of years using geological studies of paleoclimate records such as ice cores, deep-sea sediment cores, and lake sediments. Yet, over the past fifty years, scientists realized that this theory alone could not explain the exponential rise in the average global temperatures recorded since the 1850s.

To explain this anomaly, we had to introduce another factor that supersedes nature – humans. For the first time in the history of our 4.5 billion-year-old planet, humans were interacting with the climate system by burning fossil fuels at a large scale to power the Industrial Revolution. While this revolution transformed various industries, propelled unprecedented economic growth, and improved the quality of life of people around the world,

CLIMATE-RELATED RISKS FIRST TOPPED THE LIST OF THE TOP GLOBAL RISKS ON THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM’S (WEF) GLOBAL RISKS REPORT IN 2017 AND STAYED TOP-RANKED THROUGH 2024.

it also created an unforeseen negative externality – the exponential growth in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. Due to the “greenhouse gas effect”, these gases trap and re-radiate a portion of solar radiation reflected from the earth’s surface back into the atmosphere, leading to global warming. Such warming in turn brings a wide range of negative consequences, including more frequent and severe heat waves, rising sea levels, coastal erosion, changes in precipitation, and flooding, to name a few.

ECHOES OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT

A study by Swiss Re estimated that climate change could reduce global GDP by up to 18% by 2050 if no action is taken to mitigate emissions and adapt to climate risks. Climate-related risks first topped the list of the top global risks on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Risks Report in 2017 and stayed top-ranked through 2024. Financial institution supervisory authorities around the world recognized that climate risks pose significant threats to the stability of the financial system and are taking measures to ensure that financial institutions appropriately assess, manage, and disclose these risks.

private sector for climate change and guide financial flows to sustainable investments. Over the past five years, the number and scope of the EU sustainability and climate regulatory requirements kept evolving, to require reporting on the share of green revenue, CAPEX and OPEX, disclosure of climate transition plans, and enhanced environmental due diligence in supply chains, among others.

To ensure a comparison of reported data, the EU regulators have introduced the EU Taxonomy which provides a classification system for green economic activities, and is now set to introduce the Green Claims Directive to establish standardized criteria for environmental claims made by companies to prevent greenwashing.

The EU sparked a global momentum, spreading from Asia Pacific to North America. Businesses are responding by taking climate action, with over 6,000 companies adopting science-based emission reduction targets by 2023. Large corporations are increasingly allocating CAPEX to green technologies

Although scientists have been warning us about the negative effects of climate change since the 1970s, the global community only came to terms with it in 2015. After decades of global environmental diplomacy spearheaded by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 195 countries signed a legally binding international climate treaty called the Paris Agreement, thereby agreeing to fight climate change and limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial time levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial time levels. The Paris Agreement created tectonic shifts across multiple fronts with the EU taking some pioneering steps.

First, the global business and policy community recognized climate risks as one of the most serious global threats.

The EU set a strong example by turning the Paris Agreement goal into a Net Zero emissions 2050 target and launching the European Green Deal to support decarbonization. The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), central since 2005, reduces GHG emissions in carbonintensive industries by taxing carbon and incentivizing green innovation. Since 2015, the EU has expanded carbon pricing and introduced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), imposing a carbon price on certain imports from countries with weaker climate policies.

At the same time, the EU turned to regulating financial institutions and businesses by introducing a series of new sustainability and climate disclosure requirements aiming to increase transparency and accountability of the

to meet carbon-neutrality goals and avoid carbon taxes. Meanwhile, major financial institutions aim for full portfolio decarbonization by 2050, introducing exclusion policies for fossil fuel financing and strict environmental standards. These commitments will shift capital from brown to green companies and projects in the coming years.

THE ROAD TO NET ZERO

Reaching the Net Zero goal requires reducing GHG emissions released to the atmosphere as much as possible using green technologies while balancing the residual emissions in hard-to-abate sectors by using carbon removal technologies. This represents a proper Moonshot mission, with the energy sector and transport playing a major role in it. In its flagship Net Zero by 2050 report, IEA prescribed over 400 technological milestones that need to be achieved to decarbonize the energy and transport sectors.

ACCORDING TO THE CLIMATE ACTION TRACKER,

THE WORLD HAS ALREADY REACHED 1.3 DEGREES CELSIUS AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE INCREASE AND IS ON TRACK TO REACH 2.7 DEGREES CELSIUS AVERAGE TEMPERATURES INCREASE BY 2050. THIS CALLS FOR STRONG CLIMATE

ACTIONS WHICH CAN ONLY BE ENABLED BY ACCELERATED GREEN TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION.

These include massive deployments of commercially available clean technologies such as renewable energies, energy storage, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient building retrofits. However, almost half of the emission reductions in 2050 are expected to come from technologies that are currently in demonstration or prototype stage, which requires major innovation efforts. These include carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, hydrogen-based steel production, and nuclear fusion.

ACCELERATING GREEN TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

Despite the growing climate action around the world, its pace falls short of the climate targets set by the global community. According to the Climate Action Tracker, the world has already reached 1.3 degrees Celsius average global temperature increase and is on track to reach 2.7 degrees Celsius average temperatures increase by 2050. This calls for strong climate actions which can only be enabled by accelerated green technological revolution.

There are many definitions of green technologies and the term is often used interchangeably with other terms such

as “cleantech” and “climate tech”. The WEF defines green technologies as innovations that significantly reduce or eliminate environmental impacts, particularly those that reduce GHG emissions.

These technologies encompass a wide range of areas, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, sustainable agriculture, water and waste management, among others. The goal of green technologies is to support economic growth while mitigating environmental damage, ultimately leading to a more sustainable and resilient global economy.

Global investments in cleantech have boomed in recent years, reaching the record high of US 1.8 trillion in 2023. The trend continues in 2024, with the IEA projecting that investments in clean tech will reach USD 2 trillion, almost double the amount of investments in fossil fuels, with renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear power, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency improvements, and heat pumps being the main technology segments. Clean tech Venture Capital investment reached a record high of USD 70 billion in 2022, led by the US, China, and Europe, while the market is expected to reach

USD 300 billion by 2030.

Although investments in green technologies are heading in the right direction, they need to roughly double by 2030 if the world is to have a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

THE RACE FOR THE GREEN TECHNOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY

The green technology market is poised to drive global growth, reaching an estimated USD 10.3 trillion by 2050 (5% of global GDP) and creating over 300 million green-collar jobs. Leading economies are competing for market share by incentivizing local manufacturing. China has a strong lead, with vast raw material reserves and extensive subsidies for its green tech industries. A study by the Kiel Institute shows China's subsidies for green tech manufacturing are three to nine times higher than those in the USA or Germany. Consequently, China dominates global production of solar panels, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and lithium-ion batteries.

The US made a long-anticipated effort to support clean tech in 2022 by introducing the Inflation Reduction Act which allocated approximately USD 370 billion in funding for domestic manufacturing or clean technologies including renewable energy, electric vehicles, carbon capture facilities, and low-emissions appliances.

The EU followed soon after by announcing the EU Net Zero Industry

Act (NZIA) aimed at scaling up Europe’s manufacturing capacity for technologies key to achieving its climate goals.

The recently adopted NZIA sets the goal for the EU of producing at least 40% of its annual demand for green technologies, such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and heat pumps, locally by 2030, and to capture 15% of the global market share for these technologies by 2040. To achieve these ambitious targets, the EU plans to increase funding for research and development, support scale-up of local manufacturing of key technologies, accelerate permitting for net zero technology projects, train over 100,000 workers in the solar PV value chain, and secure a stable supply of critical raw materials.

BUILDING A GREEN TECHNOLOGY ECOSYSTEM IN SERBIA

Despite the adoption of the Green Agenda and its obligation to align with the EU climate neutrality pathway, Serbia is making slow steps in the decarbonization of its carbon-intensive economy. As the full application of CBAM approaches (i.e. taxes on certain carbon-intensive products manufactured in Serbia will be charged from 2026), representatives of local industries are getting more nervous, looking for solutions to the challenge that can potentially leave them out of business. Locally manufactured green technologies can be at least a part of the solution to this problem.

HR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALIGNING COMPANY POLICIES WITH NEW GREEN REQUIREMENTS, ENSURING THAT ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES COMPLY WITH EMERGING CLIMATE REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS.

No One Can Be

Kosta Andrić, Executive Director, ICT HUB, Belgrade

Eco and Ego

Driven by advancements in technology, the world is interconnected more than ever. Information and values are shared rapidly and globally. However, businesses are facing pressure to go through two big transformations - one is digital, and the other is about sustainability. Is it cool? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. Is there a simple recipe? Not at all.

The way we live, work, and consume is changing. It's becoming increasingly difficult for companies to remain selfcentered, growing around individual egos (often referred to as an 'egosystem'). In the world of interdependencies and collaboration, it's unsustainable. To make it even harder for the 'ego', such a world places great importance on values and ideas such as eco-friendly living and working. Of course, 'ego' and 'eco' are not just business strategies - they are worldviews. The 'ego' always asks “What's in it for me?”, but is indifferent to the needs or interests of others. There have to be winners and losers. This is how 'the strongest survive', strengthening the economy. Profit needs to be maximized - it's a competition, after all. Resources are there for those who get them faster. If you don’t stop and think about tomorrow, someone else will win. You will lose.

Unfortunately, going green is not that simple

The 'eco', on the other hand, never loses the perspective of a greater good, seeking its gains within it. What needs to get stronger is the interconnected whole. Resources, especially knowledge and innovations, are best when shared - their value grows through creativity coming from the diversity of stakeholders and their perspectives.

Be Green Alone

Progress is best when it's mutual. Resources need to be renewed.

When we put it that way, it's a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

The Pressure to Go Green

Imagine being a business leader, running a company with an environmental impact. Maybe the company grew well before you, at a different time, but that’s irrelevant today. What is crucial is that the data you have indicate that your consumers, employees, and partners expect you to “go green“.

But you don't operate in a vacuum. Maybe legislation still isn't entirely green. Your market may be in a state where such an investment carries serious risks. Your employees want 'eco', but they also want their jobs secure. Maybe, in this case, you might face an 'ego-centered' competition. They might eat you up if you give them a chance.

People don't ask TV for their opinions anymore.

Today's audiences are more informed and skeptical, making greenwashing riskier than ever.

You may personally be all in, but are your business skills, knowledge, and experience enough? Are you capable of managing “going green”?

People don't ask TV for their opinions anymore.

Greenwashing has been around for years. The term was coined by the environmentalist Jay Westerveld back in 1986, to describe organizations spending money on campaigns that position them as environmentally friendly instead of minimizing their footprint. This tactic was once a skill within the reach of many marketing teams..However, those days are mostly over. People don't ask TV for their opinions anymore. Today's audiences are more informed and skeptical, making greenwashing riskier than ever.

The struggle between the traditional “brown” vs the emerging “green” economy goes on, but the future is clearly leaning towards sustainability. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP, www. unep.org) describes the green economy as low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive. In order to work, it doesn't only have to be efficient, but also fair. Protecting natural ecosystems and biodiversity is essential. This requires targeted public expenditure, policy reforms, and changes in taxation and regulation.

No one can be green alone.

Innovation thrives within a collaborative ecosystem ‒ no one can achieve sustainability in isolation.

Our hypothetical business leader has nowhere to click or “swipe left” to adopt green practices. It is a whole new paradigm, asking for new ideas, technologies, and business models. Innovation thrives within a collaborative ecosystem—no one can achieve sustainability in isolation.

Ideas, like plants, need the right environment

Companies worldwide are increasingly focusing on environmental performance. This is often called “green innovation”. We all know the examples: electric vehicles, solar panels, wind harvesting, energy storage research, etc. New directions include floatovoltaics (floating solar farms), solar cars, windows, roads, fabric, and paint…

Just as plants thrive in the right conditions, green innovation flourishes when companies prioritize environmental performance. By creating supportive environments, businesses can drive the development and adoption of sustainable technologies, from electric vehicles to emerging solutions.

Companies worldwide are increasingly focusing on environmental performance.

Two big transformations are underway: digital and green

Obviously, it's all highly innovative tech. There are two big transformations that businesses across industries, around the world, are facing: the digital and the sustainability transformation. These are intersecting, with the digital enabling the green.

The transformative thinking required to build 'green ecosystems' is essentially the same as that needed for fostering innovation ecosystems.

It implies mindset changes, attention from leaders, investment, and support systems. Ideas need to be encouraged, brought together, and validated. Common interests need to be searched, found, and communicated. And even then, collaboration does not just happen - it has to be jump-started, supported, and supplied with mechanisms.

DIY green ecosystem

There is a recipe, after all. Start by looking for real-world examples. Methodologies and lessons learned are already out there.

Next, map your stakeholders. Government bodies (decision-makers on all levels, formulating and enforcing policies), relevant NGOs, and the business sector (industries like renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture…). Build a framework of talent, experts, entrepreneurs, teams, companies, and support sectors - the perfect mix of partners with complementing skills,

resources, knowledge, and interests. Investors are crucial to making it all work. Also, include universities for research, innovation, and talent development. Don’t overlook the public and media, as they influence behavior and practices, and communication experts who play a vital role in engagement.

A lot of work, for a lot of people with different skills and backgrounds

To find their roles in the ecosystem, all these players need to be categorized and plotted by the weight and type of influence. Use mind maps and flowcharts, needs assessment matrix, gap analysis… Identify their needs with surveys and questionnaires, interviews and focus groups, workshops and seminars, feedback mechanisms, etc.

Communications need to be established. Make a mix of channels that suits your specific purpose (digital and traditional, community meetings…), and plot a thorough plan (objectives, audiences, key messages). Remember, if you have a business leader who is unfamiliar with green technologies, provide them with the necessary training and resources to bridge the knowledge gap.

It's a lot of work, far beyond the scope of a single expert or one article. Just to start building a green ecosystem, you need a whole lot of people and organizations with different skills and backgrounds.

A Climate Tech Supercluster

Here’s one good example. Last year, a climate tech supercluster was launched in the UK, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands (www.climatetechsupercluster.com).

The idea is to promote, develop, and scale climate-critical technologies to accelerate collective climate action, by boosting innovation, mapping stakeholders, and connecting them in events, meetups,

There are two big transformations that businesses across industries, around the world, are facing: the digital and the sustainability transformation.

REIMAGINING THE TALENT EXPERIENCE

BEYOND MOMENTS THAT MATTER

Dieter

Vedsman, Chief Scientist: HR & OD, AIHR

Marna Van Der Merwe, Organizational Psychologist and Subject Matter Expert, AIHR

A positive employee experience is no longer enough to ensure talent engagement and retention. Today's workforce has similar expectations to consumers, holding employers to the same standards as their favorite brands and products.

Anaya arrives at the office feeling flustered. She struggled to find parking at the office, had to wait in line at the turnstile, and could not open her emails on her phone due to an unexpected update that the IT team announced last night.

She opens her laptop to dial into her first meeting, trying to download the sales numbers from yesterday to share with her boss in their department meeting. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi in the office is not connecting, and she receives an error message on the reporting server.

She sighs as she dials the IT team from her personal phone to log a call and start the day. Surely, work should not be this hard.

Employees want more from employers than ever, expecting their interactions to reflect the personalized, seamless, and engaging experiences they enjoy as consumers.

The "consumerization of work" refers to employees comparing employers not just to each other but to memorable consumer experiences, such as

the convenience of online shopping and the tailored recommendations of streaming services. This shift reflects the broader experience economy, in which individuals prioritize meaningful experiences over material goods. This value extends into the workplace.

Talent behaves like consumers, thoroughly researching employers and evaluating company culture, leadership, and growth opportunities before committing, much like

they would before making a purchase. Digital transformation has further fueled these expectations, with employees seeking the same instant access, on-demand information, and personalized communication they experience as consumers.

Like brands that cultivate strong consumer connections, employers that create emotionally resonant and positive experiences foster loyalty and retention.

WHY DO EMPLOYEES DEMAND MORE TODAY?

Four megatrends impact talent's consumer-like behavior. These trends continue to shape the new world of work, establishing new expectations between employees and employers and shifting the pendulum of power towards employees.

The workforce is undergoing significant shifts due to changing demographics and the increasing influence of Millennials and Gen Z. These younger generations expect personalized services, flexibility, and alignment with personal values, prompting employers to focus on inclusivity and belonging across a multigenerational workforce. Additionally, there is a growing demand for companies to reflect authenticity and social responsibility, as diverse

employees prioritize workplace engagement that mirrors their values.

At the same time, talent scarcity creates fierce competition for skilled workers. Candidates are more selective, evaluating employers based on reputation, company culture, and employee experience. Meanwhile, technology is reshaping work expectations, driving demand for digital-first, flexible environments. Employees now seek work-life balance, continuous learning, and a sense of purpose that align with their personal and professional goals. This shift in expectations is redefining the traditional psychological contract, pushing employers to offer more autonomy, mental health support, and meaningful engagement.

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR A GOOD EXPERIENCE?

For employee experiences to matter, organizations need to evaluate their experiences aligned to set criteria, similar to those used by consumers when engaging with the brand:

Choice and Personalization | “Was this targeted at me?”

Personalization is no longer optional when it comes to the talent experience. Talent expects tailored

experiences that acknowledge their individuality, from personalized career development plans to bespoke benefits packages and flexible work arrangements.

talent scarcity creates fierce competition for skilled workers. Candidates are more selective, evaluating employers based on reputation, company culture, and employee experience.

Personalization helps organizations address the wide-ranging expectations of a diverse workforce, ensuring that employees feel valued and supported. For example, many organizations provide flexible employee benefits, acknowledging that financial goals are profoundly personal and evolve. This acknowledges individual choice and autonomy in the experience.

Consistency at Scale | “Is my experience the same every time?”

While personalization is crucial, it must be balanced with scalability to ensure that exceptional talent experiences can be delivered consistently across large and diverse workforces. Scalability ensures that personalized, high-quality experiences are not limited to a select few but are accessible to all employees, regardless of location or

role. This requires systems, processes, and frameworks that can be replicated and adapted without compromising quality or relevance.

For example, many large retailers implement apps that facilitate shift scheduling and communication for their frontline staff. This ensures consistent communication while acknowledging different realities.

Technology Enablement | “Is my experience easy and intuitive?”

As technology continues to reshape work, it also serves as a critical enabler of talent experiences. Technologyempowered experiences leverage digital tools, data analytics, and AIdriven insights to create intuitive, user-friendly environments that enhance productivity and engagement. These tools enable delivering personalized and scalable experiences efficiently, ensuring that talent feels connected, informed, and empowered throughout their employee journey. For example, talent

mobility platforms that are hugely successful leverage data and input from talent to make recommendations that are aligned with their aspirations and linked to their day-to-day work.

Intentional

Human Connection | “Are my needs acknowledged?”

Personalization is no longer optional when it comes to the talent experience.

Talent expects tailored experiences that acknowledge their individuality, from personalized career development plans to bespoke benefits packages and flexible work arrangements.

Amid the rise of technology and automation, humaninformed design emphasizes the importance of empathy, active listening, and understanding employees' nuanced needs. This approach balances data-driven insights with a deep appreciation of the human experience, ensuring that decisions consider both metrics and what genuinely matters to people.

For example, a technology provider has recently introduced an AI bot that engages with employees to guide them in seeking mental well-being services. Even though it is well intended, employees feel the engagement with the bot is impersonal, and sharing traumatic experiences with a nonhuman agent does not create an experience of care and safety. Based on this feedback, the organization has

introduced a helpdesk service where employees can choose whether they connect with a human operator or an AI bot. Incorporating these four criteria into employees' everyday experiences will not occur by chance. As such, organizations need to adopt an intentional employee experience methodology that underpins the key moments that matter and guides how and where they focus their time and resources.

A PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE DESIGN METHODOLOGY IN FOUR STEPS

For organizations to compete for talent in this market, they require an intentional employee experience methodology that underpins how they approach day-to-day engagements and interactions with employees. We outline this methodology aligned to four steps:

STEP 1: UNDERSTAND ‘WHY’ IT IS AN IMPORTANT EXPERIENCE

Start by identifying and understanding the significance of the experience you are designing. Why does it matter to talent, and what business value does it hold? Understanding the importance of each experience helps organizations prioritize their efforts and resources on moments with the most significant impact on employees and unlocks the greatest value for the organization.

Practically, organizations cannot optimize every single experience touchpoint. As such, prioritizing the specific moments that matter to employees and the moments of value to the organization is crucial to seeing a return on experience efforts.

Making it practical: The onboarding experience is important to prioritize for both talent and the organization. It helps new employees acclimate quickly and sets the stage for long-term engagement, boosting productivity and engagement.

STEP 2: IDENTIFY ‘WHO’ THE END-USER OR CONSUMER IS

Clearly define who the experience is being designed for. Different segments of your workforce have different needs and expectations. Conduct user research, surveys, and persona mapping to understand your target talent audience's specific characteristics and pain points. You can create relevant, personalized, and

impactful experiences by identifying the end-user.

Making it practical: Remote employees' onboarding experience should prioritize their needs for connection and inclusion, such as virtual welcome activities, regular check-ins, and easy access to digital collaboration tools. This may differ for on-site employees, who require parking, office access, and building orientation support.

STEP 3: DEFINE ‘WHAT’ A GOOD EXPERIENCE LOOKS LIKE

Articulate what a successful experience is by outlining what the end-user should think, feel, and do during the experience. This addresses the cognitive and emotive aspects of the desired experience, as well as how the end-user is expected to participate. Knowing what a good experience looks like allows you to design with a clear end goal. Making it practical:

CHAPTER ZERO

Ladeja Godina Košir Founder and Director, Circular Change, Institute for Circular Economy

“... leaders in companies save money over time, reduce risk, innovate more, build valuable corporate reputation and brand strength, attract and retain talent and achieve greater employee engagement."

Doing business in a time of polycrisis, when risks are intensifying and compounding, requires adaptation and leadership that gives more to the environment and society than it takes from it, argue Paul Polman, former Unilever CEO, and Andrew Winsdon, sustainability guru. In the long run, such

business delivers positive results not only for shareholders, but for all stakeholders.

Among the global risks that are key for the next ten years, the WCEF 2024 report identifies half of the ten risks as climate change-related. What does this mean for business? Failure to integrate

climate considerations into companies' strategic and organizational frameworks cannot ensure long-term resilience and competitiveness. Focusing exclusively on factors that can deliver positive business results in the short term is likely to jeopardize a company's viability in the medium and long term.

FIGURE C Global risks ranked by severity over the short and long term "Please estimate the likely impact (severity) of the following risks over a 2-year and 10-year period."

Source: Paul Polman & Andrew Winston: Net Positive – How courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take,

Source: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2024/digest/

FIGURE D Global risks landscape: an interconnections map

Source: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2024/digest/

To ensure that risks are properly considered and managed, climate risks and opportunities need to be strategically integrated into the core business strategy. Boards need to consider the impact of climate change on long-term value creation and integrate corporate sustainability objectives into their business. Understanding the interconnectedness and interdependence of different factors is crucial in this regard. Climate factors are closely linked to geopolitical, economic, social, and technological factors. To illustrate with a concrete example - extreme weather conditions threaten people's health, disrupt daily activities, damage important infrastructure, cause gaps in the value chain, weaken the market position of a company, halt production due to a lack of key resources, etc.

To integrate climate considerations effectively, board members should:

Align climate strategy with corporate vision: Make sure the company's climate goals are aligned with its mission and longterm strategy.

2Consider science-based targets: Set measurable climate targets, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Targets should be ambitious but achievable and should be regularly reviewed and adjusted when necessary.

Integrate climate risks into corporate risk management: Integrate climate risk assessment into the overall corporate risk management framework. This includes assessing the financial implications of

climate risks and ensuring that these risks are taken into account in strategic planning and investment decisions.

In addition to strategic integration, organizational integration is also important. The latter focuses on integrating climate governance into the organizational structure and culture of the company. The interdependence and interconnectedness of the various factors mentioned above dictates a systemic approach. A demanding adaptation process is needed for a company to be able to carry out a comprehensive and effective transformation that will deliver the desired results. Key concepts need to be reviewed and redefined - from, for example, what constitutes progress, to measures of success, finance, and, ultimately, leadership.

The System Change Compass is an excellent tool to guide decision-makers and other stakeholders through the overall transformation process.

Key actions for organizational integration include:

Enhancing board competencies: Ensure the necessary expertise on climate issues - either by recruiting directors with specific skills or by providing education and training to existing board members on climate risks and opportunities.

2Assign clear roles and responsibilities: Assign clear responsibilities for climate governance within the organization. Designate leadership to drive the climate strategy and ensure that climate objectives are mainstreamed across all organizational units.

Improve disclosures and reporting: Ensure transparency by introducing good practices - reporting in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Enable investors and stakeholders to have access to clear and consistent information on how you manage climate risks.

4Foster a culture of sustainability: Create a corporate culture that values sustainability and encourages innovation in response to climate challenges. Involve employees at all levels in the company's climate strategy.

UNCLEAR AND UNSTABLE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT MAKES STRATEGIC PLANNING DIFFICULT, NEW LEGISLATION BRINGS UNEXPECTED COSTS OR REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO MEET.

Source: https://www.systemiq.earth/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/System-Change-Compass-full-report_final.pdf

Issues that arise behind closed doors of the boards

Until recently, environmental issues were considered irrelevant to business. They were removed from priority lists, not included in key performance indicators, and had a place in the appendix to annual reports dedicated to sustainability reporting. Today, the situation is reversed - with increasing (including regulatory) pressure on boards to see climate change as an increasingly important risk factor that needs to be properly addressed, the following questions or concerns arise - based on experience in Slovenia and abroad:

Short-term financial pressures - how to balance short-term financial targets with long-term sustainability goals. Climate

action is still seen by some as a cost that can affect short-term profitability and share prices, which is at odds with investor demands for immediate results.

2Unstable regulatory environmentunclear and unstable regulatory environment makes strategic planning difficult, new legislation brings unexpected costs or requirements that are difficult to meet.

3Lack of expertise - climate change is a complicated and complex subject. Many board members do not have the necessary expertise or support within the company and feel under pressure because they feel unable to adequately assess the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

Beyond the Hype

People Leaders’ Guide to AI Adoption

Beyond Hype

Ninković Shapera Chief People Officer Squirro

The landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving, and enterprises are racing to integrate these advanced technologies into their operations. The adoption of AI in the workplace is fast reshaping how organizations execute key functions and manage talent, and the narratives oscillate between promises of massive efficiency gains to doomsday scenarios. Wherever the future may land, as we enter an era of unprecedented human-AI collaboration, the priority for people leaders will be to build roadmaps that help organizations navigate through this uncharted territory.

Maja

AI: More Than Just Another Tool?

At first glance, AI might seem like the next step in the evolution of workplace tools—another technology to enhance productivity. However, AI systems differ fundamentally from traditional tools. They are designed to think and act like humans, increasingly serving as active agents rather than passive instruments.

A little definitional work: Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems or software that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as analyzing data, steering a car, or generating written content. The AI landscape has evolved from machine learning models that make predictions based on structured data (e.g., loan defaults, equipment failures, consumer demand fluctuations, healthcare diagnoses) to more sophisticated generative AI systems. Text-generating AI systems, such as the popular ChatGPT, are built on large language models (LLMs). LLMs train on large amounts of unstructured data to answer questions or perform certain tasks based on statistical likelihoods. Rather than searching and providing answers, they use mathematical models to predict the most likely next word or output.

The next frontier in AI development involves the creation of ‘autonomous agents.’ In these advanced systems, large language models (LLMs) serve as the 'brain,' while additional tools built on top allow the system to accomplish actual tasks—such as booking plane tickets, scheduling interviews, or filling out and sending invoices. These agents can even connect to form multi-agent forces, further expanding their capabilities.

Thus, unlike previous technologies, AI introduces unique cognitive, relational, and structural complexities into the workplace due to its distinctive capabilities. This distinction is crucial: AI systems learn from and adapt to employee interactions, potentially collaborating with workers in unprecedented ways.

Thus, unlike previous technologies, AI introduces unique cognitive, relational, and structural complexities into the workplace due to its distinctive capabilities. This distinction is crucial: AI systems learn from and adapt to employee interactions, potentially collaborating with workers in unprecedented ways.

As we move further into an AI-driven era, the role of people leaders will continue to evolve, becoming even more integral to organizational success. People professionals will need to embrace their role as strategic partners, leveraging their deep understanding of human dynamics to guide the ethical and effective adoption of AI.

‘Do Something with AI’ vs. Real Use Cases

A recurring theme in AI discussions in leadership teams is the directive to "do something with AI." However, this top-down mandate often lacks clarity about which use cases would be the most beneficial. As a result, leaders frequently rely on AI vendors to educate them on potential use cases, which can be problematic. While vendors can provide insights, there's an inherent risk in allowing external parties to dictate AI strategies—vendors may push for solutions that showcase their strengths rather than what’s truly aligned with the organization’s needs. Additionally, business leaders can end up with dozens of tools that solve only narrow problems, instead of comprehensive AI platforms that can address multiple use cases in a streamlined fashion.

The need for leaders to develop a clear understanding of AI’s potential and limitations becomes even more urgent as AI continues to transform many HR processes. Without strong internal leadership that can identify the right use cases, AI efforts may remain fragmented and fail to achieve meaningful scale. The emergence of new roles, such as Chief AI Officers is indicative of efforts to mitigate the risks of misguided implementations of AI systems, especially in large enterprises and regulated industries.

AI-powered organizations

Use cases for different AI systems are numerous and span across industries and functions – multitudes of applications in Sales (Gong, Apollo, People.ai), Marketing (Jasper, Attentive, Bluecore), CX (Asapp, Sprinklr, Netomi), Human Capital (Eightfold, Beamery, Maki People), Automation and Operations, Legal (Casetext, Everlaw), Partnerships (Crossbeam), Regtech & Compliance (Drata), Finance (Botkeeper), Search and Knowledge Management (Squirro).

A few AI-powered use cases within the people space with good ROIs:

1. Predictive Analytics for Workforce Planning

Using AI models to predict staffing needs, churn rates, and future workforce requirements based on historical employee data (attendance, performance, tenure)

2. Sentiment Analysis for Employee Engagement

Using NLP (Natural Language Processing), analyze feedback from surveys, internal communications, and social media to assess employee morale and engagement on a large scale.

3. Employee Knowledge Management/AI Assistants

AI-powered systems can search across all company databases (documents, apps, chats, transcripts) to make accessible all company documents and deliver personalized answers to employees improving productivity and onboarding.

4. AI-Driven Talent Management and Skill Matching

AI analyzes employee skill sets and recommends career paths, internal mobility opportunities, and skill development to improve retention and productivity.

5. Compliance and Risk Management

Use AI to scan through contracts, emails, and communications to detect compliance risks, fraud, or breaches of company policies across the organization.

Image 1: Squirro’s Employee Assistant across the employee lifecycle (‘People Acorn’)

Newer advances, such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), are designed to prevent ‘hallucinations’, as these systems generate responses with the verifiable data from reliable sources, helping users trace the origin of the information provided. Also, by incorporating AI Guardrails, systems are prohibited from generating inappropriate, biased or harmful content (Image 2).

build foundational AI capabilities, and train staff to become familiar with the tools.

Employee Augmentation Level

Image 2: An example of AI Guardrails that prevent unlawful or unethical or discriminatory advice

As AI continues to advance, its impact on HR and workforce management is becoming more tangible. Industry experts predict that approximately 20-30% of tasks in the People function will be augmented or replaced by AI tools in the near future. This augmentation will manifest in different forms depending on the maturity of the organization's AI adoption.

AI Adoption Levels: Where is your organization today?

Experimentation Level

At this initial stage, organizations are exploring AI’s potential by identifying possible use cases and running small-scale proof-of-concepts (POCs). These projects focus on testing AI tools in controlled environments, often within specific departments or functions. The primary goal is to gather insights,

Organizations in this phase are actively utilizing AI tools to enhance employee roles. AI is applied to improve efficiency by taking over repetitive, time-consuming tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities such as strategic decision-making and creative problem-solving. For example, AI might be used to automate data entry or perform preliminary data analysis, freeing up analysts to interpret results and drive insights. At this level, AI is not replacing employees but rather making them more productive and enabling them to concentrate on complex, non-automatable tasks.

Task Substitution Level

At this stage, organizations move beyond role enhancement to fully automate specific sets of tasks. Companies are identifying which tasks within a role can be handled entirely by AI systems. For example, in customer support, AI chatbots may completely manage initial interactions and routine queries, allowing human agents to focus on more complex customer issues. The organization carefully examines which parts of jobs can be delegated to AI, creating a clear division between what the AI handles autonomously and what requires human oversight.

Agentic AI Level

The most advanced level of AI adoption, Agentic AI, involves AI systems acting independently of humans, taking full responsibility for executing tasks and making decisions. This could include autonomous AI agents handling complex processes such as scheduling, generating reports, making recommendations, or even managing parts of the supply chain without human input (Thoma, 2024).

Data Health Challenge

AI-driven solutions in HR often falter at the very first stage: data health. Despite ambitious directives from leadership to "do something with AI," the underlying data infrastructure frequently poses a significant challenge. HR departments rely heavily on legacy systems and fragmented data sources,

which complicates the process of feeding AI algorithms with the clean, high-quality data they require.

In fact, many AI projects in HR struggle to progress beyond the data health stage. Without trustworthy, well-structured or organized data, even the most advanced AI tools can't deliver value. As companies push toward AI implementation, it's crucial that data health be addressed not as an afterthought but as a foundational component. Addressing data issues early and thoroughly is key to ensuring AI adoption can move past the proof-of-concept (POC) phase into generating tangible results.

BYOAI: The Cultural Shift Toward People-Machine Collaborations

One of the most significant shifts brought about by AI adoption is cultural. Organizations are transitioning from managing just people to managing a hybrid workforce of human and AI "agents." This shift fundamentally changes how HR functions and people leaders operate. Traditional methods of managing and developing human employees will no longer suffice in an environment where machines are doing part of the work.

A noteworthy trend is the rise of "Bring Your Own AI" (BYOAI) practices, where approximately 75% of employees bring their own AI tools to work. Yet only 25% of companies have formal, company-wide policies or approaches for managing these tools. This disconnect poses both an opportunity and a challenge for HR teams. On one hand, employees are proactively seeking AI-driven productivity enhancements. On the other hand, the lack of formal guidance creates potential risks, from data security concerns to inconsistent use of AI tools across teams.

A noteworthy trend is the rise of "Bring Your Own AI" (BYOAI) practices, where approximately 75% of mployees bring their own AI tools to work. Yet only 25% of companies have formal, company-wide policies or approaches for managing these tools.

The Future Role of People Leaders

As AI becomes further entrenched in HR practices, the role of People leaders will evolve from managing people alone to managing a mix of human and non-human capabilities. People leaders will need to develop a keen understanding of AI tools and how these tools can be leveraged to meet business goals. Rather than focusing solely on traditional people management, future leaders will need to become experts in optimizing peoplemachine collaborations and ensuring that the organization's AI systems are delivering as expected.

This shift is likely to come with its own set of challenges, especially for leaders who are wary of AI's potential to replace human workers. While some tasks will undoubtedly be taken over by AI, leaders should emphasize the concept of job enrichment— where AI helps remove mundane or repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities.

Security, Trust and Perception of AI

As businesses integrate increasingly advanced AI systems within the operational workflows, the lack of a roadmap for navigating these changes can lead to resistance, confusion, and ethical dilemmas.

Consider the recent case of Lattice, a US-based HR tech company that experimented with integrating AI-powered "digital workers" into their organizational chart. These AI entities were assigned job titles and managers, onboarding and offboarding processes, mirroring human employees. The initiative sparked immediate controversy. Critics argued that equating AI with human workers disrespected the humanity of actual employees and raised ethical concerns about AI's role in the workplace. Faced with the backlash, Lattice halted the project, highlighting the need for a more thoughtful approach to AI integration.

Despite AI’s huge potential to augment human capabilities through different use cases, the lack of proper ‘social AI governance’ sometimes yields unintended consequences.

If AI systems are implemented without employee input or seen as a means to monitor performance excessively, they can engender fear and resistance. Take an example from a large Chinese firm studied by Meyer (2020) – while the introduction of an AI assistant to the customer support workforce generated great efficiencies (less time spent per ticket, help with customer insights), the advanced ‘emotion regulation’ features (monitoring of voice speeds and agents’ emotional states to warn of increasing ‘tensions’ in the call) created feelings of stress and constant scrutiny.

Underlying concerns about artificial intelligence - the trust in the systems’ decisions, the misuse of the systems, the lack of controls, and fears of making people’s jobs redundant or unnecessary – all these now represent the new areas where people leaders need to focus their attention as the adoption of such systems becomes more ubiquitous.

Underlying concerns about artificial intelligence - the trust in the systems’ decisions, the misuse of the systems, the lack of controls, and fears of making people’s jobs redundant or unnecessary – all these now represent the new areas where people leaders need to focus their attention as the adoption of such systems becomes more ubiquitous. Without addressing these concerns, AI initiatives are unlikely to achieve meaningful adoption or return on investment.

A Dystopian View?

Discussions among people leaders suggest a slightly dystopian view of AI adoption. Concerns about job loss, the ethical implications of AI decision-making, and the potential for workplace inequalities driven by AI systems are common. However, the reality is that while some jobs will be displaced by AI, new roles will emerge in their place. The challenge for leaders is to navigate this transition in a way that maximizes organizational value while minimizing negative impacts on employees.

In the long run, AI holds the promise of job enrichment for individuals, unlocking new business value at an organizational level, and ensuring that the workforce of the future remains agile and capable of adapting to new technological realities.

People Leaders and AI

As AI continues to integrate into HR practices, people leaders must develop a clear point of view on how to manage the changes ahead. This includes understanding which skills will be important for both human employees and the AI systems they collaborate with. Moreover, people leaders must play an active role in addressing employee concerns about AI, from job security to the ethical use of AI-driven decision-making processes. This will only be possible if people leaders continue to upskill themselves and the rest of their organizations on the AI-powered future of work and start asking – and preparing to answer – sometimes difficult questions around successful human-AI collaboration.

References:

Meyer, R. (2020). Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace: A Study of Customer Support AI in a Large Chinese Firm. Journal of Management Studies. Thoma, S. (2024). Personal communication. AI in HR Panel at the Mazi CPO Collective, London.

BALANCE AS A KEY CONCEPT IN THE ESG UNIVERSE

Dušan Stojaković Senior Manager for Global Sustainability

Hemofarm

Aleksandra Petrović

Project Manager

International Labour Organization

To begin with, there is an almost logical dilemma when it comes to understanding sustainable development and ESG: are these two concepts the same? Regardless of the answer, the point is that they are two compatible views on the same topic – the triad of the relationship among people, the planet, and responsible governance, with sustainable development being somewhat broader in scope, while ESG is narrower and more focused.

ESG, in particular, has been conceived in an attempt to simplify and make companies and individuals better acquainted with sustainable development, while the name itself suggests three key areas – environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G). Similarly, just as sustainable development required a more modern successor (to be better understood by everyone), in the same way, the implementation of ESG principles and reporting on sustainable development are nowadays shifting from a voluntary to a mandatory mode. Reporting standards

are superseded by laws. A similar metamorphosis took place in the HR world, where a new term P&C (or in some cases C&P – people and culture or culture and people) has been established in order to make the concept in which people and culture are at the core of the social aspect of business more tangible.

Neither the ESG itself nor sustainable development is contentious, but the way in which both concepts are understood and adequately applied in practice is questionable.

Most companies and decision-makers still see ESG as a nice opportunity to show off their business, and as something that is pretty fun. Hence the numerous examples of unintentional greenwashing and missprocessing of data intended to indicate the actual trajectories of (sustainable) development. It is important to note that ESG is not a story full of superlatives, but rather an opportunity for a real critical review of one's own sustainability performance, together and with the support of key stakeholders, in order to achieve actual objectivity.

MOST COMPANIES AND DECISION-MAKERS STILL SEE ESG AS A NICE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW OFF THEIR BUSINESS, AND AS SOMETHING THAT IS PRETTY FUN. HENCE THE NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF UNINTENTIONAL GREENWASHING AND MISSPROCESSING OF DATA INTENDED TO INDICATE THE ACTUAL TRAJECTORIES OF (SUSTAINABLE) DEVELOPMENT.

The goal of that objectivity is to point out what is good, but also what can be improved in the context of sustainable development, which gains full meaning when a public commitment is made to improvement actions and further ESG development. Therefore, the key word in the ESG universe, apart from IRO (impacts, risks, and opportunities), should be balance.

To be more specific, a two-dimensional balance.

The first dimension is equal consideration of each of the three aspects – environmental, social, and governance. Sustainable development does not involve only environmental protection, although topics such as climate change may be somewhat more important at the moment due to the clock ticking unstoppably towards further devastation of the planet. ESG itself is only sustainable if we treat the environment, society, and governance equally.

The second dimension is the dimension of the balance between what is good and what needs to be ‘repaired’, i.e. improved. In a nutshell - the more a company is ready to talk about areas for improvement, the more mature it is in terms of ESG itself, but also as an entity.

WHERE HAVE COMPANIES ACTUALLY BEEN STUMBLING ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY?

It's precisely because they have adapted this significant concept to themselves, rather than aligning their business to the concept or global agendas, such as the UN Agenda 2030, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, of which actually serve as a beacon for greater sustainability and a better future, and because they have focused on presenting what is good as even better while ignoring the things that are not good.

That’s why it was necessary to make the transition from voluntary to mandatory reporting, which will be aligned with the CSRD Directive guidelines in Europe. Even though this process is complex

ESG IS NOT A STORY FULL OF SUPERLATIVES, BUT RATHER AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A REAL CRITICAL REVIEW OF ONE'S OWN SUSTAINABILITY

PERFORMANCE,

TOGETHER AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF KEY STAKEHOLDERS, IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE ACTUAL OBJECTIVITY.

and comprehensive, instead of about a hundred formerly used parameters (e.g. according to GRI - Global Reporting Initiative guidelines), there are now over 1,000 parameters that assess the actual sustainability of companies. CSRD itself is conceived in such a way that its areas, topics, and sub-topics must be presented with such precision that it is almost certain that future reports will be reviewed by AI. And there will be no space for making

THIS NEW CONCEPT OF REPORTING ON SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, NO MATTER HOW SOPHISTICATED, STILL NEEDS TO INCLUDE A VITAL ESG RESOURCE – PEOPLE, THROUGH TWO IMPORTANT PREVENTIVECORRECTIVE ASPECTS – DUE DILIGENCE AND GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS

the good things even better and ignoring what is not good. That will be a matter of whether something is actually done in the field of ESG or not. Irrespective of how much the corporate public fears this new reporting concept (and the fear of the unknown or the new is quite justified, at least at the beginning), it is commendable that in the new reporting concept, it will be essential to show where each piece of information comes from, as well as who owns that information. This logic can be related to decentralization, which is typical for blockchain technology, which prevents subsequent changes to information, data, numbers, and everything related to it. In the first set of new legal requirements,

as many as 50,000 companies operating in the EU will be affected, as well as members of their supply chains (although indirectly), including many small and medium-sized enterprises from Serbia.

This new concept of reporting on sustainability and sustainable development, no matter how sophisticated, still needs to include a vital ESG resource – people, through two important preventivecorrective aspects – due diligence and grievance mechanisms. Both aspects are equally important, and we should not favor one over the other individually. Due diligence allows for conveying one's own ESG values to supply chains, because personal efforts when it comes to, for example, respecting human rights are in vain if, at the same time, someone on the other side of the world, who has influence on the creation of a product or service as a supplier, violates those same rights. To put it simply, the pluses and minuses cancel each other out.

Another critical aspect includes the establishment of grievance mechanisms that are not only publicly and widely accessible but also transparent in their procedures while safeguarding the rights of individuals who report violations or suspicions of violations, particularly those related to ESG concerns and business operations. As individual disputes and grievances from workers continue to rise globally, ensuring access to labour justice has become a pivotal factor in maintaining

effective labour markets. This access should be perceived as a continuum, where every component of the justice delivery system must be operational and effective. This holistic approach ensures that both workers and employers can engage with the system with confidence, knowing that fairness and equality are maintained consistently throughout the process.

More and more companies are realizing the critical importance of establishing grievance mechanisms to address workers' concerns and problems. However, for these mechanisms to be truly effective, they must be designed and implemented in a way that ensures the respect and protection of certain rights and principles. Effective grievance mechanisms are not just about providing formal access to dispute prevention and resolution platforms; they must encompass the entire process—from the initial filing of a grievance to its final resolution— underpinned by procedural regulations that foster genuine conditions of equality. For these mechanisms to be effective, they must adhere to principles that empower both workers and employers to fully participate in resolving grievances. These principles include the right to be present and actively engage in the process, the right to assistance and representation, and the assurance that no loss of earnings or prejudice will occur if the grievance is raised in good faith. Enterprise-based grievance mechanisms should clearly outline procedures and timelines to

MORE AND MORE COMPANIES ARE REALIZING THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS TO ADDRESS WORKERS' CONCERNS AND PROBLEMS. HOWEVER, FOR THESE MECHANISMS TO BE TRULY EFFECTIVE, THEY MUST BE DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED IN A WAY THAT ENSURES THE RESPECT AND PROTECTION OF CERTAIN RIGHTS AND PRINCIPLES.

ensure grievances are resolved promptly, thus preventing delays in justice.

However, it is important to recognize that the introduction of grievance mechanisms is not a guarantee that all worker grievances will be resolved at the enterprise level. Grievance mechanisms should be viewed as part of a larger dispute resolution system that provides additional avenues for workers to seek redress if their grievances cannot be resolved within the enterprise. Such avenues might include conciliation, mediation, and adjudication, ensuring that unresolved issues can be effectively addressed through appropriate channels.

Differences, challenges, and problems are an everyday reality in the business world. Finding solutions is an integral part of this process. While management may often make decisions independently, the most effective solutions are typically reached through open dialogue between workers and managers. Companies that view problems as something to hide or ignore tend to experience less stable and productive work environments. In contrast, organizations that treat each problem as an opportunity for improvement are more likely to foster a sustainable and profitable business in the long run. By encouraging open communication and collaborative problemsolving, companies can create a work culture that not only resolves issues effectively but also promotes continuous growth and development.

In conclusion, robust grievance mechanisms are essential for ensuring access to labour justice, building trust between workers and employers, and contributing to a fair and equitable working environment. By integrating these mechanisms into a broader disputeresolution system and fostering open dialogue within the workplace, companies can create a resilient, productive, balanced, and sustainable work environment.

Balance Broadcast F

Balance Broadcast Founded at Balance Consulting

ounded at Balance Consulting

For Organizations

By recording your video programs, we encourage the sharing of knowledge and skills among employees.

For Organizations

By recording your video programs, we encourage the sharing of knowledge and skills among employees.

Key advantages of this approach include:

• Knowledge remains within the organization

Key advantages of this approach include:

• Faster onboarding for new employees

• Knowledge remains within the organization

• Development of leadership skills

• Faster onboarding for new employees

• Training and development of internal educators/trainers

• Development of leadership skills

• Enhanced public speaking and knowledge transfer skills

• Training and development of internal educators/trainers

• Increased sense of belonging, recognition, and loyalty

• Enhanced public speaking and knowledge transfer skills

• Cultivation of a learning and knowledge-sharing culture

• Increased sense of belonging, recognition, and loyalty

• Improved employer branding

• Cultivation of a learning and knowledge-sharing culture

• Improved employer branding

• Strengthened organizational capacity to tackle challenges and achieve goals

• Greater competitiveness and adaptability in the market through improved results, reduced errors, a more innovative approach, and better change management.

For Individuals

• Author ’s Video Program: We suppor t authors in designing and sharing their knowledge through original video programs aimed at educators, consultants, exper ts in various ﬁelds, coaches, and trainers.

• Author’s Video Program: We support authors in designing and sharing their knowledge through original video programs aimed at educators, consultants, experts in various fields, coaches, and trainers.

• Podcast: Share your message with the world! Contact us, and we’ll assist you in conceptualizing, preparing, and producing your own podcast.

We provide suppor t through:

We provide support through:

• Mentoring: Helping you structure your thoughts

• Recording and Production Space: Our well-equipped studio and experience in production and editing are at your disposal

• Psychological Suppor t: We know how to transform your stage fright into driving energy

• Psychological Support: We know how to transform your stage fright into driving energy.

SUSTAINABILITY

HR’S GREEN SUPERPOWER!

In today’s corporate landscape, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors have become critical considerations for organizations. As businesses seek to balance profitability with societal impact, the role of Human Resource (HR) management in driving sustainability initiatives becomes pivotal.

This article explores the interplay between sustainability and HR processes. Join us as we delve into the strategic alignment required to foster sustainable workplaces and navigate the intersection of ESG, sustainability, and human resources, shaping the future of responsible business practices.

Niko Slavnič Professor, Bled School of Management

Alenka Recelj Mercina Head of Sustainability, NLB d.d.

SUSTAINABILITY SUPERPOWER!

IS SUSTAINABILITY GIVING HR A FRIENDLY NUDGE IN THE CORPORATE PLAYGROUND?

By integrating sustainability into HR functions, companies can create a more environmentally and socially responsible workforce, leading to long-term success and positive impacts on society and the environment.

There are several ways in which sustainability is closely related to HR functions in the corporate world:

1. RECRUITMENT AND TALENT MANAGEMENT:

HR plays a crucial role in recruiting individuals who align with the company's sustainability goals and values. They can source and attract top talent who are committed to environmental and social responsibility.

2. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:

HR can design training programs that educate employees on sustainability practices, ensuring that all staff members understand their roles in supporting the company's sustainability initiatives.

3. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:

HR can implement initiatives that promote employee engagement with sustainability efforts, such as volunteer programs, green teams, and recognition for sustainable behaviour.

4. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:

HR can include sustainability goals and targets in employee performance evaluations, tying individual performance to the company's sustainability objectives.

5. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION:

Promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives can also contribute to sustainability efforts by ensuring equal opportunities for all employees and fostering a culture of respect and equality.

HOW DO SUSTAINABILITY AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING INTERSECT WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIETY AS A WHOLE?

Well-being is a fundamental aspect of social sustainability, which aims to ensure that current and future generations can enjoy a high quality of life. The concept is highly relevant for HR management as it directly impacts employee satisfaction, engagement, and overall performance.

When companies prioritize employee well-being, they not only attract and retain top talent but also foster a positive organizational culture. Physically and mentally healthy employees tend to be more engaged and productive, creating an environment characterized by trust, collaboration, and mutual support. By focusing on employee well-being, HR management can create a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated, leading to higher retention rates, increased productivity, and a stronger organizational culture.

Fostering employee well-being within organizations contributes to creating a socially sustainable environment where individuals feel supported, healthy, and fulfilled. Moreover, employee well-being is closely linked to environmental sustainability efforts. For instance, promoting well-being can involve initiatives like reducing carbon footprints, establishing eco-friendly workspaces, and encouraging sustainable

practices that benefit both employees and the planet.

Furthermore, employee well-being has implications for economic sustainability. Healthy and motivated employees tend to be more productive, innovative, and engaged, ultimately enhancing organizational performance and ensuring long-term economic viability. Beyond the workplace, employee well-being can extend to the broader community. Organizations that prioritize employee well-being often participate in community outreach, volunteer programs, and partnerships that contribute to the overall well-being and sustainability of the local community.

In summary, when organizations integrate well-being into their sustainability strategies, they cultivate a holistic approach to corporate responsibility. This approach benefits employees and the broader ecosystem, fostering a culture of care, resilience, and long-term sustainability. These positive impacts extend to individuals, organizations, and society as a whole.

GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE: THE NLB GROUP

NLB Group, based in Ljubljana, is the largest banking and financial group in Slovenia, with a strategic focus on Southeast Europe (SEE), serving markets with over 17 million people. With nearly 8,000 employees, NLB Group is one of

the biggest employers in the SEE region. Sustainability is deeply ingrained in the Group’s values, driving its organisational culture. Additionally, sustainable practices and human resource management are closely linked through various initiatives. The Group not only complies with labour regulations but is also dedicated to investing in employee development, fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, and continually enhancing the employee experience.

In 2023, NLB Group made significant strides in promoting behaviours that align with its organisational culture values, updated in 2022: Growing People, Encouraging Entrepreneurship, and Improving Lives. To create the best environment for its employees and support their personal and professional growth, NLB Group focused on leadership development through 360-degree feedback, creating individual development plans for managers and employees, and implementing leadership training to promote psychological safety and constructive communication.

To ensure employee well-being and gather regular feedback, NLB Group measures employee engagement at the organisational unit and department levels annually, enabling continuous improvement. For more information you are welcome to refer to: Sustainability (nlb.si).

THE RISE OF ESG SPECIALISTS:

NEW ROLES IN CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY

ESG is reshaping the corporate landscape, presenting both challenges and opportunities for companies.

As organisations increasingly prioritise sustainable and inclusive growth, new roles continue to evolve.

Why

leadership programs fail? (mostly)

Companies around the world invest significant time and money in improving the capabilities of managers and developing leaders. According to McKinsey, U.S. companies alone spend almost $14 billion annually on leadership development. Across industries and continents, leadership development remains a top priority for companies, without exception.

Mario Grilc Co-founder, Mentmove

The leadership development process starts with “leading self” before progressing to “leading others.” It begins with understanding intrinsic motivators and creating an environment where people can thrive.

The leadership development process starts with “leading self” before progressing to “leading others.” It begins with understanding intrinsic motivators and creating an environment where people can thrive. This process doesn’t start with organized pizza parties and table tennis in the office. I recommend starting with the “Self Determination Theory” by Ryan & Deci, for those seeking deeper insights. For those who want a faster solution, there is “ Why We Do What We Do ” by Deci & Flaste. This would be a good start. How? For that is what training is supposed to beteaching people to face a problem before jumping to conclusion, by asking the right questions.

2. Overlooking context

Context is a critical component of successful leadership. A brilliant leader in one situation does not necessarily perform well in another. Academic studies have shown this, and my experience bears it out. I have witnessed so many excellent leaders in large international companies with an outstanding record struggle when joining fast-growing, entrepreneur-led firms, mostly because they were hired mainly because of their skills and experience, but deeper human traits have been overlooked.

Too many training initiatives we come across rest on the assumption that one size fits all, and fail to tailor their approach to the specific context of the organization, culture, or leader's mandate. Training programs tend to start from a methodology, instead of a deeper understanding of the needs of the individual and organization.

At the earliest stages of planning a leadership initiative, companies should ask themselves a simple question: Why are we doing this program? What, precisely, is this program for?

And one of the most important questions: How will the trainer belong to the process? The process of development always occurs in real interactions between people.

Focusing on context inevitably means equipping leaders with a small number of competencies (up to three) that can significantly improve performance. Too often, organizations overcomplicate things with long lists of competencies or complex value statements.

When a company in the preparation phase, together with a trainer, cuts through the noise to identify a small number of leadership capabilities essential for success in its business— such as high-quality decisionmaking or stronger coaching skills—it achieves far better outcomes.

Context is as important for groups and individuals as it is for organizations as a whole: the best programs explicitly tailor a “from–to” path for each participant.

3. Decoupling reflection from real work

When it comes to planning the program’s curriculum, companies face a delicate balancing act.

After very basic training sessions, adults typically retain just 10 percent of what they hear in classroom lectures, versus nearly two-thirds when they learn by doing.

Identifying some of the deeper thoughts, feelings, assumptions, and beliefs is usually a precondition of behavioral change, and for many years, companies prioritized skills training and celebrated mission statements hanging on walls, while ignoring the intrinsic motivators that truly drive behavior.

Many aspiring leaders struggle to apply off-site training experiences to their day-to-day work. The answer seems simple: tie leadership development to real on-the-job projects that have a business impact and improve learning. There’s also a secret sauce as well - embodied cognition! This methodology, along with Self-determination theory (don’t be misled by “theory” ☺ ) and Immunity to change, makes the “magical trio” of much higher probability that participants will use the experience from training in everyday life.

4. Education process starts when participants leave the classroom.

Companies understand the importance of developing leadership skills but expect the training alone to solve the challenge.

People are not machines. Fortunately. We are not complicated creatures, but we are very complex.

Most of the companies don’t know how to value their investment and fail to track and measure changes in leadership performance over time. As a result, they increase the odds that improvement initiatives won’t be taken seriously.

Context is a critical component of successful leadership. A brilliant leader in one situation does not necessarily perform well in another.

Too often, any evaluation of leadership development begins and ends with participant feedback; the danger here is that trainers learn to game the system and deliver a syllabus that is more pleasing than challenging to participants. Yet, targets can be set and their achievement monitored. Just as in any business performance program, once assessment is complete, leaders can learn from their successes and failures over time, and make the necessary adjustments.

One approach is to assess the extent of behavioral change, perhaps through 360-degree–feedback. In my current training

designs, participants attend the sessions and then return to their organizations within a week to develop an action plan with their manager. After two weeks, they test the learning point in real life, then submit an essay which consists of their action plan. Next time when they come to the training session, they have 3 minutes to present their case in front of others. This cycle repeats with each new module.

Leaders can also use such tools to demonstrate their own commitment to real change for themselves and the organization.

Another approach is to monitor participants’ career development after the training. How many were appointed to more senior roles, one to two years after the program? How many senior people in the organization went through leadership training? How many left the company? By analyzing recent promotions at a global bank, for example, senior managers showed that candidates who had been through a leadership development program were more successful than those who had not.

Companies can avoid the most common mistakes in leadership development and increase the odds of success by matching specific leadership skills and traits to the context at hand; embedding leadership development in real work; fearlessly investigating the mindsets that underpin behavior; and monitoring the impact so as to make improvements over time.

Many aspiring leaders struggle to apply offsite training experiences to their dayto-day work. The answer seems simple: tie leadership development to real on-thejob projects that have a business impact and improve learning.

“Let’s make every single employee an improver”.

Natal Dank Co-founder, PXO Culture

IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF CONSTANT CHANGE, YOU NEED TO BUILD A STRATEGY THAT CAN ADAPT AND RESPOND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. RATHER THAN JUST STATING PREDICTIONS, WE THINK IT’S MORE USEFUL TO HIGHLIGHT PRIORITY AREAS THAT CAN HELP YOU:

- GAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE OR OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A TREND.

- MANAGE THE POTENTIAL RISK TO YOUR BUSINESS THAT A TREND MIGHT REPRESENT.

- USE THE LATEST THINKING TO CO-CREATE REAL TIME SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR PEOPLE AND ORGANISATION.

AS YOU READ THIS ARTICLE, ASSESS HOW EACH PRIORITY AREA LINKS TO THE BUSINESS CHALLENGES YOU NEED TO SOLVE.

We’ve reviewed trend reports for 2024, as well as other predictions from various sources, including Gartner, Bersin, the WEF (World Economic Forum), and Deloitte’s human capital report. We, then, assessed these against longer-term workplace megatrends.

[Diagram 1]

Based on our analysis, we’ve identified a couple of strategic priority areas for HR and people teams in 2024.

WHY THIS APPROACH?

In an environment of constant change, you need to build a strategy that can adapt and respond throughout the year. Rather than just stating predictions, we think it’s more useful to highlight priority areas that can help you:

• Gain a competitive edge or opportunity to take advantage of a trend.

• Manage the potential risk to your business that a trend might represent.

• Use the latest thinking to co-create real time solutions for your people and organisation.

As you read this article, assess how each priority area links to the business challenges you need to solve

2024 theme –Fundamental Uncertainty

This year, we’ve witnessed a shift in discourse around the ongoing concepts of complexity, uncertainty, and change. For many years, the view has been that we live in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world. Now it seems we’re now in a state of fundamental uncertainty. How is this different?

YOUNGER GENERATIONS HAVE HIGHER LEVELS OF ECOANXIETY AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO SEEK EMPLOYMENT WITH A BRAND COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES (RO, 2022). IT’S TIME TO LEVERAGE THIS ADVANTAGE BY CLEARLY ARTICULATING YOUR GREEN AND PURPOSE-DRIVEN EVP.

In the past, environments have had areas of ambiguity, but with the general understanding that missing information may become known. In an environment of fundamental uncertainty, you must make decisions without all the necessary information. This is not because the data isn’t available to you yet, but because it doesn’t even exist - yet.

There are current additional factors that further amplify this feeling of fundamental uncertainty:

• Elections in several influential countries, including India, the USA, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and various countries in Europe.

• Growing geo-political tensions such as war in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Africa to consider.

• Deglobalization.

• Shifting demographics.

• Climate emergency.

• Cost-of-living crisis.

• Influence of AI on society.

Let’s look at a few strategic priorities we’ve highlighted to help you navigate fundamental uncertainty.

HR and people priorities to guide you in a year of fundamental uncertainty

AI and AHAH principle

Is AI friend or foe? This doesn’t have a simple answer, but either way, the impact on the workplace is potentially staggering.

A survey of 1,700 HR managers in the UK, Germany, and Ireland showed that 89% use AI tools, with 69% frequently. Goldman

Sachs predicts AI could replace up to 300 million full-time jobs within the next 15 years.

However, the same report showed that in the next five years, a quarter of jobs are likely to change, 69 million new jobs created and global AI investment will approach $200 billion by 2025.

AI is at the forefront of enabling digital transformation, which in HR includes hybrid work, hiring, onboarding, and enhancing employee experience.

Most HR and people systems now contain some element of AI and many AI recruitment software tools claim to automate CV screening, candidate sourcing, and recruitment administration. Services include setting up interviews, using chatbots to field queries, and creating job ads and descriptions.

Another important aspect of AI is bias. Historical and institutional bias can easily become coded into the system and, as system complexity increases, bias in an algorithm becomes less transparent.

In the report above, 40% of respondents believe AI discriminates against underrepresented groups and 35% reported wrong candidate choices. Humans must be involved in critical decisions made by technology, like in the hiring process.

AHAH and other guiding principles can help.

AHAH and other guiding principles

AHAH stands for:

• AI-assisted

• Human-led

• AI-resourced

• Human-checked

The AHAH principle originates from the talented team at Hive Learning, who have applied this approach to supercharge their learning platform.

Gartner’s 2024 HR future of work trends report also makes a case for “data governance, quality control and good

employee judgement” to manage the introduction of GenAI in the workplace. Hoping to boost productivity without appropriate risk management will lead to “hard lessons and painful costs”.

Johannes Sundlo claims there is the potential to increase HR efficiency by 30% with AI provided you:

• Take time to practise AI to understand its possibilities.

• Be transparent about using AI and how.

• Investigate and implement AI together as a team.

Climate emergency and EVP (Employee Value Proposition)

Reducing emissions and limiting global warming constitute the most pressing and perhaps most formidable socio-economic challenges yet faced by humanity. As a result, organisations across the globe are pledging netzero targets which pose enormous challenges for L&D, OD and people strategy.

The WEF states extreme weather as the top risk faced by the world in 2024.

Last year saw global heating records “smashed” by a large margin, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The planet was, on average, 1.48C hotter than during the pre-industrial era, the primary cause of which is carbon emissions from fossil fuels. It’s led to extreme weather globally, including flooding and heat waves.

The need to transition away from fossil fuels was finally recognized at Cop28, making net-zero targets a genuine priority and ‘greenwashing’ harder for organisations.

[Diagram 2]

The University of Reading’s ShowYourStripes project (showyourstripes.info) has made available simple charts created by Professor Ed Hawkins that vividly show the increase in global temperature. They are also available for smaller regions and biodiversity.]

40%

OF RESPONDENTS BELIEVE AI DISCRIMINATES AGAINST UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS AND 35% REPORTED WRONG CANDIDATE CHOICES. HUMANS MUST BE INVOLVED IN CRITICAL DECISIONS MADE BY TECHNOLOGY, LIKE IN THE HIRING PROCESS.

Impact on HR and people strategy of the climate emergency and EVP

HR and people teams will face challenges, and also opportunities, from an inevitable socio-economic structural transformation caused by climate change.

The challenge is giving employees a sense of purpose and helping them deal with eco-despair and eco-anxiety. The opportunity is to become a market leader by filling the green skills gaps.

L&D and people strategy is impacted in two significant areas.

The first priority is to develop green skills, which LinkedIn calls important for making economic activities environmentally sustainable (LinkedIn Learning, 2022). Sustainability Manager was LinkedIn’s fastest growing job of the last five years.

A CHRO recently highlighted that they’d seen a large increase in applications from recent graduates and early-career professionals when the company started offering carbon literacy and green skills as part of employee development.

The second area where the climate emergency affects people strategy is an opportunity to attract and retain great people by aligning your EVP (Employee Value Proposition) with a purposedriven mission linked to netzero targets.

In a 2021 IBM survey, 70% of people now seek employment with sustainable companies. Also, younger generations have higher levels of eco-anxiety and are more likely to seek employment with a brand committed to sustainable business practices (Ro, 2022).

It’s time to leverage this advantage by clearly articulating your green and purpose-driven EVP.

T-shaped people in T-shaped teams

Moving away from jobs and functions, towards skills and roles is something we work on with almost all our clients. This is also about hiring for skills and experience rather than just qualifications. Gartner calls this the end of the ‘paper ceiling’.

The WEF predicts workers will experience a change of over 40% of core skills by 2029, so you need a new career framework to stay relevant in the job market.

There’s a close link between skills-based talent and workforce planning, business agility

megatrends and rethinking organisational operating models. Whether you’re tackling an urgent organisational challenge or delivering your latest product, you need teams of multi-disciplinary people, which can often self-organise and scale as needed.

Instead of job titles and functions they’ve held, it’s much easier to deploy employees when their abilities are represented through the skills they possess and the roles they’ve had. HR and people teams need this new collective, strategic and ruthlessly prioritised approach that breaks out of the functional silos of L&D, OD, talent, recruitment and reward.

However, this transformation demands new skills, roles, and working methods underpinned by a product and experimental mindset.

[Diagram 3]

Example of a T-shaped people professional. A T-shaped person has a combination of specialist skills (the vertical part of the T) and generalist skills (the horizontal).

Our clients love the T-shaped people in the T-shaped teams framework. It helps you focus on employees’ specialist and generalist skills, and how these can be combined to perform well in roles.

Also, the T-shape approach helps HR and people professionals

themselves understand how to develop their career in a modern, more zig-zag way, constantly strengthening their skill set to meet the demands of their organisation and business environment.

You can apply this approach to form teams with a balance of

general and specialised skills. A team like this can solve any problem you throw at them.

Impact on HR and people strategy of T-shaped people in T-shaped teams

Any project to map and understand skills must be linked to the urgent business

problems faced by an organisation. Doing this in isolation or building a static skills inventory won’t work. Aligning your skills-based and T-shape efforts with business challenges (for example, executing business strategy), these approaches become tangible and practical.

Many of our clients track the desired T-shape for their team using a traffic light system:

• current skills (green)

• skills that are developing (amber)

• kill gaps (red)

Product-led

The massive growth of online digital products over the last decade reflects the move of businesses towards a productled approach to their goto-market strategy. Melissa Perri (2018) explains that the product-led approach avoids the ‘build trap’, where businesses fixate on product requirements, rather than

YOUNGER GENERATIONS

HAVE HIGHER LEVELS OF ECO-ANXIETY AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO SEEK EMPLOYMENT WITH A BRAND COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES (RO, 2022). IT’S TIME TO LEVERAGE THIS ADVANTAGE BY CLEARLY

understanding the problems customers need solved.

Product-led is focusing 100% on the value you deliver to your customer, not just building products people love. It’s an organisationwide strategy and structure integrating and arranging every component to deliver delightful product experiences. To achieve this, you must have deep knowledge of, and ongoing communication with, your customer to anticipate and respond to their everchanging needs.

In the context of the HR and people profession, to be product-led is to view the

[Diagram 4]

Example of a T-shaped team. A team like this could tackle any problem.]

employee experience as a product. Other prominent commentators, including Jessica Zwaan, highlight HR’s function as a product manager, responsible for delivering an exceptional employee experience product including:

• attraction

• recruitment

• onboarding

• facilities

• career progression

• reward

• team performance

• feedback

• exit

• alumni.

Impact on HR and people strategy of being product-led

Products deliver value by solving a shared problem for the customer. You must identify and prioritise the problems your people experience that the product will solve.

If it’s an internal product, such as an L&D solution, you realise value by increasing productivity, reducing costs, or retaining talent. View the people's experience as your product and understand the problems to address. As an HR and people function, you’ll better define, measure, and provide value.

Your people experience product showcases how you attract, keep, and develop your employees and their skills to achieve desired results. It also represents a sense of purpose and engagement.

By working product-led, HR and people teams can move beyond the legacy of being seen as a cost to the business and instead partner as a valuedriven function.

Conclusion

The world is entering a period of what has been termed fundamental uncertainty. The multitude of global fundamental changes makes predicting future events with any useful accuracy extremely difficult.

Nonetheless, it is feasible to analyse the overarching trends and perceive their short-term manifestations with some degree of confidence. By embracing business agility, your organisation can be ready and able to identify, respond and adapt (or even pivot) to these changes.

In this climate, we recommend focusing on a few strategic priorities to co-create an adaptive and responsive people strategy in 2024:

1. Use the AHAH principle to exploit AI while recognising its built-in biases.

2. Make your response to climate change part of your EVP.

3. Build T-shaped teams of T-shaped people that can tackle any problem.

4. Be product-led, treating the employee experience as a product you’re delivering.

10 ESG PLUG AND PLAY IDEAS FOR COMPANIES

Milena Mićanović

Co-founder and Director, Western Balkans ESG Foundation, Founder and Director, Minted advisory

In today’s world, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards are imperative for running any business. Environmental standards concern businesses’ impact on the environment, Social standards abusiness is directed and controlled. They jointly serve to evaluate the sustainability of business.

As climate change and unsustainable environment management are among the most serious challenges of our time, companies and policymakers need to integrate sustainability into their strategy, operations and decision-making practices. Stakeholders aware of these criteria will position themselves as leaders, being among the first to understand material risks and growth opportunities to boost their business, while simultaneously adding value to society and creating a better environment for their employees. The following 10 ideas are given for employees but can easily be implemented for customers as well. They can improve a company's ESG performance, enhance corporate culture, reduce costs, and strengthen the company's reputation.

1. ESG STRATEGY AND REPORTING:

When creating ESG strategies, it is essential to be realistic in assessments and implementation possibilities within the given regulatory framework. First, understand the climate, environmental, and social risks and how they affect the business environment in the short, medium, and long term. Then, integrate these risks into business strategies. Regularly track execution of the strategy and publish the ESG performance reports to maintain transparency with stakeholders and demonstrate commitment to sustainability. Once you know your CO2 emissions (scope 1,2,3) and the impact of implemented green projects, you can also calculate needed carbon offsetting, thus investing in carbon offset programs to compensate for

unavoidable emissions by supporting renewable energy projects or reforestation efforts.

2. ESG ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:

Effective execution of the ESG strategy and pillars requires clear organizational structure. Depending on the size and the core business of the company, you need to launch one or all of the following: ESG department or ESG manager, ESG committee comprising all relevant department heads (ESG, business, finance, risk, HR, logistics, legal, marketing/ communication/CSR); ESG working group with relevant operative representatives.

3. ETHICAL GOVERNANCE:

Establish transparent policies, procedures and practices for company governance (code of ethics, anti-bribery, anticorruption, whistleblowing etc). Ensure regular audits and compliance checks. Involve employees and seek their endorsement. Help them understand why full transparent compliance is important, as it depends on their actions and daily operations.

4.ENERGY EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES:

Build a solar panel on the roof of the company's premises and use your own energy. Upgrade to energy-efficient lighting and appliances, and encourage practices like turning off equipment when not in use. Implement watersaving measures (low-flow

fixtures), and encourage water conservation practices in the workplace. Collect rain drops for usage as technical water. Encourage people not to use elevators, but use stairs. Switch the carpool fleet to electric or, at minimum, hybrid vehicles. In the long run, consider this as an investment for the better future, not a cost.

5. RECYCLING PROGRAMS:

Set up comprehensive recycling programs for paper, plastic, glass, electronics. Provide clear guidelines and bins in the business premises. Explain why this is important and create call-to-action initiatives, like collecting bottle caps for "Cap for Handicap" association (Čep za hendikep), empty cigarette boxes for the association "Our House," (Udruženje Naša kuća) which manually makes paper by using cigarette boxes. Ensure proper collection and distribution. Most importantly, execute an awareness campaign and showcase why recycling is important.

6. SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN:

Choose suppliers who adhere to sustainable practices. Prioritize materials that are recycled, organic, or sustainably sourced. Develop a green procurement policy that prioritizes purchasing from suppliers who have strong ESG credentials. Invite social entrepreneurs and small, local producers to become your suppliers.

7. ENGAGEMENT OF EMPLOYEES:

Implement regular training programs to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace. Provide wellness programs that focus on physical and mental health, such as fitness memberships, mental health support, and healthy eating options. Offer remote work options and flexible hours to reduce company’s carbon footprint and improve work-life balance. It does not only improve a company's ESG performance but can also enhance employee morale, reduce costs, and strengthen the company's reputation.

CREATE EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEER CLUB AND PROGRAMS:

Invite employees to join your volunteer club and become ambassadors of good deeds. Regularly invite them and encourage them to volunteer in local communities, your own activities, promote them and symbolically award. Invite them to take their children as well, and use these activities for team building and employer branding,

CREATE CSR AND ESG PROJECTS:

Ideally you should have CSR and ESG strategy in line with the business strategy, whereas each of the pillars should have its own projects and action

Offer remote work options and flexible hours to reduce company’s carbon footprint and improve work-life balance. It does not only improve a company's ESG performance but can also enhance employee morale, reduce costs, and strengthen the company's reputation.

plans. Depending on the pillars, activities can include support for local community projects, cultural and sports institutions, marginalized and vulnerable groups; sponsorship of local events, or encouraging employee participation in community service. Establish community partnerships with local organizations and nonprofits to support social and environmental initiatives.

10. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS:

Invite guest speakers and organize meetups, workshops, seminars, webinars and awareness campaigns to educate employees about sustainability and responsible practices. Promote healthy habits, carpooling, public transportation, biking and walking. Offer incentives, subsidies or rewards. Celebrate milestones and successful actions.

Implementing these practices can further enhance a company’s commitment to ESG principles and create a positive impact on the environment, society, and governance. Make a plan, prioritize the timeline and start! With joint efforts, together we can create a better future.

Healthy

Support

Building bridges in an organiZation through Conflict Management

Danijela Đurić Founder, HR Consultant Growth Code

The Story of ”Two Goats”

On a narrow bridge, across a fast and deep river, two goats have met. Both of them wanted to pass on the other side of the river.

”Move away!” said the first goat.

”No way. I was the one who came first!,” responded the second one ironically.

” I am the older goat, so you should allow me to pass first.”

”I am a stronger one. I will cross this bridge faster!”

No one wanted to give in. The fight was raging. In the end, they raised their horns and rushed at each other on the bridge. They clashed, losing their footing and plunging into the turbulent river below.

Aesop Fable

While reading this Aesop’s fable, you might recall some situations in an organization that resemble the narrow bridge scenario. You can recognize the actors. You can hear the words they speak, the stubbornness in their voices. This fable is a powerful metaphor for how we often see conflicts within organizations. But is it really that simple?

Let’s use this fable as a metaphor. Two people are in conflict over a task. All we see, at first glance, are those two people on the bridge - their communication skills and attitudes. We can easily get drawn into interpretations and conclusions: Who started it? Who is to blame? Who needs training or coaching to resolve this situation as quickly as possible?

We often forget that before this conflict in the organization, someone placed a narrow bridge over a fast river. A bridge was built without safety rails, and this was accepted in the organisation. The culture was created in which it seemed like “It’s Either Me or You on that narrow bridge.”

As an HR professional called to support conflict resolution, it is useful to be able to view the situation systematically. Systemic thinking resembles a “Zoom in - Zoom out” skill. It involves viewing the situation through different levels of the organizational system and their dynamics to uncover where the roots of the conflict lie within the organization. With this skill, we can precisely remove the root of the problem, with optimal investment of time and resources, without damaging or endangering other parts of the system.

4 LEVELS OF THE SYSTEM

Every organization operates on 4 levels of (human) systems (Friedman, 2018): individual, interpersonal, team or group, and organizational levels.

Individual Level, pertains to the individual, their intrapersonal experience of themselves, others, and the environment in which they work and live; an individual's skills, motivation, needs, and competencies. It might happen that person is using inefficient communication models (Figure 2) in the conflict.

Interpersonal Level includes relationships between people in the organisation. At this level, we can observe what happens in interactions between individuals: peer level, and also employee-manager relationship. Although conflicts in the organization occur at this level, the cause of these conflicts is often found at one of the remaining three levels. For example, a conflict between

the conflict may look like IT is up to individual skills, but it may need an organizational intervention to resolve it profoundly.

two colleagues may be caused by lack of team structure.

Team and Group Level encompasses the dynamics between people when they are in a group, team, or department of the company. In situations where procedures are not clearly defined, roles are not well distributed, or the leader fails to manage team boundaries, processes are set in motion that shift the focus from the work that needs to be done to other issues that do not lead to achieving goals. It may look like a conflict between team members, but when the structural cause is removed, the conflict diminishes or disappears.

Organizational Level pertains to the organization as a whole. For an orzanization to exist, it needs a structure, figuratively, a skeleton that keeps it stable in terms of procedures, roles, organisational structure; dynamics, like muscles and connective tissue, which concern relationships within the organization, collaboration, proximity or distance between hierarchical levels; and psychodynamics, which encompasses unconscious processes in the organization

and organisational culture that gives the organisation a certain character, like a soul inhabiting it.

Let’s explore two models that might serve to conflict resolution in the organization.

THE CYCLE OF RECONCILIATION

This model (Salters, 2015, Figure 1) gives an answer why the conflict approach ”Come on, make peace with each other, you two” won’t work.

Every relationship during a conflict goes through 7 phases. Open relationship is the pre-conflict phase. When an injury or conflict occurs, trust begins to weaken, followed by physical and emotional withdrawal. At this moment, the parties in conflict withdraw, view the situation from their own perspective, often blaming the other party for the new situation. This phase can be brief, lasting only a few minutes, or it can extend for months or even years. If they do not remain stuck in this phase, the participants in the conflict move towards Self-Awareness in the next step. In organizations, there is often pressure during this phase to push the parties involved to enter into reconciliation (Figure 1). This is a kind of shortcut to ending the conflict that neither party is prepared for, and such interventions often do not yield results.

When a person understands their reaction and takes responsibility for their part in the conflict, they are ready to listen to the other side and view the whole picture of the conflict through mediation. At this stage it is appropriate for the conflict participants to meet and exchange perspectives on what happened, discuss

the situation, and understand how they contributed to it. This exchange generates a new motivation to re-enter the relationship and take a risk. This phase is characterized by one of the conflict participants initiating collaboration again or spontaneously suggesting going on a lunch or a coffee. This act of risk shows that the conflict is resolved and that colleagues are back in an open relationship.

FUNCTIONAL FLUENCY

I use the Functional Fluency model (Figure 2) in coaching to map communication patterns and support individuals in becoming fluent in their effective communication. This model helps individuals in the organization to map their behaviour patterns and navigate efficiently through conflict resolution. Developed by Susannah Temple, a transactional analyst, as part of her PhD, Functional Fluency is a researchbased model. This model is measured by TIFF, a questionnaire that serves as a personal development tool. Its theoretical background is rooted in transactional analysis theory of personality and emotional literacy.

Two basic premises of this model (Graebe, 2023) are:

- People tend to react to situations. Reacting means habitual, automatic, knee-jerk reactions that appear to the person as inevitable and the only choice. These reactions are limiting habits, driven by our previous experiences.

- The power of choice. As adults, we have the ability to assess situations and choose the best response, rather than relying on automatic reactions. This means that in every situation, we can use accounting to evaluate the situation, stay alert, and be aware of what is happening around us. The Functional Fluency model helps us recognize how we communicate and use

Figure 1. The Cycle of Reconciliation

energy at work and boost our capacity to decide how we will behave.

We may use our energy for selfactualization, to express our own self and to relate with others. For reality assessment, we use our energy for accounting the present situation. While using energy for social responsibility, we may guide and direct ourselves and others and look after ourselves and others.

There are nine behavioural modes. Five of these are effective modes, known as golden modes. When we use them our behaviour and communication lead to benefits for us, for others, and for the organization. The remaining four are ineffective, purple modes. When using purple modes, there is a high chance that communication will turn out as a conflict and that the participants cannot utilize their full potential for problem-solving and collaboration. This model is not a blueprint but rather a fluid map offering various ways to handle challenging and complex situations at work (Bishop, van den Blink 2023).

In the next article I will present a case study on how these models are used in the conflict resolution. Through this overview

I wanted to highlight that conflict in organization has many faces. It may look like it is up to individual skills, but it may need an organisational intervention to resolve it profoundly.

It is up to us, who deal with human resources and organisational development, to recognize such conditions and support the organization and its leaders in systemic change. An organization with narrow bridges over deep, fast rivers is not focused on the well-being of people and long-term success.

LITERATURE

(2003).Basne od ezopa do naših dana. Beograd: Beli put.

Bishop, L., van den Blink, M. (2023). Embracing challenging relationships for effective leardership. In: Fawcett, V. (Ed.). The Fluent Leader. London: Routledge Fridman, L. (2018). Na putu ka OK organizacijama. In: van Poelje, S. (Ed.), Transakciona analiza u organizacijama (pp 82-107). Novi Sad: Psihopolis.

Graebe, S. (2023). Leadership, Fluency, and where to invest it. In: Fawcett, V. (Ed.). The Fluent Leader. London: Routledge

https://functionalfluency.com/about/functional-fluency/tiffthe-people-development-tool

Temple, S. (1999). Functional Fluency for Educational Transactional Analysts. Transactional Analysis Journal. 29:3, 164-174.

Temple, S. (2004). Update on the Functional Fluency Model in Education. Transactional Analysis Journal, 34:3, 197-204.

Salters, D. (2015). Transactional Analysis and Conflict Management. Transactional Analysis Journal. 45:4, 260-265.

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HR EXCELLENCE ROADMAP

Ivan Stefanović, Managing Partner Organization Accelerator

FOR MANY YEARS, YOU HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY INVOLVED IN ORGANIZATION DESIGN PROJECTS. BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE AND PRACTICE, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE KEY CHALLENGES THAT MODERN COMPANIES FACE IN ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN?

Organization design projects are fundamentally focused on transforming how organizations operate by altering key elements of their operating models — such as structures, processes, and systems. These projects often bring about significant changes, and as we all know, people are

creatures of habit. We enjoy routines and tend to resist change, especially when it is substantial. Therefore, it's no surprise that there are four key challenges commonly associated with organization design projects:

• Lack of a clear and transparent business strategy – There is often little understanding of how high-level strategies impact decision-making at lower levels of the organization or what initiatives and actions should follow.

• Lack of awareness that change is needed – This can range from a complete lack of awareness (where some individuals believe the current situation is acceptable and see no need for change) to partial awareness (where people recognize that some change is necessary but fail to grasp the scale of the problem and its consequences).

• Fear of change – Once employees realize that change is inevitable, they may become anxious about how these changes will affect their roles and compensation.

• Organizational politics – Individuals in positions of authority may take informal or covert actions to influence organizational design decisions to further their personal ambitions.

BESIDES ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN, WHAT ARE THE KEY PROCESSES OR CAPABILITIES THAT

HR NEEDS TO DEVELOP?

Organization design is just one of the key capabilities that can elevate HR to a

strategic level, enabling it to add value at the executive table. Other crucial capabilities include:

• Collaborating with executives on business strategy development and implementation – Ensuring that HR's insights are integrated into all strategic decisions.

• Engaging in strategic workforce planning – This involves forecasting the organization’s future workforce needs and developing strategies to align talent resources with business objectives.

• Supporting the development of the desired organizational culture – This includes helping executives understand what is feasible within their specific context, leading by example in cultural change initiatives, and defining as well as overseeing the execution of specific actions to embed the new culture.

HOW CAN HR CONTRIBUTE TO ESTABLISHING A BALANCE BETWEEN FORMAL PROCEDURES AND FLEXIBILITY IN ORGANIZATIONS?

HR can add tremendous value to the organization design process by being actively involved in the early stages of the "to-be" design, particularly in the development of organization design principles and metrics. This is the phase when critical decisions are made, including those concerning the balance between standardization

and flexibility. To be able to do that, HR professionals need to develop a strong understanding of various coordination mechanisms and how and when to apply them to specific organization design solutions. These mechanisms include different forms of standardization, direct supervision, lateral communication, as well as values and norms.

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE—WHAT ARE THE KEY CHANGES THAT HR NEEDS TO ADOPT IN THE FIELD OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN TO REMAIN RELEVANT IN THE COMING YEARS?

HR gaining a better understanding of what orga nization design truly entails is essential, as it goes far beyond merely changing the structure. While altering the structure is an important part of the organization design process, it must be accompanied by changes in processes, management systems, and people systems (such as compensation and benefits, performance management, communication, and collaboration). Without these adjustments, the new structure will not be sustainable.

For business leaders, HR gaining knowledge in these areas and understanding how they align with overall business strategy is invaluable. HR professionals who develop and demonstrate these competencies in their daily work will not only remain relevant but also be recognized as true strategic partners to the business.

Pay Transparency is ComingAre You Ready?

Larisa Grizilo

Former Sr. Director People, Culture & Sustainability, A1 Slovenia & Serbia

IMAGINE A WORKPLACE WHERE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND THEIR COMPENSATION, WHERE FAIRNESS ISN’T JUST AN IDEAL BUT A MEASURABLE REALITY WITH MEANINGFUL IMPACT. THIS IS THE PROMISE OF PAY TRANSPARENCY—A MOVEMENT THAT’S RESHAPING HOW ORGANIZATIONS BUILD TRUST, ATTRACT TOP TALENT, AND ADVANCE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DEI) GOALS.

In the U.S., 10 states—including California, New York, and Washington—have already enacted pay transparency laws or are in the process of doing so. An additional 14 US states are considering similar legislation. These laws typically require companies with as few as one employee to:

• Include salary ranges in all job postings

• Provide current employees with rolespecific salary information upon request

• Refrain from asking candidates about their pay history.

Europe is not far behind. In June 2023, the European Parliament published the EU Pay Transparency Directive, a major step toward pay equity. Under this directive, companies with more than 100 employees must identify and explain any pay gaps over 5%. Although this won’t be enforced until 2026, leading organizations are already gearing up—not just to stay compliant, but because pay transparency is good for business. It boosts employee engagement, aligns with ESG and DEI strategies, and complements other EU directives like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

The Shift Toward Transparency

For those of us who started our careers 25 years ago, the workplace looked very different.

You couldn’t simply search “accountant jobs in Ljubljana” and find hundreds of results. Salary information was hard to come by, and discussing your personal salary could lead to disciplinary action—or worse, termination. But that all changed with the rise of the Internet and the global financial crisis in 2008. Job seekers flocked online, using platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to network, search for work, and yes—learn about salary expectations. Transparency became the new normal, and the balance of power shifted from employers to employees.

Fast forward to 2024: Companies can no longer afford to act like employees should feel

Companies with more than 100 employees must identify and explain any pay gaps over 5%. Although this won’t be enforced until 2026, leading organizations are already gearing up— not just to stay compliant, but because pay transparency is good for business.

Nestled on the stunning Mount Divčibare in Serbia, the Maglian Campus offers more than just a venue for corporate events— it’s an immersive experience designed to inspire, connect, and rejuvenate. Perfect for teambuilding retreats, seminars, and conferences, our co-working and co-living modern mountain lodge combines nature’s tranquility with professional efficiency.

We take pride in offering specialized programs that go beyond the ordinary. Engage your team in invigorating mountain hikes, outdoor campfire evenings, and day workshops set in the heart of nature. With 50 spacious rooms and suites (accommodating up to 120 guests), coworking spaces, large offices, and meeting rooms for up to 55 people, we provide the perfect environment for productivity and relaxation.

Maglian Campus also welcomes individuals and small groups, offering an ideal setting for a focused workday in a peaceful and inspiring atmosphere. Enjoy high-speed optic internet, our cozy indoor and outdoor common spaces, a relaxing spa, and rich Balkan cuisine, while our dedicated team takes care of every detail.

and Team Building on Mount Divčibare

Whether for corporate gatherings or regular workdays, Maglian Campus turns business into an unforgettable experience. Contact us today to plan your next event or retre at.

Photo by prodyna.com

SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT THROUGH CUSTOMIZED ONBOARDING AND MANAGEMENT

TRAINING

Lidija Miljković HR Strategist & Organizational Development

Preventing harassment and bullying isn’t a one-way street. It’s a process that’s built daily, through every interaction, every meeting, every conversation. Onboarding and management training are where the ground rules are set. They are the foundation on which a healthy company culture is built – one that protects every employee and promotes mutual respect.

Imagine this – it’s your first day at a new company. You’re excited, but there’s also a bit of stress. What if I make a mistake? Will they accept me? Will I feel safe here? These are just some of the questions that race through the minds of new employees. And here, we arrive at the key concept –onboarding.

This process of introducing new employees isn't just an administrative task. It’s the first point of contact between the employee and the company’s culture. When that first contact is well-executed, it reduces the chance of misunderstandings, frustrations, and those dangerous moments when small conflicts could escalate into serious issues like workplace harassment or bullying.

Onboarding as the first step toward safety

Every organization is unique, and therefore, there’s no one-size-fits-all

approach to onboarding training. This process must be tailored to the specific company, its values, and its culture. Our mission as HR professionals, and more specifically as trainers, is to understand all tools and strategies across industries so that we can create content that best fits the organization’s goals. At the end of the day, onboarding isn’t just about new employees learning the company’s rules. It’s about empowering them to take their place within the company’s ecosystem while feeling supported and secure.

Onboarding isn’t just a set of required information – it’s an opportunity to provide a safe environment from day one. In a workplace where boundaries are clear, communication is healthy, and mutual respect is present, incidents like harassment become less likely. A proper onboarding strategy helps employees understand what constitutes unacceptable behavior and how to address such situations.

Management training as a way to build leaders, not just bosses

If onboarding lays the foundation, management training is the pillars that hold the company’s structure steady. Leaders are the mirror of a company’s culture. Their management, communication, and problem-solving skills directly impact the

concrete skills that equip them to recognize early signs of problems, such as harassment or conflict, and resolve them before they escalate. Training that focuses on emotional intelligence, assertive communication, and preventative measures are key to empowering leaders. But preventing workplace harassment is not just about learning how to manage a team – it’s about knowing how to protect your people.

Every leader in a company must be aware of their responsibility. A leader’s role isn’t just about making decisions – it’s about being a role model who sets the standards and values for the company. When leaders understand how to manage conflicts, give and receive feedback, and recognize the boundaries of their employees, a work environment where harassment and bullying are simply unacceptable is created.

Why are these training programs crucial?

WHEN LEADERS BECOME TRUE ROLE MODELS, AND NEW EMPLOYEES LEARN THE COMPANY’S VALUES FROM DAY ONE, THE SPACE FOR HARASSMENT DISAPPEARS.

team’s atmosphere. That’s why investing in leadership development is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Each management training should be tailored to the specific needs of the organization, just like onboarding. Our role as trainers is to provide leaders with

In today’s business world, where expectations are constantly shifting, organizations that invest in continuous leadership development and empower their employees through personalized onboarding and management programs not only create safer work environments but also achieve better business results.

BUT PREVENTING WORKPLACE HARASSMENT IS

NOT JUST ABOUT

LEARNING

HOW TO MANAGE A TEAM – IT’S ABOUT KNOWING HOW TO PROTECT YOUR PEOPLE.

A training set must be customized because every organization has its specific needs. The one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work.

Therefore, every onboarding and management training should be tailored to the organization – from boundary-setting training, assertiveness, to specific tools for recognizing and resolving conflicts. A safe work environment isn’t just a benefit; it’s an imperative for long-term company success.

Foundation for the future

This is just an introduction to a much broader conversation about creating a safe work environment. Onboarding and management training aren’t the final goal – they’re tools. Tools that, when used properly, build bridges between people, values, and company goals. When leaders become true role models, and new employees learn the company’s values from day one, the space for harassment disappears.

Next time, we’ll talk about boundaries – how to set them, how to recognize them, and how to respect them. Because boundaries aren’t obstacles – they are the guardians of safety.

HR WORLD CALENDAR 2025

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The hotel has 53 accommodation units (51double rooms and 2 junior suites with hot tubs)decorated in a modern manner. Apart from the accommodation units, the hotel facilities consist of 3 multifunctional halls for organization of business and formal events.

MEETING FACILITIES

Technical equipment

Projector, canvas, loudspeaker, wireless microphones, flip chart,

Thanks to the creative chefs' ideas ,we offer you a completely different food experience accompanied with a lavish offer of food and drinks oriented on small local food producers. Catering is an exclusive product of our kitchen and our creative chefs and confectioners. In addition to a wide selection of work lunches and dinners, and coffee breaks, we also have a broad selection of menus for receptions, festive dinners and other business and informal events.

THE PARADOX OF PARENTHOOD AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ABOUT IT

Danica Ristić HR Enterpreneur

IF YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO DO THE MATH, LET ME DO IT FOR YOUFROM THE LAST PAYCHECK, TO PROPERLY GETTING BACK TO FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT, TAKES FROM A FEW WEEKS TO A FEW MONTHS. WITH NO INCOME. FOR EVERY WORKING MOTHER IN OUR COUNTRY THAT FOLLOWS ALL THE NECESSARY RULES AND REGULATIONS. THAT IS HOW THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED. THE ONE THAT REALLY AND TRULY DOES ITS BEST TO PROTECT THIS PARTICULAR CATEGORY. SO, WHAT DO WOMEN DO?

Authors

Aleksandra Petrović

Aleksandra Petrović is a project manager at the International Labour Organization, working on due diligence within supply chains. With over 15 years of experience in human rights and international relations, including nearly a decade at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, she is an expert in the social (S) component of ESG. Her work focuses on enhancing business respect for human rights and promoting decent work in supply chains, ensuring that companies and other actors implement human rights due diligence processes to identify, prevent, and mitigate risks, aligning their practices with key international frameworks and legal standards in this field.

Alenka Recelj Mercina

Head of Sustainability NLB d.d.

Alenka, with nearly two decades of banking experience, holds an MSc in Finance from Bayes Business School. As Head of Sustainability at NLB d.d., she leads sustainable banking initiatives. She is also the president of the Sustainable Finance Committee at the Slovenian Banking Association, a member of the Sustainable Finance Expert Group at the European Banking Federation, and part of the EU Women Climate Leaders Network. Alenka is recognized for driving innovation and positive change in banking, contributing to the UN Environment Program’s Finance Initiative.

Danica Ristic

Danica Ristic is a seasoned HR professional and the founder of Healthy Careers, an initiative through which she helps individuals improve their careers and wellbeing. She collaborates with the HR World on developing the human resources function. She enjoys writing about HR, personal development, feminism, career paths, and motherhood.

Danijela Đurić

Danijela is an HR Consultant with over 20 years of experience in people, team, and organizational development. A consultant since 2017, she is a Provisional Teacher and Supervisor of Transactional Analysis –Organizational (PTSTA-O), qualified to deliver internationally recognized certifications. She also serves as a regional representative and provider for TIFF©.

Danijela is a member of EMCC Global, accredited as an individual supervisor and senior practitioner in individual and team coaching. She has held director-level HR roles in both domestic and international companies.

Dieter Veldsman

Dr. Dieter Veldsman is an organizational psychologist with 15+ years of experience across the HR value chain and lifecycle, having worked for and consulted with various organizations in EMEA, APAC, and LATAM. He has held the positions of Group Chief People Officer, Organizational Effectiveness Executive, Director of Consulting Solutions, and Chief Research Scientist. He is a regular speaker on the topics of Strategic HR, Future of Work, Employee Experience and Organisational Development.

Dušan Stojaković

Dušan Stojaković is a senior manager for global sustainability at Hemofarm, a Western Balkans pharmaceutical leader operating within the German STADA Group. His sustainability journey started back in 2012, since when he managed creating 13 Hemofarm’s yearly ESG reports and 3 STADA’s global ESG reports, co-authoring over 1,500 pages on ESG. As an ESG expert, ESG Manager of the Year 2023 and a teaching professor at the Faculty of Contemporary Arts, Dušan promotes SDGs with a focus on the SDG 17 to initiate new partnerships within the UN 2030 Agenda. He stresses out that ESG is not only “E” but a holistic and balanced mix of all three (“E”, “S” and “G”). Dušan is a member of the Managing Board of the UN GC/Serbia.

Ivan Stefanović

Ivan, a seasoned Management Consultant, brings over 15 years of expertise in organization design, business process optimization, strategy development, and performance management. He has worked across diverse sectors including banking, oil & gas, gaming, and telco, collaborating with leading Serbian organizations such as NIS Gazprom Neft, Vojvođanska banka, and Banca Intesa. Ivan holds a PhD in Strategy & Organization and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Business Architect, Performance Management Professional, and Change Management Practitioner.

Kosta Andrić

Kosta is the Executive Director of ICT Hub. Kosta takes pride in building and leading a team that successfully connects startup and corporate communities, creating a strong innovation ecosystem open to embracing different work methodologies, mindsets, and business cultures. People who know him say that his strength lies in recognizing the right moment to connect with the right people, thus enabling them to exchange knowledge, ideas, and resources in the right way.

Ladeja Godina Košir

MSc Ladeja Godina

Košir: As the Founder and Director of Circular Change and Co-Chair of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP) in Brussels, Ladeja is recognized globally as an authority on the circular economy. She is an inspiring speaker and lecturer, and a member of numerous international CE councils, expert groups, and juries. Ladeja has co-authored Circular Economy Roadmaps for Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Chile. Collaborating with CE teams worldwide, from Nordic countries to Latin America, she is active in several think tanks, including Chatham House, and contributes to esteemed scientific publications. Ladeja's achievements include being a finalist for The Circular Leadership Award 2018 (Davos WEF) and being featured as #EUwomen4future by the EU Commission in 2020. photo: Taja Harris

Larisa Grizilo

Has more than 25 years of international experience in HR from various industries. She started her career in 1996 at Wrigley, where she was responsible for HR management in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. Between 2000 and 2003, she covered the region from Belgrade. In 2009, she joined Sanofi Adriatic, where she was HR director for Adriatic region. In 2013 she joined Discover Financial Services/Diners Club International, where she was responsible for HR for Diners Club Italia and DinIT. In 2015, she joined the organizational unit of the Telekom Austria Group Serbia and Slovenia as HR director and through the following year took over corporate communications and ESG. From June 1, 2016 until 2024, she was a member of the leadership team in the organizational unit Serbia and Slovenia as Senior Director People, Culture & Sustainability.

Lidija Miljković

Lidija Miljković | HR Strategist & Organizational Development

With over 17 years in HR and consulting, Lidija Miljković thrives on challenging traditional HR frameworks. A strategic partner in learning and development, she has led global organizations through transformative growth by designing innovative training programs and enhancing leadership structures. Lidija’s approach dismantles the status quo, pushing boundaries to create futureready teams and dynamic work cultures. Her passion for fostering talent and driving meaningful change continues to empower organizations to reach their full potential.

Maja Ninković Shapera

Maja Ninkovic Shapera, PhD is a People Analytics expert, the owner of HR research and consulting agency Alathea R&S, founder of the People Analytics Hub and the subject matter editor of the HR WORLD journal. Currently serving as Chief People Officer in a global AI company Squirro.

Marna van der Merwe

Dr. Marna van der Merwe is an Organizational Psychologist and Subject Matter Expert at AIHR. She has extensive experience in Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness and Strategic Talent Management. She is a researcher, published author and regular conference speaker in the areas of talent management, experience design, as well as the changing nature of careers. Marna holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology, with a specific focus on talent management and careers in the future of work.

Mario Grilc

Mario is an experienced consultant fascinated by the World. He is very enthusiastic in finding new ways of developing powerful and engaged teams. His career took different directions, leading him to become more deeply immersed in learning how to better serve others.

Maša Njegovan

Maša is a sustainability expert with over ten years of global experience in leadership and advisory roles. Throughout her career she has worked with corporations, SMEs, startups, governments and international institutions across five continents in areas of climate policy, sustainable finance, renewable energy and innovation. Her passion lies in harnessing the power of innovation to create sustainable impact on people and the planet. Masa has a Postgraduate Degree in Environmental Policy from the University of Cambridge and a Master's Degree in Innovation and Technology from Bocconi University.

Natal Dank

Milena Mićanović Natal

Milena is the Co-Founder and Director of the Western Balkans ESG Foundation, the first non-profit focused on ESG in the region. She also founded Minted Advisory, a boutique agency specializing in communication, marketing, business development, and ESG integration. Previously, she was Director of Communications and Public Affairs at OTP Banka and led the Innovation Fund. Milena began her career in M&A financial advisory and holds a Bachelor of Laws and an MBA.

Dank, Co-founder, PXO Culture

Natal is a sought-after keynote speaker and considered a pioneer and thought-leader in Agile HR, business agility, people strategy and HR innovation with decades of experience in senior HR, Talent and OD roles. Natal's clients span tech, health, non-profits, and finance. She helps them cocreate impactful employee experiences, similar to customer journeys. In 2016, Natal hosted the first Agile HR Meetup, in London, and the movement has grown to reshape the global HR profession. In 2020, Natal published Agile HR and then a second book, Agile L&D, in 2024.

Niko Slavnič

Niko Slavnič is a professor at the IEDC Bled School of Management, entrepreneur and investor in 15+ projects like Slovenika, Butter be kind, Optiprint, HTEC Group. With over three decades of regional business expertise, he has experienced companies that achieved "unicorn" status and a few successful exits. Recognized for his entrepreneurial leadership, Niko empowers teams to achieve extraordinary growth results and inspires individuals to innovate. A passionate educator, he shares his knowledge and experience through impactful talks & lectures. Harvardeducated, Niko authored a 2022 article for Harvard Business Review.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Nevena Stanisavljević

EXPERT EDITOR

Danica Ristić

MANAGING EDITORS

Tamara Jeremić Aleksandra Fuštić

CONTRIBUTORS

Maša Njegovan, Maja Ninković Shapera, Natal Dank, Kosta Andrić, Aleksandra Petrović, Dušan Stojaković, Dieter Vedsman, Marna Van Der Merwe, Milena Mićanović, Mario Grilc, Niko Slavnič, Alenka Recelj Mercina, Danijela Đurić, Larisa Grizilo, Ladeja Godina Košir, Lidija Miljković, Ivan Stefanović

CONTRIBUTING

EDITORS & STAFF

Katarina Đorđević, Marija Todorović, Jovana Jakovljević, Jovana Kostadinović, Anđela Petronijević, Lara Kukobat, Ivana Nikolić, Irina Lukić

PHOTOGRAPHY

Unsplash, Freepik, Envato

DESIGN

Belpak LLC, Belgrade, Željka Bašić Stankov Polovinas design studio, Belgrade

PUBLISHER

HR WORLD LLC

PUBLICATION

Twice per year Half year edition

005.96

HR World : better HR for a better world / glavna i odgovorna Editor-in-Chief Nevena Stanisavljević. - 2019, no. 1 (apr.)- . - Beograd : HR World, 2019- (Beograd : Caligraph). - 27 cm

ISSN 2620-2859 = HR World COBISS.SR-ID 276133644