Jeana Wirtenberg Ph.D, shown here working from her home in Montville, is an expert at human resources pertaining to the green industry. Wirtenberg is an author of journals and books as well as the President and CEO of Transitioning to Green. ("Daily Record" staff photo: Meghan Ryan)

EXCERPT: With a 30 year back ground in human resources, Jeana quickly realized that there is a missing element in implementing organizations’ green initiatives:  HR leaders and HR professionals must step up and play a stronger role in moving organizations toward sustainability.

As People & Strategy’s editor for organizational effectiveness and the editor for the just published Special Issue of People & Strategy “Transitioning to the Green Economy” Jeana gathered multidisciplinary thought leaders and compelling case studies from around the world pointing to the need for HR’s role in the sustainability movement. This must read latest issue of People & Strategy is available for purchasing at www.hrps.org or contact Theresa Wojtalewicz at twojtalewicz@hrps.org for hard copies and multiple reprints.

May 31, 2010 Montville, N.J. –  Human Resources (HR) thought leader Jeana Wirtenberg, Ph.D. is building bridges with HR professionals to link talent with opportunity in the emerging green economy. Jeana founded Transitioning to Green LLC when she had an epiphany “It will be the people in organizations and not technology alone that will make the transition to a green economy possible.” She believes the talent of currently underutilized and displaced people should be applied to satisfy the enormous need for such talent in the emerging green economy. She set out on a mission to link all the talented people in the United States with emerging opportunities in the green economy to accomplish all the critically important work that needs to get done.

With a 30 year back ground in human resources, Jeana quickly realized that there is a missing element in implementing organizations’ green initiatives:  HR leaders and HR professionals must step up and play a stronger role in moving organizations toward sustainability.

As People & Strategy’s editor for organizational effectiveness and the editor for the just published Special Issue of People & Strategy “Transitioning to the Green Economy” Jeana gathered multidisciplinary thought leaders and compelling case studies from around the world pointing to the need for HR’s role in the sustainability movement. This must read latest issue of People & Strategy is available for purchasing at www.hrps.org or contact Theresa Wojtalewicz at twojtalewicz@hrps.org for hard copies and multiple reprints.

“My big thanks go to Jeana for putting together this thought-provoking issue, full of intriguing and necessary insights, research, case studies and book reviews on how business can become more sustainable and the role HR should play in guiding this transformation. We are very fortunate to have her thought leadership on this essential topic”, said Ed Gubman Ph.D., People & Strategy Executive Editor.” Jeana’s hope is that, “with this Special Issue, ‘Transitioning to the Green Economy’, we have achieved our goal of simultaneously advancing the field of human resources and helping define HR’s role in effecting the transition to the green economy. Working together we can create a sustainable future—for our businesses and our world. There is no reasonable alternative, as there is no business in a society that fails. We have an awesome opportunity. Let’s rise to the occasion together.”

Transitioning to Green LLC provides services rooted in a holistic, systems based perspective to support clients in addressing all aspects of sustainability. How people leverage their skills, talents and knowledge is highly determinate of the success of the sustainable enterprise. Research has shown that companies with a strong triple-bottom-line or sustainability focus realize benefits in several areas on the human side of sustainability, including leadership, talent management, employee engagement, high performance cultures and change management. These companies have reduced recruiting and attrition costs, and increased employee productivity and engagement.

Transitioning to Green LLC helps enterprises meet their short-term and long-term objectives and utilize HR’s role in recruiting and training the talent needed to effect the transition to the green economy.

We work with organizations to co-create their sustainability strategies, support their implementation and improve their green outcomes.

“I cannot say enough about how valuable and inspirational your work has been to me. I cannot tell you how many people that I have recommended it to as it is the first publication that I have read that really tackles this issue in a holistic way.  Thank you for your leadership in this space” said Mark Gasta, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Vail Resorts Management Company. To find out how Transitioning to Green LLC can help your organization transition into the green economy, call 1-973-335-6299 or email jwirtenberg@transitioningtogreen.com.

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About Transitioning to Green™ LLC

Transitioning to Green™ is a professional membership organization dedicated to the green transformation, and comprises leaders in the area of sustainability, industry, academia and organizational leadership. Sustainable development goes beyond environmental protection. Economic, social and environmental processes are interconnected.  It is an integration of three dimensions to form a Triple Bottom Line Path to Sustainability: People: Employees and Communities; Planet: Environment and Natural Resources; Profits: Financial and Economic. We help managers capture opportunities and reap the benefits of sustainable business practices for enhancing business performance. To learn about Transitioning to Green visit www.transitioningtogreen.com.

Join our LinkedIn Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2846624&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr;

Find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TTGtoGreen.

In 2007 HRPS published their “first special issue on the topic: Building the Triple Bottom Line—HR’s Contribution., The lead article by Jeana Wirtenberg, Joel Harmon, Bill Russell and Kent Fairfield of the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University was ‘HR’s Role in Building a Sustainable Enterprise.’. Subsequently, Jeana Wirtenberg edited The Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook: When It All Comes Together, in collaboration with Bill Russell, Dave Lipsky and the Enterprise Sustainability Action Team (Greenleaf Publishing/AMACOM 2008)  and has become one of the world’s leaders in research, consulting and speaking on business, HR and sustainability,” said Ed Gubman. In addition, Jeana presented on “Building Bridges to a Green Economy: Discovering and Unleashing HR’s Contribution” at this year’s 33^rd Annual HRPS Global Conference in San Diego on April 27^th.

About HRPS
HRPS, a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Chicago, has been the premier global association and network of senior human resource executives and thought leaders since 1977. In support of its worldwide membership, HRPS serves as a global forum for presenting the latest thinking and information about the HR implications of key business issues and strategic HR practices; offers a broad range of professional development programs with distinguished human resource scholars, practitioners and business leaders; and builds networks of diverse individuals to exchange leading-edge HR ideas, information and experiences.  People & Strategy is the award-winning professional journal of the Human Resource Planning Society. At a time when organizations in every industry are looking to go “green,” this special issue provides much-needed advice and examples that business leaders can use to guide their companies towards increasing sustainability.