Corporate sustainability has become a non-negotiable for employee attraction and retention. A 2021 Net Impact Report, found that over half of workers have considered leaving their job due to the poor social and environmental impact of their employer. Increasingly, as Millennials/Gen Y and Gen Z come to dominate the workforce, there’s an expectation that the companies they work for should align with positive social and environmental impact. And this demographic expects action rather than just words.
For the bulk of the global workforce that is Millennial and younger, ‘green-washing’ and ‘social-washing’ just won’t cut it.
So what does work?
Green Collar Jobs
Green collar jobs are one answer, but opportunities are not limited to traditional green jobs as companies increase their efforts to improve their sustainability credentials for risk management, regulatory compliance, customer demand, and innovation reasons. Sustainability is not a one-person or even one-team job; everyone in the organisation has a part to play. One way of doing this is by applying my SURF framework to the organisation.
SURF Framework
The ‘S’ in SURF stands for supply chain considerations that address sustainability criteria. One can look at their organisation’s supply chain and ask: are suppliers applying environmental, social, and good governance practices? Are suppliers using non-polluting inputs? Are they respecting human rights? Do they practice equity and inclusion? It’s relatively easy for many companies to focus on the sustainability of their four walls, but companies often overlook the same considerations for the whole supply chain.
The ‘U’ in SURF stands for user. The user may be known as a customer, consumer or client. The question here is: is the user enabled to use the product or service in a socially and environmentally sustainable way? For example, is the user provided with a means to reuse or recycle a product?
The ‘R’ stands for relations or relationships – both internal and external. Do stakeholders, including investors, lenders, employees, customers, and the community, have a say in decisions that impact them? Is the organisation inclusive and transparent?
And, finally, the ‘F’ stands for future, and is all about the responsibility that we – both humans and organisations – have to future generations. Sustainability is all about planning for the future – without it, there will no planet to hand over to our collective offspring.
Identifying Sustainable Employers
Applying this framework helps an employee understand whether their employer is acting sustainably and the types of roles to help improve its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. The framework can be applied before taking up a role and employees have influence. Employers are hearing that employees want their work to be meaningful, do no harm, and preferably leave a concrete positive trace. A 2023 survey of 4,000 US and UK employees by Paul Polman found that at least one-third of respondents resigned from their jobs because they felt their companies’ efforts to tackle environmental and social challenges were insufficient.
Organisations that want to hire and retain the best talent can’t afford to ignore sustainability. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has morphed into ESG, which expands the idea of social responsibility to the environment and business practice itself. Many companies are building ESG into their organisation, creating policies and practices that benefit local communities and the environment. Virtually all the world’s largest companies now issue a sustainability report and set goals often in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
There’s still a lot of work to do to make good on sustainability goals, and by focusing on building sustainability into our own careers, together we can make that change happen.
Marilyn Waite is the author of Sustainability at Work: Careers That Make a Difference. Marilyn has worked across four continents in low carbon energy, climate modelling, and investment and currently leads the Climate Finance Fund and teaches ESG Strategies at Sciences Po and other universities across the globe. Find out more at marilynwaite.com and climatefinance.fund.
