The future is green

By lined to Gill Turnock, director of Sellick Partnership, Midlands

This year, sustainable, green and environmentally friendly have become more than just buzzwords. Throughout 2007, a trend has emerged where employees are increasingly choosing companies that best meet this criteria.

It is not just the employer who is doing the interviewing, itís a two way process. A candidate also weighs up which businesses to apply to and which job offer to accept based on factors such as public transport links, options for car sharing and recycling processes.

Finer details
Currently, less than half of all UK companies have an environmental policy - an issue that needs addressing. One way to attract green savvy candidates is to develop a clear, written environmental policy to include in recruitment literature.

Without a doubt, these factors play a part in the recruitment process, as candidates become increasingly aware of their impact on the environment. Given the choice, employees tend to choose a company with eco friendly activities in place. With this in mind, corporate social responsibility and environmental issues need to be carefully considered by employers when trying to attract todayís candidates.

Legislation also exists to bring green issues into even sharper focus. Simply meeting legal obligations is not enough, as itís the law to do so. The ëgreenestí companies use active verbs such as ëwe provideí, ëwe conserveí, ëwe lessení.

Changing attitudes
It goes without saying that environmental issues are high on all agendas, but research by CareersInAudit.com suggests that environmental protection is not what motivates companies to adopt green policies. Other motivators are public image, pressure from customers and money. That said, 2007 has seen a definite shift in attitude and being green is expected to remain a topical issue in 2008.

Whilst 75 per cent of the survey respondents said green issues could be a deciding factor between two companies, if the offer from the greener company wasnít as high as it was from the less green company, this would be a dissuasive factor.

Results found that salary and work/life balance were the most popular choices by far, suggesting that the key considerations for a candidate selecting a role are the same now as they were 50 years ago. It will be interesting to see what their priorities are in another 50 years time.

Top tips for going green
- Turn off PCs at night
- Print on both sides of the paper
- Or even better, donít print where avoidable
- Switch to renewable energy
- Install showers, then cycle or jog to work
- Work from home where possible
- Use green cars ñ diesel or low CO2
- Conference call
- Make tea rounds ñ donít boil the kettle for one
- Recycle!