March 2010 - A new report from 180 student
leaders provides intruguing suggestions on how organization can be
more sustainable and better able to compete for top talent.
The report, "The New Normal: Sustainable Practices Your Future
Employees Will Demand' available from the Network for Business
Sustainability, summarizes the conclusions reached by 180 student
leaders at a conference for sustainability leadership held in
Guelph in late 2009.
The evidence shows that recent graduates want to work for
sustainable, responsible organizations. Research published in the
Harvard Business Review in 2009 found that 75% of U.S. workforce
entrants saw social responsibility and environmental commitment as
important criteria in selecting employers. A 2003 study from
Stanford University found that MBA graduates would sacrifice an
average of $13,700 in annual salary to work for a socially
responsible company.
But your future employees don't just value
sustainability - they also have specific ideas about the steps
organizations should take towards becoming sustainable.
In the fall of 2009, 180 student leaders from across Canada
(selected from nearly 1,000 applicants) assembled in Guelph, Canada
for Impact! The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability
Leadership. Working under the guidance of experts from industry,
government, and academia, these student leaders identified the
sustainability practices they expect the business community to
adopt.
Although the students studied a number of sectors - including
insurance and financial services, manufacturing, retail, municipal
services, food systems, energy production, information and
communications technologies, and hospitality and tourism - six
specific recommendations were common to all sectors:
Minimize waste through
closed-loop business models: - Students wish to see new
business models that engender environmental (and economic)
efficiency through reduced waste.
Establish and enforce clear
sectoral standards: - Students call for clear standards
coupled with third-party checks and balances to ensure
organizations are meeting their social license to operate and to
enable benchmarking.
Increase
transparency: -Students strongly believe that better
information should be made available to the public regarding the
social, financial and environmental factors that impact people's
lives.
Encourage carbon
regulation: - Students called on government to
regulate carbon emissions in all sectors.
Increase student involvement
in business: - Students want to get more involved in
business through networking, internships, course-based research,
and jobs upon graduation.
Increase community
engagement: - Students believe that engaging communities
at the grassroots can lead to sustainable communities and
organizations.
Representing the expectations young leaders have for prospective
employers, the insights captured in this report can help you
attract, retain, and engage top minds-as well as identify the
public opinion issues on the horizon.