Is Alignment the Key to Business Sustainability?

According to the Employee Engagement Report 2008, companies which embrace and engage employees in eco awareness are attracting and retaining top talent. However, business sustainability is not assured by the retention of the best and brightest. In an effort to drive business sustainability concepts across the organization, companies are engaging and aligning the interests of top talent in the sustainability direction of the organization.

In a recent post, What Job Seekers want in a Green Employer, we discussed the expectations perspective ‘green employees’ are placing on their employers. As a result, companies are now realizing that they must also be proactive in responding to the changing needs of their internal stakeholders.

Employees are often the pivot point in a company’s ultimate success or failure. The ability to leverage top talent can therefore be a key differentiator. In our professional consulting, we express to clients that engaging "green-minded” employees as key stakeholders is a natural extension of any business sustainability plan and essential to implementation success.

Environmental Leader writes, “sustainability practitioners and academics increasingly recognize that integration of sustainability principles and practices, rather than discrete initiatives, is what generates real business value”.

In our sustainability consulting, we have observed many organizations already responding to their sustainable talent needs. These leading businesses are creating workplaces that engage their workforce in the sustainable direction of the company.