With almost half of graduate job seekers researching a company’s ESG commitments before applying, employers must have clear ESG policies and know how to highlight them effectively.
Are you a graduate employer looking to attract top talent to your organisation? One of the most important factors when recruiting millennials is your company’s commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). 75% of the working population will be millennials as of 2025. As such, taking proactive measures to boost your ESG commitments will help give you a competitive edge.
In this blog, we’ll take a deep dive into ESG, sharing expert ideas on how you can highlight your organisation’s ESG commitments. We’ll also explain how ESG can improve your recruitment strategy.
Let’s jump right in.
What Is ESG?
ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It’s a framework used to assess a company’s commitment to operating sustainably and responsibly. This includes considering the impact on the environment, its employees, and society as a whole.
A recent study by KPMG showed that one in five millennials turned down a job because the company’s ESG commitments didn’t line up with their own. This increased to one in three for Gen-Z graduates, showing that there’s a lot more to graduate recruitment than just a salary.
It’s clear from these statistics that recent graduates aren’t just looking for a job, they want their prospective employer to take an active role in contributing to a better, more sustainable society. They’re not willing to settle for less and, in all honesty, why should they?
Showcasing Your ESG Efforts
So, this brings us to the crux of our blog: how you can effectively showcase your company’s ESG commitments to attract top talent.
We’ve broken it down into the three elements of ESG, suggesting possible actions and highlighting efforts for each.
Environmental
With the government committing to reach net zero by 2050, we all have a responsibility to operate our businesses in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Actions: you can demonstrate your commitment to the environment by
- making a conscious effort to reduce energy consumption,
- offsetting your carbon footprint to become carbon neutral or even carbon positive,
- making your products using 100% recyclable or recycled materials.
Highlighting efforts: your actions have consequences, so now is the time to show off what you’ve accomplished through your environmental commitments:
- publish case studies highlighting the impact of your activities,
- quantify the positive environmental changes your organisation has made,
- share any awards or recognition you’ve received thanks to your efforts.
Social
The “social” part of ESG relates not only to the social culture you create within your organisation but also to how you interact with your customers and the outside world.
Actions: highlight your social responsibility by
- creating an EDI policy,
- implementing employee support programmes,
- offering tuition reimbursement,
- volunteering in the local community.
Highlighting efforts: working on your organisation’s social responsibility will allow you to
- share positive employee experiences about your company’s culture,
- improve EDI which will help to attract diverse graduates,
- partner with charities and non-profit organisations
Governance
The “governance” element of ESG refers to how the organisation is run, what the decision-making processes are, and the general ethics of your organisation. Following high-profile, extremely damaging scandals like Volkswagen’s emission tests and Meta’s misuse of data, governance is vital to upholding your organisation’s public image.
Actions: exhibit strong governance through
- ethical sourcing practices,
- transparent decision-making processes,
- clear company policies.
Highlighting efforts: you can do this by
- making all of your company policies easily accessible from your recruitment page,
- publishing any awards or recognition for your ethical business practices,
- publishing annual, bi-annual, or even quarterly reports that detail your governance practices and sustainability efforts.
Integrating ESG Into Your Recruitment Processes
The final part of highlighting your ESG commitments to attract top talent is to incorporate them into your recruitment strategy.
Here are some best practices.
Careers page
Display your ESG commitments to prospective candidates. For example, dedicating a section on your careers page specifically to your ESG initiatives will immediately catch their eye.
Visibly outline your company goals and showcase sustainability or social responsibility projects run by your current employees.
Job descriptions
Take the opportunity to highlight your ESG commitments by weaving aspects of them into relevant job descriptions. For instance, if your company develops sustainable products, mention how new hires can contribute to these goals.
Interview process
Your interview process should incorporate questions about ESG awareness. In this way, you’ll be able to assess a candidate’s values and see how well they align with your company culture.
Key Takeaways
So, now you know how to improve ESG commitment in your company. By actively promoting your ESG commitments, you open the door for potential employees to become part of something bigger – an organisation actively shaping a better future for our society.
These strategies will help you position yourself as an employer of choice. In this way, you’ll attract top talent who are passionate about building a sustainable and responsible future.
Want access to 10,000+ potential applicants? Our experts at Developing a Student can support you in attracting graduate talent for your workforce.
Here are just some of the services we offer:
- Advice and support – Our website is packed with guides for employers, including advice on attracting graduates and building a diverse work environment. Find the latest industry insights on our blog.
- Attract graduate talent – Get in touch to advertise your roles on our dedicated graduate jobs board.
- Find diverse graduate talent – Our job advert inclusivity screening tests your ad against our “Inclusive Language Checklist” to remove potentially discriminatory language.
- Advertise your business – Our talented team of writers works with you to create a company profile that documents your efforts as a top graduate employer dedicated to ESG.
Call 03458724501 or email info@developingastudent.com to learn more about our bespoke packages.
