Over 80 percent of employees feel engaged in their workplace if they believe their organisation is environmentally-conscious, according to the latest insights from Inpulse employee engagement surveys.
Out of those 80 percent working for companies perceived to be environmentally-conscious, 82 percent felt engaged in their workplace.
This compares to 35 percent who felt engaged working for companies that do not pay attention to their ESG strategies.
The nearly 50 percent point gap represents the highest percentage point difference when it comes to factors impacting employee engagement, followed by career development, inclusion and culture.
ESG and retention: what is the link?
A staggering 88 percent of respondents can see themselves continuing working for their organisation in 12 months time if they feel the company cares about its environmental impact.
This compares to 40 percent of those working for environmentally-unconscious organisations. Moreover, employees who answered positively are 2.4 times more likely to recommend their organisation as a great place to work.
Jodie Harrison, Insights Consultant at Inpulse explains: “Typically, when we talk about what an ‘engaged’ employee looks like, we turn to organisational factors such as workplace culture or learning and development, but the latest Inpulse data shows how the company’s environmental and social impact are just as, if not more, important to people.
“As our news feeds are inundated with stories of devastating wildfires and unprecedented heatwaves, how organisations approach such matters can be make or break for engagement and even influence how long employees see themselves continuing to work for their companies.
“The data overwhelmingly shows that strong ESG performance leads to higher employee engagement, especially amongst Millennial and Gen Z generations who place greater importance on environmental and social concerns and will make up most of the global workforce in the near future. We know that disengaged employees limit organisational growth massively. Even just one disengaged employee can cause setbacks and negatively impact an entire team.
What should organisations be doing?
Matt Stephens, CEO and founder of Inpulse, emphasises: “Companies need to wake up and realise how they respond to societal and environmental issues. This is becoming a defining element as to whether their employees are engaged at work. Now is the time to act and moving quickly will demonstrate to people that they are taking this seriously”.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
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