Workplace Culture | Connect Employees with your Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Strategy
People want more from their jobs. Expectations have grown in leaps and bounds in the area of corporate sustainability. As a result, many job seekers are looking for employers that support ESG (environmental, social, and governance) efforts important to them.
Of the participants surveyed in the Randstad 2022 Workmonitor study, 50% said they would decline an offer from a company that doesn’t share their beliefs on environmental issues. And, once hired, employees want to engage with ESG efforts.
Here are three ways to include employees in ESG initiatives.
Make ESG accessible.
ESG measures the sustainable and ethical impacts of an organization’s financial investments. Share information about ways the company is supporting ESG efforts. Offer volunteer opportunities to drive societal impact on related causes.
Tip: Identify a cause that leverages the unique skill set of your employee population.
Apply ESG to policies and practices.
Incorporate the firm’s ESG strategy throughout the organization to increase accountability. For example, include corporate sustainability background in new hire onboarding.
Tip: Select vendors who promote sustainable work products and services.
Create ambassador opportunities.
Provide key information and resources to employees who are energized by the corporate ESG strategy. Employees are pivotal in sharing corporate sustainability efforts with their internal and external networks.
Tip: Build an ESG advisory board so employees can contribute from the early stages.
Part of building a successful talent acquisition strategy requires understanding what is important to your target population. Research shows the youngest population in the workplace puts a strong emphasis on corporate sustainability. To attract these people, employers should communicate their sustainability efforts so that others know about your company’s contributions.
Originally featured in UBA’s March 2023 HR Elements Newsletter.
