Green Businesses, Mind Your Human Resources

Leah Edwards — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:31:51 +0000

As a consultant to a number of start up companies and as a friend to many more talented, educated, otherwise stellar founders of companies, I have observed a significantly high number of missteps around human resource issues. Whether the result is a costly lawsuit or just hurt feelings, HR mistakes are easy to make and enormously costly, if only due to hundreds of hours of lost productivity.

I bring this up to Ecopreneurist readers because I feel it is particularly easy for there to be miscommunication between employees and employers in a mission-driven business. In any startup, most employees make near-term financial sacrifices to be part of the team. In environmental startups, many employees join, at least in part, due to a desire to make a positive impact on the planet.

“We’re All In It For the Cause” (and other Signs of Potential Trouble)

Be careful when people feel they are sacrificing. One day, they might feel slighted over a promotion not received or a plum project assigned to someone else, and they might look back at the time they have

Green Options » hiring for startups

Green Businesses, Mind Your Human Resources