ENVIRONMENTAL, Social and Governance (ESG) which assesses the sustainability and societal impact of businesses has gathered significant momentum in recent years.
According to recruiting experts Hays, a strong and integrated sustainability strategy enables organisations to better attract and retain employees.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses into survival mode and in some cases sustainability efforts slipped down priority lists. As the world begins to recover from the global pandemic, businesses must again move substantiality back near the top of their agenda.
HSBC’s 2019 ‘Made for the Future’ report found that 24% of organisations said that one of the driving forces behind their investments in sustainability is to improve their ability to recruit and retain the best people.
“There is real long-term value in establishing a robust sustainability strategy, committing to it by setting clear objectives, and ensuring its success,” managing director of Hays Malaysia Tom Osborne commented.
“While there are clear moral reasons for doing so, there are also advantages in terms of attracting and retaining key talent as it is becoming increasingly important to workers.”
He added that in a skill short world this is vital as it can help companies avoid missing out on recruiting top talent.
“There are also the commercial advantages too, as it is just as important to existing and potential customers.”
Ensuring continued, lasting change
A year before the COVID-19 swept the world, business travel accounted for 12% of global transport emissions, equating to 915 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
But since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a significant reduction in travel, resulting in an overall reduction in air pollution of up 60% which includes not only international travel but people’s daily commute too.
The need to work remotely has had a huge impact on carbon emissions as there has been a large decrease in the number of people travelling.
“It’s important that we don’t simply slip back into our old ways, we have an opportunity to ensure there is continued and lasting change,” Osborne stressed.
For instance, adopting a hybrid working model – whereby professionals aren’t expected to work from the office five days a week – could be beneficial for a number of reasons. It will not only cut down commuting time but can also act as an excellent way to attract and retain key talent.
Moving forward, businesses will have also discovered other more sustainable practices during the pandemic and businesses can capitalise on this going forward.
If businesses are able to reduce the amount of international business travel in future by conducting meetings virtually – as video meetings have proved to be an effective tool in communicating when working from separate locations – this would help reduce carbon emissions further and could have a big impact globally.
Furthermore, businesses must convince their workforce in the benefits of reducing their carbon footprint. In order for a business to be successful in reaching any sustainability targets, it needs to change attitudes within its organisation and will need buy-in from all employees.
“Many of the small actions in creating a culture of sustainability in the workplace – like turning off lights and computers at the end of the day, eliminating single use plastics or using recycling bins – come down to the behaviour of staff, so getting employee buy-in is crucial,” Osborne pointed out.
“This needs to come from the top down, with clear communications of how everybody has a part to play in its success.” – May 12, 2021
Photo credit: Getty Images
