Sustainability

Many involved with the not for profit sector have an interest in sustainability, especially creating sustainable communities. How often do you give some thought to the sustainability of the organisation you work in?

Community organisations, whether they be schools, local government, hospitals or community organisations have a responsibility to build sustainability into their service delivery. They cannot help build community wellbeing if the organisation is unwell or missing in action.

For some sustainability is viewed in purely economic terms. Such a perspective can create its own barriers. Serving the community is not about doing something for the money, yet it is not about wasting community resources either. The money your organisations garners to enable it to deliver its services comes in part from funding bodies, philanthropic trusts and donations. Your organisation has been entrusted to utilise these funds and the resources they purchase in a responsible and sustainable manner.

This essentially means everyone in your organisation should focus on leaving the organisation in better shape that when they joined. It is a joint responsibility to ensure this. Can you truely say this about yourself? If so, how have you measured your contribution to the sustainability of the organisation. Are you guessing or have you some process of measurement in place?

Do you set personal goals for your contribution to building sustainability or do you simply do the job as described and go home at the end of the day? Do you review your progress on meeting those goals and make adjustments to your activities if your not on track or do you simply carry on as usual?

Building sustainability is not about sitting on apple crates in a dilapidated building someplace. People working in non profit orgs have as much right to beneficial workplace environment as any one working in the the corporate sector or the public sector.

Sustainability starts with taking an interest in areas beyond your role. It begins with have an understanding of the value of your contribution. It continues with building collaborative relationship in all directions. It builds momentum by ensuring everything you do in your work is aligned with achieving the goals you have commited to achieving. It gains strength by ensuring you as an individual are aligned with others in your team, and that your team is aligned with the wider function and that the function is aligned with the over strategic direction of the organisation.

Where might you start? Begin by reading the annual report and any other documents about your organisation. Many do not do this one simple thing. Dont gloss over it, especially the financial pages. Read, question, learn, develop and then contribute. That is the beginning of the process of building sustainability.

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
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