Over the last weeks, we’ve been examining the trials and tribulations of being a green employer… here are a few of our findings:
- All things being equal being green can act as the critical differentiator in helping talent decide between one opportunity and another.
- People in green jobs tend to be more loyal and will stay longer if they can engage their values
- Some organisations have tried to use green to hire people but failed to back it up with genuine, authentic actions. Talent will often leave these businesses as a result.
- For junior jobs and graduate trainees, green clients get an enormous number of applications, far more than other jobs or clients in other industries receive.
- There is danger in hiring someone who is passionate about green and has the right values but does not have the skills. Enthusiasm and commitment alone are not enough, there needs to be a business case.
- There is an increasing conflict between promoting green in some areas of the job yet being compelled to be unsustainable in others - lots of business travel, flying, conferences and hospitality with lots of waste. Many green executives have a bigger carbon footprint than they did in their previous jobs
- The conflict between wanting to change the world yet still following a traditional business model that is part of a system that is causing enormous damage to the environment. Many environmentalists still see business and particularly Fortune 500 corporations as the enemy, that propagate a wasteful, damaging and unsustainable mode of operation. Can people in green jobs reform the system from within without being accused of selling out.