Not everything we cover at The Buzz is recruitment related. We are interested in HR issues which relate to the two R’s Recruitment & Retention. 

I picked up on a great survey on Engagement. Brighter Planet, a company dedicated to the mitigation of climate change through personal action

However, it is their research that excites me more than anything else. A lot of people are talking about employee engagement around sustainability initiatives right now. Brighter Planet just released a study on its findings from an internet survey it conducted, to which 1055 people responded.

Big businesses can use it. Small businesses can use it. Employees are happier and more productive when they do. So let’s get to it, people, start engaging your employees around sustainability.

Among the report’s more surprising findings:

• 75% of respondents said their office actively promotes recycling (pleasant surprise)
• slightly more than 50% of respondents said their office encourages energy efficiency (surprised it’s not more, since it’s a great ROI)
• Among those companies whose employees rated their sustainability initiatives as good, those initiatives were started internally, by management or employees, and not by outside consultants (I’m only surprised because I used to work at Saatchi S, where we were hired as outside consultants, and paid large sums of money to do so–so I’d assumed it was more successful that way)
• Only 14% of respondents said their employers’ sustainability initiatives were ‘very effective’ (unpleasant surprise)
• The more an employer had a system for employees to share ideas and best practices, the more likely that initiative was to succeed, almost 3 to 1.
• Organizations in which there is a main sustainability figurehead (Chief Sustainability Officer, for example) leading the initiative were 1/3 as likely to have successful initiatives than companies where management or the board had the lead role.
  
  

Down Load Research