Employee perceptions of a company’s environmental and social record has emerged as an important driver of employee engagement.
On average, 95% of employees in Green 30 organizations were positive about their employer’s environmental and social responsibility record, compared with 79% of employees in the average Canadian organization in Aon Hewitt’s employee research database.
In a typical Green 30 organization, 93% of employees believe that their employer is fair, respectful and honest with their customers or clients, compared with a Canadian average of 82%. Employees in Green 30 organizations are also more likely to believe their employer has an excellent reputation in the local community—an average of 90%, versus the Canadian average of 75%.
“Our research consistently shows that environmental and social responsibility is a top five high-impact driver for organizations seeking to sustain high levels of employee engagement,” says Neil Crawford, Aon Hewitt’s leader of the Best Employers in Canada study. “Perceptions of environmental/social performance are a risk area that organizations need to understand and manage to protect against declines in employee engagement.”
The payoff of these positive perceptions are clear: employees of organizations on the 2014 Green 30 cite a greater degree of pride in their organizations than employees of other organizations do – 90%, compared with the Canadian average of 77%.
The fourth annual Green 30 was developed by assessing employee perceptions of environmental and social responsibility in their workplaces, and drew on survey data submitted as part of Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in Canada and Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada 2014 studies, in which almost 300 Canadian public- and private-sector organizations participated.
This year’s list appears in the May 19 issue of Maclean’s magazine.
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