I was suspicious of Al Gore as a keynote for an HR conference. Ex-politicians generally do what Steve Forbes did yesterday – give a standard “stump speech” with 5 gratuitous references to HR scattered throughout.
Al didn’t do that. He gave a thoughtful presentation on several HR topics, and only had a standard stump speech in the last third, combined with a proven rousing ending. In the middle he even told a joke. Worked for me.
Al on the big screen
His overall theme was “sustainability”, which he defined as not robbing the future to live now.
HR topics were:
Diversity – using all of the differing viewpoints to strengthen the organization.
Education – raising the bar for all employees
Dealing with the internet revolution – there are now 1 Billion transistors for each person on the planet.
Organizational development – When he worked on re-inventing government, he would start by talking with the janitors and service workers in a department, then work up the pyramid. They always knew what to fix. Developing core competencies requires input from all levels.
Compensation & benefits – People work well because they identify with the values of the organization. Don’t focus on the financial side of compensation completely. Non-monetary benefits are better at building engagement.
Overall, he said that capitalism is the best method for resolving our recession, and HR is the key to developing society and markets. The sustainability issue is not just environmental, it means not robbing the future but building value over the long term. To do this, an organization must communicate from the entire supply chain.
Then, Al went into “Global warming” mode – talking about pollution, the BP response, and melting ice caps. I could sense that the crowd didn’t necessarily appreciate him bringing his personal crusade into the conference. However, he won them back by noting that this is the biggest opportunity business has confronted,
He also said that in the future the best young talent will judge where they should work based on how green the organization is. He said that the challenge is to become more efficient, consume fewer resources, and be more productive. Organizations that integrate sustainability find that profitability is up.
The very act of taking on a great challenge can transition an organization. President Kennedy challenged the nation to go to the moon, and 8 years later we were there. We are feeling another challenge now.
A saying – If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We have to go far, quickly.
Be bold. This is like no other time in human history.
He closed by asking the question of how we will be judged in the future. He said that HR needs to have the moral courage to rise up and solve a crisis. “We have everything we need to succeed except the will to act…but the will to act is a renewable resource.”
The crowd was back with him at that point – standing ovation.
Al on stage
Karl Ahlrichs' Uncommon Experience 
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