Most companies today agree that their people are their most valuable assets, and the ability to attract and retain the best people by building their company brand is strategically important to them.
Today’s employee is looking beyond just salary, they want to work for a company that is doing good work, considering the way in which what they do impacts the world and how they can work towards reducing this impact. Investing in sustainability efforts and making effective, transparent steps to reduce your carbon footprint builds your brand image and can be key to attracting top people talent.
Interestingly, many companies find that by monitoring and reducing their carbon footprint they also save money. It turns out there is also a business case for doing the right thing. In the real world though there can be some obstacles such as the people resources and budget to attain these lofty feeling goals. The budget is less of a problem once you understand and can demonstrate the value and cost savings that can be achieved. The people resources also need not be a barrier when you implement a solution that removes the bulk of the work needed when using spreadsheets or other more manual solutions. Post-COVID as more companies than ever struggle to do as much, or more, with less people and less finances it is paramount to get the very best value from every solution chosen. It is also important to ensure that your solutions will allow you to grow and, conversely, that they can grow with you as needed.
A Fast Company survey confirmed that employees, in particular millennials, choose employers with strong sustainability goals and stay with them longer (Olupinyo, 2020). Harvard Business Review reported that the percentage of highly engaged employees increased from 40% to 60% when their organisation actively engaged in sustainability issues (Kropp, 2021). Employee engagement is a factor that is sometimes mistaken as something that is less tangible; however, a Gallup poll found that highly engaged teams are more present and driven which results in 21% higher profitability (Beheshti, 2019). This also means fewer sick days and lower attrition, as well as the costs associated with them. McKinsey & Company research concluded that top employees are 400% more productive than the average employee (Olupinyo, 2020).
Considering what we do this was a natural course of action for Ecometrica. It is safe to say that we have reaped the rewards by having prospective employees seek us out; some following us for months and years, sending speculative cv’s and waiting on the right role to become available for them with ambitions of contributing to the work we that we do and to work for a company with clearly communicated, substantiated goals. Employees consistently report that the feel good factor of our work, working with likeminded colleagues and our company culture of doing the right thing rank highly in keeping them engaged with their work. We have also found this sits well beside our total rewards offering as part of a whole package that helps attract and retain employees.
As we struggle to come to grips with the new normal and, the perhaps long-lasting financial impacts of covid, every new hire is both a victory and that much more important. Now more than ever organisations need to recognise that reinforcing sustainability efforts builds brand image. Top talent is monitoring what companies are doing and organisations need to catch their attention in order to secure and retain the right employees who are engaged, high performers that will support their success.
REFERENCES
BEHESHTI, N. (2019). 10 TIMELY STATISTICS ABOUT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND WELLNESS. RETRIEVED FROM
KROPP, B. (2021). 9 TRENDS THAT WILL SHAPE WORK IN 2021 AND BEYOND. RETRIEVED FROM
https://hbr.org/2021/01/9-trends-that-will-shape-work-in-2021-and-beyond
OLUPINYO, G. (2020). BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABILITY: IMPROVED EMPLOYEE ATTRACTION, ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION. RETRIEVED FROM
Reading Time: 4 Minutes
Date Published: May 26, 2021
TLDR:
How Building A Sustainable Brand Has Helped Ecometrica with Attracting & Retaining the Best Employees
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