EcoMagnetism: drawing in top talent with sustainability

2024 marks the 20^th year of the ‘Corporate Knights Global 100’ rankings – a list of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. This is a list I always want to take a close look at!

The ‘Global 100’ gives insight into which organizations are investing in green solutions such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and the circular economy, how they are performing in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion, taxes paid, and interesting remuneration metrics such as CEO pay versus employee average and contributions to employee pensions. The organizations ranked in the ‘Global 100’ are securing their own sustainable futures as successful, growing organizations in the low-carbon economy of the near future, and already outperforming the All-Country World Index financially.

The ‘Global 100’ are also positioning themselves as highly attractive employers. Principles of fairness, inclusion and purpose are inextricably linked to employer attractiveness, and those listed are very well placed to attract talents that are motivated by purposeful and long-term careers. Given that all the recent research (e.g., the Edelman 'Trust at Work' report) points towards the clear majority of talent wanting purpose in their work (71%), this is a competitive differentiator when competing for the best talent available in the market.

According to the CEO of Corporate Knights, when the ‘Global 100’ was launched in 2005, ‘the green economy was a quaint idea’. Sustainability reports were in their infancy, and seen more as a tick-box exercise to help satisfy the ESG agenda. They are now seen as critical business reporting tools to communicate the sustainability strategy of an organization and the audience is not only investors but talent as well. According to the Edelman report more than half (51%) of talent will decide where they want to work based on the stated climate and sustainability strategy of an organization.

Congratulations to all those listed in the ‘Global 100’ and let’s hope that 2024 is a year within which more purposeful careers are offered to the global workforce. You can guarantee that the ‘Global 100’ will have a head-start on many of their competitors for talent! 

At AMS, we are committed to progressing our sustainability agenda in the areas of equality, wellbeing, climate change and support to local communities. You can find our 2023 Sustainability report here.