Are CEOs making ‘human sustainability’ a priority?

New York — Around 4 out of 5 CEOs say they’re under increased pressure from workers, customers, investors and other colleagues to prioritize human sustainability, according to the results of a recent survey.

Human sustainability refers to the degree to which an organization creates value for people, leaving them with greater health and well-being, stronger skills and greater employability, good jobs, opportunities for advancement, progress toward equity, increased belonging, and heightened connection to purpose.

Deloitte is an audit, consulting, tax and advisory services firm. For its third annual “Well-Being at Work” report, Deloitte researchers surveyed nearly 3,200 C-suite executives, managers and employees across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. All respondents worked full time and ranged in age from 18 to 76.

Results show that many CEOs are embracing the pressure: 88% would like their pay to be tied to human sustainability metrics, 82% said employers should be required to publicly report human sustainability efforts, and 71% believe their company’s leadership should change if they aren’t advancing human sustainability.

However, the survey also shows disconnects between the CEOs and the workers:

• 82% of the CEOs said their organization is advancing human sustainability. Only 56% of the workers agreed.
• About 75% of the executives describe their workforce’s well-being as “excellent” or “good,” but the workers say otherwise regarding overall well-being (77% CEOs vs. 56% workers), financial well-being (73% vs. 39%), social well-being (78% vs. 51%) and mental well-being (78% vs. 57%).
• Around 7 out of 10 of the workers said that if their company improved human sustainability efforts, the overall experience at work (72%), engagement and job satisfaction (71%), and productivity (70%) would improve.

“Prioritizing human sustainability can help future-proof organizations,” the report states. “It can increase their ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce, help them develop and engage workers, and enable them to become more rewarding and productive places to work.

“However, to help achieve these outcomes, companies should expand from extractive, transactional thinking about workers and have a focus on creating greater value for them and all stakeholders within the broader human ecosystem. Businesses should also consider using metrics focused on human outcomes, making public commitments around these metrics, and aligning compensation with these outcomes.”