Using HR to promote your green credentials

By using HR to promote your green credentials you will attract more job candidates who are eager to take an active part in developing and implementing more initiatives to support sustainability. You will also retain more employees who want to promote your corporate vision for maintaining excellent environmental business practices.

It has become increasingly common for job seekers to look for employment with a company that is known to share values that are important to them. Employees who are provided with sustainability training and are encouraged to consider global issues, in relation to business performance, will share your best practices with their contacts and through their business networks.

Keep employees connected to the corporate vision

It is possible to inspire employees to learn more about sustainability, so they develop and implement more green practices. Each new employee should have their interest in environmental and ethical topics strengthened within a year of joining the company.

Workplace and volunteer programmes can be set up to help increase sustainability and to advance thinking on topics that affect the world and the welfare of others.

Additional benefits can be given to employees who implement new initiatives and show progressive thinking in the way they help to improve environmental values and support for communities around the world.

HR software from CIPHR can help your company to maintain its excellent green credentials by taking care of your training administration needs. Plus, most employees will want to stay in line with your corporate ideals of sustainability when these are built into all workplace assessments and employee performance reviews. Leaders and team members can be encouraged to support your company’s green initiatives by being given some recognition for their efforts in maintaining or increasing sustainability in their daily work practices.

Understand the employment market

There is a growing trend within the employment market for people of all ages to seek positions with companies that are known to make a positive contribution and are seen to be leading the way in establishing ethical practices.

The GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) carried out a survey on job seekers which showed that at least 40 percent of people seeking employment would read a sustainability report on their potential new employer.

Most young job seekers now use Internet searches to check out a company’s credentials when considering whether or not to apply for a position. They quickly see whether a company has been awarded any accolades, how it scores for disclosures and CDP (continuing development performance), whether it is ranked as a Top 50 Global Green Brand or has been listed as one of the happiest places to work.

An organisation with sustainability credentials attracts job candidates, even in the most challenging employment market, who are determined to make a difference and want to achieve something that will benefit the world through their work.

A recent study carried out by Philips across North America showed that 68 percent of respondents would be willing to take a pay cut if they could find a job where they could work at something which involved their own personal interests.

Connect HR to corporate responsibility

Corporate responsibility is more than looking after the safety, health and wellbeing of their employees. It is also about helping to strengthen people’s involvement in sustainability and to make the world a better place through a programme of continuing development performance.

Your corporate responsibility should encourage more employees to support sustainability and want to be involved in new green initiatives. HR should make use of this to attract and retain talent that is going to be of great benefit to your company in the long term.

Human Resources have a significant role to play in promoting green credentials. When you employ and retain more environmentally-minded staff, your company will become better known as a green brand.

This post was generously sponsored by CIPHR