The Greening of the American Workforce
The Importance of Eco-Friendly Employees in Today's Job Market
Jul 29, 2009
Now some in the business world say that it really doesn’t matter whether employees are eco-friendly when they are hired because they can be properly trained. Plus if they’re not green yet, the green work culture will get them there fast.
However, while the average employee does not need a degree in environmental studies to understand the concepts behind ZED (that’s zero-energy design) or to be able to define terms such as “bright green” or “precycling,” it is a good idea for new hires to actively participate in green-related activities such as recycling and using re-useable shopping bags, in order to ensure that the company culture and the employee’s values make the right connection from the start. It can wind up being a big mistake later on down the road when employers hire employees who don’t fit into the company’s way of thinking. Now, that doesn’t mean that organizations should start hiring a bunch of little Stepford people. However, hiring experts agree that culture match is an important part of hiring success.
Creating Green Awareness in Every Job
Lest employees and job seekers think that being green is something people just do at home, many organizations these days are incorporating green initiatives into how they conduct business. Some of the biggest employers include Bank of America, WalMart, DuPont, McDonalds and even General Electric. (Business Pundit, "25 Big Companies that are Going Green," July 29, 2008).
This seems to be sending a message that all jobs and the people who fill them need to view sustainability as an integral part of their day-to-day responsibilities. But the bigger question is whether or not the people a company hires have to be green at the outset or can they come to eco-mindedness as they acclimate to the organization’s sustainability culture?
According to Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, “When it comes to the business/operations side of the company then it is best to hire the most experienced, educated person for the job.” His view being that they can learn to be green.
While Mr. Szaky feels that in general it is more important to have the knowledge and skills to meet business goals, certain positions which “are the public face” of the company would benefit from “having environmentally or socially aware employees.”
The whole idea is that having employees who can converse in green serves a valuable purpose for many functional areas within business. Consider retail workers, customer service representatives or marketing and public relations employees whose work requires contact with consumers outside the organization. Their ability to communicate their passion for their organization’s sustainability ideals can sell those who already embrace eco-consumerism while at the same time they have the ability to sway those who are fence sitters.
Future Employees Will be Green
While Mr. Szaky’s point about hiring the person best qualified for a job is an important consideration, so is the fact that as each day passes more and more employers – big and small -- are rethinking their way of doing business. Consumers are bombarded with information about the importance of acting more responsibly and doing more to combat the effects of global warming.
In fact, in a March 2009 survey by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), close to 65 percent of the companies that participated felt that environmental knowledge and training is a plus in job applicants because they are more likely than their non-green counterparts to have resource-saving ideas that can help cut costs.
In addition, a June 2009 Pew Charitable Trusts study ("Green Jobs Growing at Twice National Average," MSNBC.msn.com, June 10, 2009), indicated that the renewable energy industry has grown steadily over much of the past decade, adding jobs at more than twice the national rate while solar and wind-power companies, energy-efficient light bulb manufacturers, environmental engineering firms and others expanded their work force by 9.1 percent (the average growth in all industries was only 3.7 percent) from 1998 to 2007.
From this information it is easy to understand why hiring employees who can do the job AND who are already predisposed to think green makes the most sense. Now does that mean hiring someone who is under qualified? By no means; however, if the world is headed in that direction doesn’t it make sense to hire people who are ahead of the curve? Besides, hiring employees who consider the impact of their actions on the environment may just result in hiring employees who consider the impact of their actions on everything else they do.
For readers who need to update their resume read "Design a Resume for Eco-Friendly Employers."
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