Value-Based Sustainability: Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) in Human Resources

As the workplace transforms and adapts to the new generation of employees and the new challenges posed by the world, Sustainability is no longer a virtue-signalling buzzword or an issue that relates only to the environment. In the contemporary workplace, sustainability is a strategic concern for operational design, culture-building, and talent management, among other areas. ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles not only underscore the social responsibilities of any corporation but also guide long-term, sustainable growth amid increasing competition and global tech expansion.

Why ESG Matters for HR?

Conceptualized under the definition set by the UN’s 1987 Brundtland Commission, sustainability is: “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This not only encompasses the environmental resources but also the social and economic ones. Sustainability demands an approach that includes critical social dimensions such as human rights, responsible value chains, and a firm commitment to fostering diverse and inclusive practices. In today’s business, one of the key departments for this responsibility is Human Resources.

As noted by EY in an article, contemporary workplaces have dramatically evolved, driven by significant shifts in values, making ESG no longer a peripheral concern but a driving force for talent strategy, operational excellence, and long-term viability.

1. Attracting and Retaining Top Talent

The younger professionals (Gen Z and Millennials) increasingly value working for organizations whose missions and values align with their own. In the current business landscape, where terms such as “quiet-quitting” and “job-hopping” have been coined, ESG performance serves as a powerful recruitment and retention magnet.

• Values Alignment: Prospective employees view a company’s commitment to social and environmental issues (e.g., climate action, ethical sourcing, community impact) as a proxy for its ethical leadership and long-term stability.
• Purpose-Driven Work: When employees perceive that their work contributes to positive societal or environmental outcomes, their sense of purpose and engagement increase dramatically. HR helps translate the company’s ESG goals into meaningful roles, helping talent feel that their daily efforts truly “matter.”

2. Data Driven Insights & Risk Management

The Governance (G) and Social (S) aspects of ESG mandate transparency and fairness, which directly shape HR processes, reducing operational and reputational risk.

• Process Transparency: To ensure sustainable practices, robust, auditable, and data-driven insights are key. Transparent and fair performance evaluation systems, as well as fair hiring processes, help shape a better-performing workforce.
• Reputational Risk Mitigation: Poor governance, such as scandals involving workplace discrimination or inadequate safety protocols, can instantly destroy a company’s reputation. HR is the frontline defense in establishing and enforcing ethical labor practices, codes of conduct, and minimizing social risks through clearly communicated good governance mechanisms.

3. Ensuring Regulatory Compliance and Global Readiness

For global companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, ESG compliance is essential to avoid severe legal and financial penalties.

• Evolving Regulations: Regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or various global human rights due diligence laws place mandatory reporting requirements on the Social (S) dimension. HR is responsible for gathering, verifying, and reporting data on workforce metrics, including diversity, labor practices, training, and health & safety.
• Adaptation and Consistency: HR must establish global frameworks that adapt to local regulations while maintaining a consistent and ethical standard for all employees worldwide. This ensures the organization can operate smoothly and responsibly in complex global environments.

Three Pillars of ESG in HR

E (Environmental): Green Technology and Responsible Resource Use

The Environmental pillar is directly linked to a company’s operational agility. In this context, digital transformation, cloud technologies, and practices promote sustainable ways of working.

• Carbon Impact of Hybrid Work: Establishing a hybrid work model that reduces employee commuting directly contributes to shrinking the employer’s carbon footprint. Hybrid and remote work also increases productivity for global teams through asynchronous communication, as outlined in Atlassian’s Team Anywhere policy. Practiced by Kartaca, the hybrid model ensures that our employees do not lose time commuting in major cities (such as Istanbul, London, and Dubai), and reduces the energy consumption, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG, Sustainable Cities and Communities).


• Open Source and Digitalization: In an era when global CO2 emissions have hit record highs, innovation drives us to adopt open-source technologies. Digitalized, paperless processes and cloud transformation create resource efficiency. As noted by McKinsey & Co., cloud-powered technologies are expected to contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to the fight to achieve the net-zero emissions goal. In line with this objective, Google Cloud committed to being the first cloud provider with a net-zero goal by 2030. As a Premier Partner of Google Cloud, Kartaca also employs Cloud solutions internally for HR processes, reducing paperwork, supporting the UN’s SDG 9, Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.

(S) Social: Fostering Purpose, Productivity, and Engagement

The Social pillar in the HR context concerns employee health, safety, inclusion, and well-being. HR processes determine these factors throughout the employee life-cycle.

• Inclusive Culture: A strong Social (S) framework champions Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). HR-led DEI initiatives, focused on equitable opportunities and an inclusive environment, are crucial practices that directly boost employee engagement, foster innovation, and increase team productivity. Ensuring that no biases occur (SDG 10, Reduced Inequality) and creating policies to improve gender equality (SDG 5) should be the centerpiece of any DEI initiative. Kartaca’s workplace mentality holds that all employees have equal rights, and religious, racial, or sexual identities play no role in hiring or performance measurement.


• Holistic Well-being: By adopting the principles of long-term sustainability, HR shifts its focus from short-term task management to the holistic well-being of its workforce, viewing employees as a vital resource that must be nurtured for the organization’s sustainable success. A people-centric approach, through clear and respectful communication, in the workplace, ensures peaceful work. Kartaca’s nested matrix structure, where teams and departments cross-function, allows for collaboration and growth across all compartments.
  
  Fostering teamwork is important, but so is offering one-on-one guidance when necessary to ensure that, especially newly onboarded employees, do not feel lost and find answers when needed. Kartaca’s mentorship system, designed to last throughout the employee’s tenure, helps assure psychological safety, a key component of SDG 10. SDG 10 states that urban residents face almost twice as much discrimination as their counterparts. Kartaca’s hybrid work and flexible hours policy ensures work-life balance, helping employees mitigate the stress of city life.

G (Governance): Growing with Trust and Transparency

Governance in the HR context concerns a company’s leadership, ethical practices, transparency, and accountability. Here, HR shapes everything from performance to culture:

• Transparent Management and Ethics: Ethical business practices and transparent management principles are not just about legal compliance; they build trust among employees, investors, and the public. Conceptualized around Kartaca’s self-discipline value, ethical conduct confirms and assures good governance at any task our employees engage with. In parallel, accessible leadership ensures that this ethical commitment permeates the entire organization, breaking down traditional hierarchies. Kartaca’s leadership operates on an open-door policy, making decision-makers readily available for feedback, questions, and concerns. This model embodies our values of fairness and team spirit, promoting a culture where every voice is heard, reducing information silos, and fostering the psychological safety needed for employees to operate with trust and ownership. The result is a more resilient organization that proactively manages governance risks through widespread accountability.

⭐⭐⭐

The integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles is not a compliance checklist; it is the operational blueprint for modern, successful companies. For Kartaca, this blueprint is intrinsically tied to our core values: innovation, self-discipline, people-centricity, fairness, and team spirit, which serve as the moral compass for our sustainable growth strategy. Ultimately, robust ESG performance, championed by HR, is the clearest indicator of an organization’s long-term resilience and stability. In a world defined by competition and rapid technological change, companies that proactively manage their social and governance risks and invest strategically in their people and the planet are the ones best positioned for sustained success.

We believe the conversation starts with values, and the work starts now.