One of the major challenges our economic system needs to address is sustainability.
The adoption of sustainability strategies is becoming a necessity and is dictating the business model of many entities.
In recent years, we have witnessed an exponential growth in attention to “sustainable finance” or “ethical finance” in Italy, which is identified, as is known, by the acronym ESG, i.e., environment, social and corporate governance.
The increased attention is not only explained by the intervention of the legislator, which, under Legislative Decree. 254/2016 implemented EU Directive 95/2014 on the disclosure of non-financial information and diversity information by certain large companies and groups but is also due to a general and growing attention that economic operators are showing towards sustainability issues. These latter aspects should clearly be – and increasingly are – taken as a reference, not only by the larger companies, which fall under the obligation of law, but also by all companies (now also small- and medium-sized enterprises) that intend to compete and stand out on a national and international level.
Human resources play a key role in supporting the sustainability strategy of companies, actively participating in the development of objectives for the achievement of sustainable performance by said companies. In these terms, we now speak of Strategic or Sustainable HRM with the function of creating or strengthening motivation and skills necessary to achieve the social and environmental results established.
As regards the “Social” sphere of ESGs, the objectives and strategies at the centre of Sustainable HRM’s attention are equity, development and the psychological and other well-being of the individual. In other words, meeting the personal and professional needs and expectations of employees.
The Human Resources Department (“HR“) has many tools at its disposal to achieve these objectives. These include training, staff performance assessment, the remuneration system and the conscious involvement of staff in the company’s activities and in achieving its objectives. In a “sustainable” company that considers ESG factors, its guiding principles will certainly lead to a limited number of lawsuits with its employees.
The strong trend of companies towards the social sphere has also emerged strongly amongst the projects nominated for the first edition of the Excellence & Innovation HR Award, promoted by our firm in order to select the best operation or practice in the world of employment and human resources management in Italy
When examining the large number of candidate projects, it has become clear how much companies now invest in sustainability, understood as the promotion of social cohesion, of systems aimed at preventing, rather than resolving, conflicts and at pursuing the development and well-being of the individual. But what sustainable companies paradoxically report after having implemented projects aimed at focusing on their employees is that a sustainable work environment encourages people to “outperform” and to implement energies that can make a difference in terms of talent competitiveness and attraction, as well as maintain a high level of involvement (i.e., engagement).
In this context, the role of the labour lawyer also evolves from “litigator” to “business partner” of the company which, through its coordination with HR, in agreement with the Sustainability managers, collaborates in a synergistic relationship aimed at preventing any possible business problems with workers, being understood as one of the main categories of stakeholders.
Through its multidisciplinary team, De Luca & Partners supports its clients in the design and implementation of:
De Luca & Partners also assists companies in the design of remuneration systems — which are also sustainable — structured according to principles of equity, equal opportunities and meritocracy.
In addition, we carry out the following activities for our Clients:
UNI /PDR 125:2022 Certification
We advise Client companies on:
