What the ‘E’ in ESG can do for your people and planet

Amba 16th November 2021

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy within a business is essential. It shows your customers and your employees that you care about both the planet and their wellbeing.

Environmental requirements include company policy for waste disposal, use of resources and the impact on its people and the planet. It also covers corporate responsibility for carbon emissions and climate change. Yet despite the rise in company ESG policies, over 80% of employees still think their employer is not doing enough to address climate change. Offering employee benefits and a good ESG policy can help your people and your planet.

What do your employees really want?

The modern workforce is increasingly made up of tech savvy, young people, who place equal importance on what they love, what they’re good at and what the world needs. Generation Z and Millennials now make up over 50% of the workforce.

These groups of employees want to make a difference to the planet in more than just their home lives. They bring the values they have at home to work and expectations on employer provided benefits are changing. This, in turn, has a huge effect on attracting and retaining talent, with people seeking employers that care about the planet and, employees looking to their employers to help them with their own carbon footprint. 89% of employees see it as necessary for their employer to make sustainability a priority.

Environmental policy and employee needs are aligned

Long gone are the days where an environmental policy had no bearing on the reality of the company. Greenwashing is increasingly visible to competitors and searching talent, so employers have no choice but to practice what they preach.

When any business makes widespread change, they can easily investigate what benefits this will have for the environment. As an example, working from home not only allows employees to have a more flexible work-life balance, but could cut carbon emissions by as much as 95%. A good ESG policy will align environmental needs with the social needs and desires of your workforce.

Change how your people feel about your business

Employee satisfaction has a huge bearing on every element of your business, from staff retention through to output and even company growth. Employees that are unhappy with your environmental policy will logically be less satisfied, and less engaged with their work. In fact, companies with a good ESG policy on average see a 16% growth in employee productivity. Changing how your people feel about your business will make them happier, and therefore more productive and fulfilled as individuals.

Give them a stake in business development

Don’t have a good environmental policy? Take your employees on the journey with you. If you feel that your ESG criteria can be improved, put it to your employees. Employees that are able to provide upwards feedback are almost 20% more likely to stay at a company. Creating the opportunity for your people to be involved in your ESG policy will keep them more engaged and happier at the company overall.

Eco-friendly commutes for a better employee experience

Employee benefits that have a direct impact on sustainability – like a Cycle2Work scheme – have a huge impact on employee wellbeing. A study in the British Medical Journal reported that cycling to work reduced the risk of heart-related diseases and cancer. The environmental benefits are also huge – just one person cycling four miles to work can reduce their carbon emissions by half a tonne.

How do you start?

We live and breathe employee benefits that echo employees’ own environmental and social values.

Through our platform, Lumina, you and your employees can access benefits like:

Carbon neutral pensions
Electric vehicle leasing
Green/renewable energy tariffs

Implementing ESG practices and processes can be a daunting step. Our advice is, start at the beginning – Our platform, Lumina, includes your choice of many ESG products and services, plus your flexible employee benefits platform, HR Information System, online payslips, and other work-related technology, so it’s all in one place. Good for people, good for the planet.

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