2012 Trend: Workplaces that Promote Sustainability

Evidence suggests employee engagement strategies can make a difference in internalizing sustainability and translating high-level commitments into action and results on the ground. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development document, People Matter Engage: inspiring employees about sustainability draws lessons from corporate experience:
The Corporate Leadership Council reports that engaged organizations grew profits as much as three times faster than their competitors. They found that highly engaged organizations have 87% less staff turnover and 20% better performance than average.
A global survey by Tower Perrins-ISR, involving more than 664,000 employees in 50 companies, found that the operating income of companies with engaged employees improved by 19% in one year, while it declined by 33% for companies with low levels of employee engagement.
A survey by Gallup of 23,910 business units found that those with low engagement suffer from 50% more employee turnover, inventory shrinkage and accidents. Those with higher engagement scores increased customer advocacy by 12%, productivity by 18% and profitability by 12%.
Fully engaged employees are 2.5 times more likely to exceed performance expectations than their disengaged colleagues.
59% of engaged employees say their job brings out their most creative ideas against only 3% for disengaged employees.

Employees are often argued to be the greatest resource of a company. When employee’s values resonate with those of the corporation, they are more productive, loyal, and their work is meaningful. Aside from the positive impact these programs deliver to the bottom line, today’s employees are looking for more than just the ‘green’ in their paycheck.

Employees Want Growth Opportunities: Young people have always wanted to start on career paths with growth opportunities, and the opportunities related to ‘Green Jobs’ are growing exponentially.

Employees Want to Make a Difference: A MonsterTRACK study states that 80 percent of "young professionals" are interested in a career that makes a positive impact on the environment, and 92 percent prefer to work for a company that is ‘green’, environmentally friendly, or has some general eco awareness.

Employees Seek Energy-Conscious Employers: According to a poll by Mortgage Lenders Network USA (MLN), 94 percent of Americans prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound, recognizing LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council as a common standard.

Employees Prefer Employers that offer Telecommuting: The necessity to physically change locations in order to accomplish a task has recently been challenged by employee value for energy conservation, environment impacts, family values, and other issues.

Employees Want Employers to Walk the Talk: In Portland, Oregon, your company isn’t really green unless you’ve got a bike cage in the parking structure, a compost bin in the lunchroom, fume-free paint on the walls, and have recycled glass on the lobby front desk.

Employees Gravitate towards a Common Sustainable Goals: Organizations that are creating business sustainability through an elevated sense of teamwork and establishing an emotional tie between the employee and the organization direction are attracting top talent.

Linking sustainability to employee engagement pairs corporate sustainability initiatives with the day to day activities of employees. It makes CSR more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility. The result? Happier, productive employees, strong business, and healthy planet.