Sustainability: People and Planet

The United Nations has confirmed our planet has officially entered an era of ‘global boiling’. Alarming as it may be, European wildfires and our disappearing UK summer are prime examples of why we all need to take sustainability seriously. And that includes businesses.

Sustainability in business now comes under the heading of ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance. You may know it as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Oh we do love a good acronym in HR!

Environmental, Social and Governance describes three core pillars of responsibility against which we can assess business performance. ESG covers internal and external activities and is widely used by companies and their stakeholders to measure their impact on people and the wider world.

For this blog we’re going to look at sustainability from a people perspective, explain why ESG reporting is so valuable, and share five key questions to ask your employees to measure your impact and progress.

What’s covered under the three ESG pillars?

ESG sounds complicated but really it’s quite simple. Let’s break it down.

E = Environmental

As you might expect, this is all about business impact on the natural environment, both locally and on the wider planet. It covers a host of sustainability themes like improving carbon efficiency, adopting renewable energy, reducing water consumption and taking action to prevent climate change.

Companies are actively changing their behaviours and activities to adopt a more sustainable approach, for example:

• Switching to an electric vehicle fleet

• Introducing recycling initiatives

• Subsidising public transport for employees

• Encouraging car sharing, and

• Reducing water and energy consumption at business premises.

S = Social

Social is the people pillar. It’s all about how you treat your employees and engage with your local community. Common themes within this strand include:

• Health, safety and wellbeing

• Volunteering and fundraising

• Fair pay

• Equal opportunities

• Diversity and inclusion, and

• Employee reward and benefit schemes.

A huge part of social responsibility is listening to your employees. Many businesses use surveys to gather feedback on employee sentiment and mindset, and understand perspectives on inclusion, fairness and workplace opportunities. More on this later.

There’s a growing trend to offer employee rewards and benefits that align with the company’s ESG strategy, such as cycle-to-work schemes and flexible working. What do you currently offer in this category? Could your business be doing more?

G = Governance

The Governance pillar covers policies, procedures and best practice. From regulatory compliance and ethics to transparency of communication and data security. A clear governance framework will ensure you fulfil all your legal and regulatory obligations and protect the interests of your employees, customers and stakeholders.

The role of ESG reporting in attracting talent

Transparency around ESG has several business benefits. Reporting on performance against ESG strategy demonstrates that you are a responsible employer and a great place to work with strong ethics and an environmental conscience. It helps to motivate and engage existing employees and attract, recruit and retain the best talent in your organisation.

Job seekers increasingly want to work for a responsible, inclusive employer that’s focused on the wellbeing of its employees and the planet. This trend looks set to grow as future generations make their way into the workplace. Take a look at this report from Marsh McClennan for an excellent summary of the reasons why companies should be taking ESG seriously.

From a business growth perspective, transparency around ESG reporting builds trust with clients, customers, stakeholders, investors and suppliers. It demonstrates that you are acting sustainably, take employee wellbeing seriously, and have processes and controls in place to make informed, ethical business decisions.

Since April 2022, it has been compulsory for very large organisations in the UK to report on ESG. The regulations currently only apply to companies that are listed, have 500+ employees, or a turnover of more than £500m. While the regulations may not apply to your business, it makes business sense to start thinking more sustainably and put an ESG framework in place.

The People and Planet 5 Survey

The global analytics firm Gallup is encouraging employers to take action by measuring five aspects of ESG relating to the employee voice. Their suggested questions highlight the importance of employee perspective and mindset in ESG.

Employee opinions offer an alternative, valuable insight into how people are feeling about ESG issues and business culture. As we discussed in a recent post, a healthy business culture is the foundation of a healthy organisation. We’ve had a look at the five questions and believe gathering this information will help guide and inform future ESG strategy and activity.

The five employee voice questions

Gallup recommends all employers add the following five questions to their employee survey. The questions have been identified as being “highly predictive of future behaviours and business outcomes”.

Governance

1. If I raised a concern about ethics and integrity, I am confident my employer would do what is right.

Social

1. At work, I am treated with respect.

Social

1. There is someone at work who encourages my development.

Social

1. My organisation cares about my overall wellbeing.

Environmental

1. My organisation makes a positive impact on people and the planet.

What does people and planet mean for the future of your business?

Many of our clients are already doing some brilliant ESG related work, though it isn’t often formalised under the ESG headline. If your business doesn’t meet the reporting criteria it’s not mandatory to do so, but it makes sense to start thinking in this way. Your business will be better placed should the regulation change in future. It also demonstrates that you are a responsible, conscientious and ethical employer that’s both fit for the future and making tangible progress towards your sustainability goals.

Even small businesses should be thinking about the environmental, social and governance themes. What work are you already doing in these areas and what more could you and your team be doing to effect change and show that you are a responsible employer in all respects.

Will you ask the five employee voice questions in your next employee survey? What will you do with the feedback? We recommend you listen, learn and take action on what your people tell you. You might be surprised by what you discover.

Further reading

There’s more on sustainability from a people perspective in our blogs How to be a healthy organisation and Corporate Social Responsibility. Discover how to green the office in Creating an eco workspace.

We’re here to help

If you’d like to discuss the business benefits of an ESG strategy or would like support to create and implement one, please get in touch with our team of HR professionals on 0161 941 2426.