Aon Hewitt has released its list of Canada’s “Green 30”—organizations whose employees are most positive about their record on environmental stewardship.
The list was compiled from employee feedback given during Aon Hewitt’s research for its 2011 Best Employers in Canada and Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada rankings.
Aon Hewitt surveyed more than 130,000 employees at more than 250 organizations for their opinions on their employers’ environmental stewardship. Surveyed employees were asked to give their opinion on their employer’s commitment to green initiatives such as using environmentally friendly office products, participating in Earth Hour and Earth Day, subsidies for public transit use and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in company vehicles.
At the Green 30 organizations, an average of 82% of employees have a positive perception of their employers’ eco-friendly efforts. At the 30 organizations with the least positive reviews, that figure is 46%.
Neil Crawford, Aon Hewitt’s leader of the Best Employers in Canada study, said the Green 30 results show that employees take notice of organizations that assume a leadership role in environmental stewardship. “Effective green programs and practices may persuade certain employees to join or stay with an organization. Certainly employee engagement scores at the Green 30 are higher than those at the 30 organizations that ranked lowest on the Employee Green Index—67% for the Green 30 versus 46% at the 30 lowest ranked employers.”
The 30 organizations on the list include organizations in retail, hospitality, food service and other industries. On the financial side, the Co-operators Life Insurance Company, Scotiabank Group and TD Bank Financial Group were among the leaders.
The full Green 30 list appears in the May 9 issue of Maclean’s magazine, currently on newsstands.