Connect HR and sustainability, and you win
- Ine De Loore
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
Sustainable action is proving increasingly essential in terms of employer branding. A recent study by Deloitte shows that 72% of Gen Z and 71% of Millennials consider an open sustainability policy as one of the most important factors when choosing a new employer. With Forest Forward, we offer companies a solution to this by making sustainability happen. We plant trees and create nature, but we also excite people around all those – sometimes slightly too abstract – sustainable plans and, via workshops and impact events, help make social relevance more concrete than ever.
Sustainability is no longer an annoying afterthought for many companies. No longer an ‘oh right, we should look into that sometime’. Companies are increasingly supporting actions to combat climate change and for many, sustainability is actually becoming one of their core values. By pushing so hard against climate change, they do not give nature a helping hand, but also their own business. Because being sustainable as a company pays off when you are looking for new talent or when you want engage your current employees to stay on board.
With so much competition on the job market, it is not always easy to find new talent. Sometimes job postings remain unfilled for weeks or even months. An open sustainability policy, then, can be the key to convince an applicant to choose your company.
Deloitte, the well-known international financial and business services company, has conducted a global survey every year for 13 years, in which they gauge the thoughts and opinions on life and work of today's youngest work generations: the ‘Millennials’, people born between 1983 and 1994, and ‘Gen Z’, born between 1995 and 2005. In their most recent study from 2024, with more than 22,800 respondents, a whopping 72% of Gen Z and 71% of Millennials indicated that, for them, an open sustainability policy is one of the most important factors when choosing a new employer. In fact, 20% (Gen Z) and 19% (Millennials) of respondents have already changed jobs because their old employer had no or even a negative impact on the environment.
Even Carole Lamarque, marketing expert and CEO of Duval Union Innovative Marketing, is convinced that you will win the ‘war for talent’ if, as a company, you actively combat climate change. According to her, ecology and economics go hand in hand. As she recently wrote in Trends (translated):
“Gen Z and millennials today want to work for companies committed to climate. This trend will not stop, quite the contrary. The young people who joined climate marches by the tens of thousands before the covid crisis are gradually entering the job market. And so, climate is also becoming a matter for HR and will have to play a leading role in employer branding.”
So paying extra attention to the E and the S of ESG is essential when looking for new talent and engaging your current employees. At Forest Forward we always see the latter group, in particular, reacting very enthusiastically during our impact events and planting actions of company forests or school forests. At our last collective planting activity, for example, every participant was extremely motivated – proudly so – to plant trees together with their employer for a new company forest.
Passionate employees of Ikea and Yuki during a collective planting campaign with Forest Forward.
Planting forests is therefore a great way to enthuse and inspire employees, new or old. But other actions can also prove a useful contribution. Deloitte's survey asked respondents in what way companies can make an ecological impact, to which 25% of Gen Z and 29% of Millennials responded they would like to see companies offer training to their employees on how to live sustainably. So it is not always just a matter of sustainability in the management room, but it is also important to encourage ecological awareness in every employee.
With Forest Forward, we notice this interest in training and workshops, which is why we organise sustainability workshops and guided nature walks with our sister company Lagom. With compelling stories, scientific insights and interactive sessions, our experts bring your sustainable plans to life in an accessible, connecting and appealing way.
For whatever reason you choose nature creation or education; making a sustainable commitment as a company is always a win-win. Do you want to check with Forest Forward how we can help your company in this regard?
Click here to read Deloitte's full 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey study.
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