Sustainability ranks highly amongst employees as a business ethos and organisational value. Rather than hoping that they will make the grade in your expectation, do they perceive you as making theirs?
There is a culture gap within organisations that has yet to be filled by business leaders. Over 80% of all employees feel that their organisation could do more, or does not do enough, to improve the sustainability of their business. Are you seeking to attract the next generation of employees, well similar research identifies that about 40% of millennials selected one organisation over another because of its commitment and visible action over sustainability or climate change issues?
You may not have convinced yourself of the need to change your traditional business model, but are you getting the business stars of the future refreshing your organisational ranks? Your lack of engagement in sustainability issues and refusal to see it as a driver in future growth may be damaging your own business!
This is a startling gap in perception and reflects an apparent void between what business leaders perceive is their primary purpose in business, and what society (including their employees) and new recruits perceive as ‘business normal’ and expect from any responsible business.
From my own discussions with young business leaders, it is also clear that whilst many of them do not demand a Patagonia or Unilever pro-sustainability business model approach to how they conduct their affairs, they are intelligent enough to recognise that continued business success and their career plans inter-twined with increased sustainability in business. A closer alignment between business sustainability and active management of this issue within the framework of a responsible management culture is now an expected (but often unstated) demand and a key factor in their continued engagement with the business. They believe it brings benefits in terms of growth, services, and products, are they waiting for you to catch up?
This reflects a larger global shift towards more environmentally responsible practices, and the establishment of visible environmental, social and governance leadership cultures within any ambitious organisation.
From baseline entry roles, graduate recruitment through to senior management, there is an appetite for clear organisational frameworks and commitments to sustainability. If this desire and wish for organisations with clear cut sustainability policies, internal frameworks, and culture – why are so few organisations providing their employees with leadership and management training or development in these areas?
If this is the mindset required by businesses in the future, why are so many leadership development trainers and coaches still providing old school mantras and models? Sustainability leadership demands a completely new mindset and worldview to issues, yes, a basis in traditional business schooling assists, but sustainability requires a much more agile mindset and the ability to look outside organisations to appraise future business risks to growth.
Two in three workers surveyed stated that they would like training in green skills, notably as they felt it would make them more valuable in the workplace. A common call by CEO’s is for more innovation in the workplace, yet here we have a workforce demand for training that can help that through innovation through sustainability not being acted upon.
Only a fool believes that any business is guaranteed long-term if it stands still in the marketplace, businesses need to evolve and adjust to meet new disruptive influences, changes in consumer trends and increasingly react to external ESG challenges. Each business occupies a different zone of influence and has a different story behind its organisational culture, regardless of that there are multiple ways that businesses can enhance those sustainability aspects that they are already engaged with (often unknowingly) and those that need to be assessed further as future megatrends or business priorities.
Have you started to address the key issues in 2022 of a step up in developing circular economy models within the business, climate adaptation, low-emission transportation, or a pathway to net-zero emissions, or worker and supply chain equity?
No!
Then, make a New Years commitment to investigating how a sustainability strategy and plan can help transform your business, raise your standing amongst the workforce and have the brightest candidates inquiring if you have positions available rather than chasing them through recruitment rounds.
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