Introduction: Can Recruitment Save the Planet—Today and Tomorrow?
It’s 2025, and sustainability is no longer an aspirational buzzword—it’s the lens through which organizations future-proof every decision they make. What if your hiring process could secure top talent and fight climate change at the same time? It might sound ambitious, but it’s fast becoming reality. Talent acquisition is emerging as an unlikely yet essential driver of transformation—and the way we recruit today will shape the future we leave behind.
Progress Over Perfection
Achieving carbon-neutral recruitment doesn’t demand perfection; it calls for progress. Every small step—whether it’s transitioning to virtual interviews or measuring travel-related emissions—drives real, tangible impact.
“Sustainability in recruitment isn’t just about minimising harm; it’s about maximising impact for talent and the planet—well into 2030 and beyond.”
Why Sustainability Is the New Must-Have in Talent Acquisition
1. Purpose-Driven Talent Continues to Demand More
The next generation of workers won’t just ask, “What’s the salary?” They’ll ask, “What’s the impact?”
Looking Back & Moving Forward: Even in Deloitte’s Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, nearly 40% of respondents reported turning down job offers that ran contrary to their personal values—including environmental concerns.^1 Since then, sustainability pressures have only intensified. By 2025, early indicators suggest that the proportion of sustainability-focused jobseekers could exceed 50%, as climate accountability becomes the norm and global net-zero roadmaps accelerate.
Implications: This expanded focus means organizations can’t rely on outdated corporate social responsibility statements. To attract top-tier candidates in 2025 and beyond, companies need visible climate commitments that align with the next generation’s values.
Meanwhile, Weber Shandwick’s “Employee Activism in the Age of Purpose” report (initially released pre-2025) set the stage for escalating employee demands. Today, those demands are heightened, with activism evolving into structured, internal climate advocacy groups. The message remains clear: sustainability influences every corner of the talent equation—and that influence will only deepen.
“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.”
Sustainability doesn’t just attract attention—it builds trust. In LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends from 2022 to 2024, companies with robust ESG profiles saw consistent jumps in applicant engagement.^2 As we move further into 2025, this momentum has shifted from a “nice-to-have” to a critical differentiator.
Avoiding Greenwashing: By 2025, talent pools are more discerning than ever. Greenwashing is swiftly exposed, thanks to real-time social media scrutiny. Meanwhile, IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 & S2)—released in 2023—continue to shape the transparency expectations placed on businesses.^3 By now, failing to back up your green claims isn’t merely a reputational liability; it risks regulatory penalties and long-term talent drains.
3. Regulations Have Tightened—And Will Keep Evolving
Starting in late 2023, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and UK Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirements expanded the scope of emissions reporting.^4 By 2025, companies are expected not only to measure but also to mitigate emissions across all activities—including recruitment.
Scope 3 Emissions in Focus: During the early phases of these regulations (2023–2024), recruiting teams started quantifying candidate travel and interview-related carbon costs.^5 In 2025, this practice is maturing into standard procedure. As more countries adopt or update similar frameworks, organizations that fail to measure hiring emissions risk falling behind.
What Is Carbon-Neutral Recruitment in 2025?
Carbon-neutral recruitment means actively reducing, measuring, and offsetting emissions throughout the hiring process—under today’s more stringent climate commitments. It’s not limited to merely adopting virtual hiring technology; it’s about reimagining the entire talent acquisition ecosystem:
Virtual Hiring: By 2025, cutting travel emissions through virtual interviews has become an industry norm.
Internal Mobility: Prioritising reskilling and redeployment over external hiring remains one of the most impactful ways to curb recruitment-related emissions.
Transparency: Measuring, sharing, and verifying the carbon impact of hiring decisions is now an expected best practice, in line with the ongoing IFRS/CSRD reporting wave.
Practical Strategies for Sustainable Recruitment
1. Leverage Technology for Green Gains
AI and data-driven platforms are more powerful than ever in 2025:
Smarter AI tools have evolved to optimise screening with minimal computing power—lowering both time and energy consumption.
Carbon tracking dashboards that were novel in 2023 are now standard offerings in many applicant tracking systems (ATS). They monitor emissions from interviews, recruitment events, and candidate travel.
Green data centers have taken center stage, with major cloud providers continually innovating to meet their 2030 net-zero targets. Microsoft and Google, for instance, are on track to power data centers with 100% clean energy in certain regions.^6
Tip (for 2025 and beyond): Ensure you’re transparent about how your tech is powered. Today’s top candidates expect full visibility into environmental impact.
2. Go (Even More) Digital with Recruitment Marketing
Physical materials are nearly a relic:
Brochures are replaced by interactive microsites and QR codes—which have only become more intuitive since 2023.
AR-powered virtual office tours are more immersive, cutting travel needs while showcasing state-of-the-art sustainability features, such as solar-powered buildings or energy-efficient workspaces.
Example: FTSE 100 company, building on early success in 2023, continued to digitize recruitment efforts through 2024–2025. Over this period, internal data suggests they eliminated approximately 12 metric tonnes of CO₂e emissions annually from what was once a high-volume printing and shipping process.^7 Their year-over-year candidate engagement also rose by 15%, a figure that underscores the continuing appeal of eco-friendly innovation.
3. Prioritise Internal Mobility
Reskilling existing employees is more critical than ever in 2025:
Fewer external hires mean smaller carbon footprints from onboarding, relocation, and travel.
Training programmes are increasingly delivered online, further reducing emissions. As skill needs rapidly evolve—especially around AI, data science, and environmental management—internal mobility is a cost-effective, planet-friendly solution.
Reskilling is sustainability in action—reducing waste, creating opportunity, and driving long-term agility well into the late 2020s.
4. Decentralise and Localise Hiring
Remote and hybrid models continue to dominate:
Minimise relocation by focusing on regional talent pools or networks, building on the remote-first momentum from 2020–2024.
Co-working hubs in strategic locations reduce commuting—helping staff work closer to home, while retaining the collaborative benefits of in-person interaction.
In 2025, the benefits of this approach are well-documented: it lowers emissions, diversifies candidate pipelines, and fosters a global talent strategy without the carbon-heavy footprint.
5. Be Transparent—Greenwashing Isn’t an Option
By 2025, green credentials are fact-checked in real time:
Publish ESG reports that highlight recruitment-specific metrics, like interview-related emissions saved through virtual processes.
Some leading-edge companies now use blockchain or similar technologies to certify carbon offsets and verify green claims, building trust among employees, investors, and candidates alike.
The Future of Recruitment: Leading the Charge Beyond 2025
Sustainable recruitment is rapidly outgrowing its “trend” phase. As we look to 2026 and beyond:
Sustainability KPIs are poised to match or exceed traditional metrics like cost-per-hire, time-to-fill, and quality-of-hire.
Carbon-lite AI will continue evolving, with green-coded algorithms and minimal energy usage becoming the norm for HR software.
Decentralised workforces will further slash commuting emissions, driving a new wave of planetary and people-first recruitment.
The future of recruitment isn’t just about who you hire—it’s about how you hire, and why.
The choices made in 2025 won’t just fill roles; they’ll shape the strategic and sustainable trajectory of entire industries. Moving toward a carbon-neutral hiring framework isn’t just about technical fixes; it’s about demonstrating purpose and leadership in a world where climate accountability has become the baseline.
Ready to take the next step? Begin by measuring your recruitment emissions, experimenting with green tech, and being radically transparent. Small, focused steps today will have an outsized impact on your legacy tomorrow.
References
Deloitte (2023). Deloitte Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey.
The data points from 2022–2024 are included to illustrate ongoing trends and regulatory milestones. Readers are encouraged to review the latest versions of these studies and standards—especially as 2025 unfolds—to stay at the forefront of sustainable recruitment innovations.
With a forward-looking mindset, your recruitment strategy can become a catalyst for both organizational success and planetary well-being.
Sustainability in recruitment isn’t just about minimizing harm; it’s about maximizing impact for both talent and the planet
In today’s rapidly evolving cultural and political landscape, the strategic importance of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is clear. Our latest insights explore why businesses continue to invest in DEIB initiatives amidst ongoing global challenges and scrutiny.
Key Insights:
Business Performance: Diverse teams consistently outperform homogenous teams in areas such as innovation, decision-making, and market expansion. This underscores the importance of DEIB in driving business success.
Talent Acquisition: A strong DEIB reputation can attract and retain top talent, especially in a competitive job market. Inclusive recruitment strategies ensure that job adverts welcome all applicants and encourage individuals from underrepresented groups.
Meeting Customer Needs: Gaining a deep understanding of diverse customer bases allows businesses to better meet their needs, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. This alignment with customer needs is essential for business growth.
Employee Engagement and Retention: Inclusive workplaces where employees feel valued, respected and a sense of belonging see higher engagement and lower attrition, reducing recruitment costs and fostering long-term loyalty.
Navigating Social and Political Changes: The shifting dialogue around DEIB initiatives has sparked debate about their role in the corporate world. Learn how to navigate these changes while maintaining compliance and commitment to DEIB.
Inclusive Recruitment Practices: Discover practical strategies for reaching diverse talent pools, such as partnering with community organizations and educational institutions, and clearly communicating your commitment to DEIB.
Client Success Stories: Explore real-world examples of how organizations have successfully implemented DEIB strategies, resulting in improved diversity metrics and overall business performance outcomes.
These insights provide valuable guidance for businesses looking to navigate the evolving DEIB landscape and leverage inclusive practices to drive innovation, enhance decision-making, and achieve sustainable growth.
Supplier diversity programmes are proactive procurement strategies that encourage organisations to purchase goods or services from traditionally underrepresented communities and include minority-owned businesses in their supply chain.
Minority-owned (or ‘diverse-owned’) businesses are at least 51% owned and operated by an underrepresented group and can include ethnically diverse, women, disabled, neurodiverse and LGBTQ+ owned suppliers.
In 2023, we launched our own diversity supplier strategy to promote to promote inclusive practices across our supply chain, and creating more opportunity for minority-owned businesses, maximising spend with these where possible.
AMS focuses our efforts on creating diverse and SME supplier eco-systems specific to a client’s needs. Our current supply partners include a range of certified minority or women-owned businesses who deliver certain aspects of a client’s solution such as sourcing or tech enablement. We also have proactive programmes in place to drive DEIB and Social Value through our partners and suppliers, such as our DEI Alliance.
In this article we explore our learnings and some best practices we have learnt along the way to optimise societal, environmental and economic impacts.
The business case
The UK’s Social Value Act encourages public sector bodies to consider Social Value alongside cost and quality in any tender process, one of its five key themes includes Tackling Economic Inequality with increasing supply chain resilience as a policy outcome.
Outside this, and current US regulation on minority-owned suppliers, there is little legislation which stipulates that organisations must implement a supplier diversity strategy. So what’s the value in making it a strategic business priority?
Growth and Market Expansion – Improved diversity in the supply chain allows an organisation to easily tap into new markets and customer bases with diverse demographics, driving growth, expanding reach and encouraging new entrepreneurs. It also aligns with the growing consumer and employee demand for ethical business practices, and can enhance brand loyalty.
Economic Contributions and Community Impact – Through diversity supplier programmes, organisations can significantly boost local economies, create jobs, and enhance purchasing power in underrepresented communities. According to the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), certified minority-owned businesses generate more than $400 billion in annual revenue and economic output that leads to the creation and preservation of 2.2 million jobs. In the UK, ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) contribute more than £25 billion annually to the economy, which could rise to £100 billion with the right support according to the Natwest Business Growth Report. This economic empowerment translates into a stronger, more resilient market for everyone.
Innovation and Competitive Advantage – Engaging diverse suppliers fosters innovation and enhances competition, bringing in different perspectives and leading to better products and services. Additionally, a diverse supplier base can reduce dependency on a limited number of suppliers, increasing business resilience and agility, and decreasing supply costs via supplier competition.
Promoting Equity and Fairness of Opportunity – In redirecting supplier spend to minority-owned businesses, supplier diversity programmes are a powerful tool to combat systemic racism and promote social justice. Adopting a fair and inclusive procurement process and including often overlooked suppliers who may have exceptional capability ensures that all businesses – regardless of size, location, background – have the same opportunities to compete for the supply of goods and services.
Suppler diversity isn’t about positive discrimination – but providing greater opportunities through our procurement processes, underpinned by the need to acquire goods and services that meet an organisation’s service, quality, cost, innovation, risk, sustainability and compliance standards.
From a supplier perspective, a report by Aston University found that improving practices in procurement could help tackle the multiple barriers faced by ethnically diverse owned businesses, particularly in accessing finance, markets and quality business support, increasing their Gross Valued Added (GVA) contribution from the current £25 billion a year to an estimated £100 billion. Top barriers for small business growth include access to skilled employees (15%), cash flow challenges (15%) and lack of confidence (14%).
Five steps to creating an impactful strategy
As AMS continue to develop our own strategy in this space, below are some steps we have learnt to create, embed and measure a successful diversity supplier strategy.
1 – Clearly define your objectives
According to Business In The Community (BITC), 52% of employees working in procurement in large businesses have objectives to increase diversity and inclusion in the supply chain, and 32% do not. We firstly established a Supplier Working Group formed with representatives from Supplier Management & Procurement, Compliance and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Centre of Excellence to drive activity, securing senior level buy-in. We established clear objectives and policy statements regarding our supplier diversity approach, agreed a governance framework and roles and responsibilities as a team to embed our strategy and continuously evolve.
2 – Track diverse suppliers and spend
Only 30% of large businesses track spend with diverse suppliers. Another key step early on is getting visibility of current supplier data. Technology makes this easier – Cloud-based spend analysis solutions offer ways to identify and categorise diverse suppliers. AMS tracks Supplier Diversity spend across the UK and the US, leveraging our partnership with Supplier.io. It’s then important to monitor and track spend in each diverse supplier category on an ongoing basis, with a clear reporting mechanism; many of our clients have contractual requirements on diverse supplier spend reporting.
Taking this a step further, our Public Sector Resourcing (PSR) business have invested in Thrive Social Value software, which coverts Social Value activity into indicative financial proxy values. PSR are proud to have built a diverse and resilient supply chain of approximately 350 suppliers, and over FY23-24 generated £57.1 million worth of Social Value through their diversity supplier strategy.
3 – Expand your network
You won’t reach new suppliers by communicating with the same or existing networks. Not only can intermediaries help you tackle the barriers mentioned above, but they can give you access to suppliers who might otherwise not come into contact with your organisation. We keep abreast of diverse suppliers leveraging our internal and external networks – engaging our colleagues, clients and professional contacts to build a comprehensive knowledge of supplier landscapes.
4 – Strategise with diverse suppliers
52% of large business procurement employees don’t actively make diverse suppliers aware of opportunities. It’s important to proactively involve your diverse suppliers in the procurement process, creating collaborative forums to strategise and co-create products and solutions. An innovative example of this is our AMS DEI Alliance (see case study below). Some organisations also offer mentoring programmes to help minority-owned business owners navigate the supplier qualification or procurement process.
This year, PSR launched the Social Value Supplier Connect, designed to maximise social impact by fostering collaboration between PSR and our suppliers. Led by the PSR Social Value and Supplier Management teams, the Connect forum brings together our key suppliers three times a year to discuss best practice, share success stories and identify partnership opportunities. The group comprises a mix of both large and small organisations, ensuring diverse experiences and perspectives that can be shared. Suppliers in the forum also benefit from a ‘resource catalogue’ developed by PSR providing additional materials such as Accessibility Training delivered by the AMS DEIB COE and our Disability Employee Resource Group (ERG).
5 – Share guidance for your colleagues
The next step on our journey is to provide practical and relevant guidance for our business on responsible, fair and inclusive procurement processes. This includes Bias & Conscious Inclusion training for colleagues with a focus on supplier outreach and selection to help maximise opportunities for diverse businesses, as well as an education programme on proactive supplier engagement and collaboration.
Case Study: AMS DEI Alliance
In 2022 AMS formed a Diversity & Inclusion Alliance, a market-leading collaboration hub of DEIB focused partners to improve diverse representation across our clients’ total workforces and bring market leading DEIB expertise and insight to inform talent strategies.
Many of our partners are voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) or minority-owned businesses, and include 55/ Redefined (female founded), Evenbreak (disabled owned and operated) BYP Network (Black owned and operated), Recruit for Spouses (female founded), myGwork (LGBTQ+ owned) and auticon (largest majority autistic company in the world).
We firstly developed a robust strategy for identifying diverse suppliers – continuously engaging our colleagues, clients and external contacts to build a deep knowledge of the DEIB supplier landscape – both suppliers currently partnered with AMS, or who we were not currently signed. The DEIB COE and Procurement teams developed an RFI process to onboard new Alliance partners against consistent criteria.
We’re proud to have developed a collaborative forum to share client opportunities, co-develop inclusive strategies, share learnings and best practices. We advocate for our Alliance partners with our clients; to introduce our partners to our clients across the UK, we held an ‘Alliance roadshow’ in autumn 2024, taking our Alliance on an in-person tour across the UK holding networking events across key locations of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh with a total of nearly 150 attendees.
As a result, we have generated significant interest from public and private sector clients, facilitating introductions to customers such as the HM Land Registry who are working with myGwork to access LGBTQ+ talent.
Conclusion
Incorporating a diversity supplier programme into your business strategy is a win-win. It’s a meaningful strategy for sustainable procurement, driving innovation, enhancing competitiveness, and creating significant Social Value, while also increasing business resilience and agility.
By actively engaging with diverse suppliers, your organisation can build a resilient and agile supply chain, demonstrate commitment to Social Value to your stakeholders, and unlock new market opportunities.
If you’d like to learn more about maximising your work with diverse and minority-owned suppliers, do reach out.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives have become a cornerstone of corporate strategies, aiming to create more equitable workplaces by promoting fair processes, leading to diverse representation, and fostering inclusive environments.
However, the term ‘DEI’ has accumulated significant cultural and political baggage.
New scrutiny has caused some organisations to cut back on DEI budgets, headcount and inclusive hiring efforts. Companies are walking on eggshells as the environment remains challenging, with many firms quietly transforming the way they refer to DEI, omitting mentions of ‘diversity goals’ in their annual reports, or dropping these goals altogether.
It’s a stark contrast to 2020, when the murder of George Floyd jolted organisations into vocal representation commitments and intentional positive action. Now, critics argue there has been an ‘overcorrection’ to historic underrepresentation, where organisations are dialling back their approaches at a time where powerful voices against DEI become louder (the title of this article ‘DEI = Didn’t Earn It’ has been used provocatively against the profession in internet memes, along with ‘DEI must DIE’).
As such we’re starting to see changes in the language used in the market; in July 2024, the world’s largest Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) announced it would be dropping ‘Equity’ from the way it refers to ‘Inclusion, Equity and Diversity’, citing the need to lead with inclusion, but attracting criticism from HR professionals who feel this shifts the focus away from addressing systemic inequalities and individual barriers.
What’s driving the DEI backlash?
Political polarisation:In my last blog I talked about how DEI has become a politically charged topic, particularly in a key election year across the Western world. This in part stems from the Affirmative Action Supreme Court ruling in the US, outlawing race-conscious admissions in higher education. This has created a knock-on effect to the corporate world despite diverse outreach and EEO reporting continuing to be a requirement in the US.
Measurement and perceived effectiveness: Many organisations responded to George Floyd’s murder in 2020 with investing significantly into DEI efforts, either into a sustainable strategy closely aligned to business goals, or slap-dash with a short-term, transitory view leading to ‘diversity fatigue’ with the effects already wearing off. Without clear outcome metrics, it’s hard to assess the impact and return on investment, leading some to question the value of these efforts.
Tokenism: There is a concern that DEI efforts can sometimes lead to tokenism, where the focus is on meeting diversity metrics and performative representation rather than fostering genuine inclusion. This can undermine the credibility and effectiveness of these initiatives.
Perceived exclusion: Ironically, some argue that DEI initiatives, meant to include, can feel exclusive to particular groups. Almost 70% of white men feel ‘forgotten’ by DEI initiatives, despite holding more than 40% of leadership positions globally, and two in five Britons reportedly feel championing women’s equality discriminates against men. This has given rise to the notion of ‘Oppression Olympics’, which suggests competition between marginalised groups, where one is perceived as ‘taking away from’ another.
Evolving DEI
Ultimately, however, experts are confident efforts will continue – even if they’re labelled as something else. SHRM argue through their intentional ‘rebrand’ that the principles of ‘equity’, i.e. promoting fairness based on individual needs recognising that not everyone starts from the same place, remains embedded in their work through practices and policies. So, should we change how we talk about ‘DEI’ and have a better chance of achieving the same goals through different means?
ESG and Social Value – Given these challenges, some organisations are positioning DEI under the broader umbrellas of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or Social Value as a strategic move. Social Value refers to the meaningful impact an organisation has on society – beyond compliance and risk mitigation, to contribute to long-term development, impact and sustainability. The UK’s Social Value Act mandated Social Value as a procurement requirement for all government contracts to address the ‘Social’ pillar in ESG efforts. AMS’s Public Sector Resourcing (PSR) service, which provides more than 17,000 skilled, contingent workers across the UK government at any one time, has formed its own Social Value strategy; from a recruit, train deploy model to upskill trainees from underrepresented backgrounds, to embedding our D&I Alliance of DEIB partners including Bridge of Hope, auticon and Recruit for Spouses to improve representation in our clients’ workforces. By framing DEI within this context, organisations can present these efforts as part of a broader commitment to sustainable hiring and people strategies. Social Value can also be quantified in commercial impact; after implementing Thrive software, PSR generated over £57 million in Social Value impact in 2023-24 financial year.
Belonging – Between 2023 and 2024, mentions of ‘DEI’ and ‘diversity’ in reports from Fortune 100 companies fell 22%, while ‘belonging’ jumped 59%. Last year, we added the ‘B’ for Belonging into how we refer to DEI at AMS, bringing this into the core of how we operate and joining other industry leaders who use DEIB. A recent d&i Leaders webinar explored how belonging impacts wellbeing, reduces turnover and improves workplace productivity, while Forbes ranked belonging as a top 2024 strategy in an uncertain economic climate. Research in Harvard Business Review shows that when employees feel like they belong, they’re 3.5 times more likely to contribute to their fullest potential. And belonging is something most of us can relate to; according to the American Psychological Association 94% of workers feel it is very or somewhat important to them.
Business outcomes – It’s important not to lose sight of the ‘why’ in a DEI existential crisis. Beyond the moral imperative of promoting fairness of opportunity, practitioners often cite ‘the business case for DEI’, identifying correlations between a diverse workforce and innovation, as well as commercial success. Harvard Business Review found that diverse teams have been shown to be 70% more likely to capture new markets and 87% better at making decisions than homogenous teams. In June 2023, a study by the ratings agency Moody’s found that companies with higher ratings tended to have a greater racial diversity on their boards and in their executive ranks. Read more about harnessing DEI for business success here.
There’s a lot that DEI practitioners can learn from the backlash. Regardless of what we call it, this isn’t the time to abandon our principles; we now have a unique opportunity to refine how we approach DEI to bring everyone along the journey regardless of background, reduce unhelpful friction, and create more meaningful and lasting impact.
Earlier this year AMS asked talent leaders across the globe their opinions on the ‘green skills’ crisis. Shockingly, 84% of respondents said something needs to be done urgently to address the green skills gap, but only 7% think something will!
I was expecting this headline to be part of the new whitepaper around green skills we have developed on the basis of our outreach and research, but actually seeing it brought to life through real data was certainly a sobering thought.
We also asked our respondents what the barriers are to bridging this gap and what needs to be done, to get to where we need to be. The insights that followed were fascinating and revealed that whilst a lot of work is required, optimism still remains among those tasked with creating the strategies for global talent in their organizations.I would encourage anyone who has an interest in talent strategies to help us achieve our sustainability imperatives to download the whitepaper here.
HR and talent leaders are uniquely positioned to be a powerful force in closing the green skills gap and supporting sustainability efforts and our whitepaper shines a light on some of the areas that could make a real impact.
We conclude our whitepaper with the following recommendations;
Embrace a long term mindset
Champion collaboration
Apply green skills with a fresh lens
Let your green show
Prioritize specialized training and development
‘Green skills’ apply to every industry in the global economy and all organizations will have to adopt a green skills talent strategy at some point in the near future. Those looking to secure a strategic competitive advantage will act now!
If we want to address the green skills gap, we need to understand that all future job roles will require green skills.
According to the UK Government’s 2023 State of the Nation report, adults with lower working-class parents are about 3 times as likely – 30% against 11% – to be in a working-class occupation compared to adults with higher professional parents. In education, people whose parents had degrees are far more likely – 64% against 18% – to get a degree than those whose parents had no qualifications.
Social mobility, officially recognized as an area of diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) thanks to the UK Government’s Social Mobility Commission, is linked to equality of opportunity: the extent to which people have the same chances to do well in life regardless of the socio-economic background of their parents, their gender, age, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, birthplace, or other circumstances beyond their control.
According to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, UK social mobility is at its worst in over 50 years. Now is the time for businesses to fulfill their social and ethical obligations by promoting social mobility in the workplace.
According to the Sutton Trust, enhancing social mobility within UK businesses to align with the average level seen in Western Europe could potentially lead to a 9% boost in GDP. This increase is equivalent to £2,620 per person, or a total of £170 billion added to the UK economy annually.
What is Social Mobility?
Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, or other social units between positions of varying advantage in the system of social stratification of a society. (International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001).
Many sociologists have traditionally concentrated on examining mobility between occupational classes, specifically the types of jobs individuals hold. In contrast, economists have more recently shifted their focus toward analysing income mobility.
Social mobility and equality of opportunity can be measured in terms of occupation, income, or ‘social class’, but can also encompass other measurements of social well-being such as health and education.
When an individual experiences a shift in their position, particularly in their occupation, without a change in social class, it is referred to as “horizontal mobility.” On the other hand, if the transition results in a change in social class, it is known as “vertical mobility,” which can manifest as either “upward mobility” or “downward mobility.”
The key markers of social mobility are health, education, housing, income, race, and gender.
In the workplace, social mobility pertains to an individual’s capacity to ascend or descend within the hierarchy or structure of a company or organization. It encompasses the progression a person’s career and enhancement of their job role, salary, and overall professional standing within their current workplace.
“This class pay gap is not just an indictment of professional employers. It is morally unjust and economically illiterate.” Alan Milburn, Social Mobility Foundation chair
Why is social mobility important?
People from disadvantaged backgrounds have fewer opportunities to climb the socio-economic ladder. The current economic situation in the UK is likely to exacerbate the UK’s social divides, limiting the career prospects of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Social mobility plays a crucial role in the health of the economy.
In 2021, services industries in the UK contributed £1.7bn in gross value to the economy, 80% of the total figure. A recent report by the Law Society highlighted the importance of social mobility in the professional services sector, stating that a lack of it poses a significant threat to Britain’s competitiveness and productivity.
According to the World Economic Forum, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterized by rapid globalization and technological advancements, has resulted in a rise in inequality. For instance, the Forum highlights that the top 1% of earners in the United States saw their income increase by 158% between 1979 and 2018, while the bottom 90% experienced only a 24% increase. This disparity underscores the widening gap between the wealthiest individuals and the majority of the population, highlighting the urgent need for policies that address income inequality and promote economic inclusivity.
“As the hiring demands for tech skills in the UK continues to rise, organisations are finding it challenging to access the talent they need to innovate and progress. The UK government recognises the importance of the tech sector and tech skills for improving the UK economy, but also acknowledges there is a significant shortage of available candidates in the market.” Mel Barnett, managing director, Public Sector Resourcing
PwC’s Future of Government research asked 4,000 people across the UK about their concerns around social mobility and the actions that they think government and businesses should take in response. The polling revealed that business has a vital role to play in improving the social mobility of younger generations, with calls from the public for better access to opportunities, work experience, and career pathways, and greater investment in apprenticeships and skills.
Implementing a social mobility strategy is not only an ethical decision, but it also plays a crucial role in shaping a more skilled and prepared workforce for the future. It not only expands the talent pool for an organization, but also enhances its appeal to potential recruits, especially the influential Generation Z, who will soon comprise the majority of the workforce. It not only fosters growth and improves local economies where an organisation operates, but it also contributes to the development of more equitable and cohesive communities.
Promoting socio-economic inclusivity is also a strategic business decision. Diverse workforces have been proven to be more innovative, productive, and better equipped to navigate the challenges of the future. By embracing inclusivity, organizations can unlock new perspectives, ideas, and talents that drive success and growth.
PwC’s global 2022 Hopes and Fears survey revealed that employees expect their employer to have strong ESG credentials; three-quarters say that they want to work for an organisation that makes a positive contribution to society, and 54% say that transparency around diversity in their employer is extremely or very important to them.
Prospective employees and clients are increasingly seeking out companies that prioritize purpose, not just profit. By championing the social mobility agenda, businesses can effectively balance their commercial interests with making a positive impact and preparing their workforce for the future.
Where compares with the UK?
The social mobility geographical patterns in the UK are striking. People of a working-class background who grew up in Outer London (West and North) had a 46% chance of becoming professionals, while those growing up in Northern Ireland had only a 28% chance.
The first round of the government’s Levelling Up funding saw £1.7bn distributed among 105 UK towns and cities, with further plans to invest in skills training, in some of the UK’s most deprived areas.
Research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies suggested that on a wide variety of measures, regional disparities in the UK are greater than in most comparable countries.
In a study conducted by Wilkinson and Pickett, the results of which were initially published in 2009, an in-depth analysis of social mobility in developed countries was carried out. Among the eight countries examined – Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the UK, and the US – it was found that the US exhibited the highest level of economic inequality and the lowest level of economic mobility. Further research has consistently shown that the US has notably low mobility for individuals at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy, with mobility gradually improving as one ascends the ladder.
Research comparing social mobility across developed nations has shown that Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Canada have the lowest intergenerational income elasticity, indicating higher levels of social mobility. In these countries, less than 20% of the advantages of having a high-income parent are passed on to their children.
In countries like India, it is common for educated women not to use their education to move up the social ladder due to cultural and traditional customs.
Chile and Brazil, two countries characterized by high levels of inequality, also exhibit some of the lowest levels of social mobility.
Who are the key players?
The Social Mobility Commission (SMC)exists to create a United Kingdom where the circumstances of birth do not determine outcomes in life. The SMC’s State of the Nationreport, is an annual report on social mobility in the UK, which sets out their views on the progress made towards improving social mobility in United Kingdom.
The Social Mobility Index is a framework for measuring social mobility in the UK. It enables a systematic look at social mobility outcomes, as well as the drivers behind social mobility. It sets out a long-term vision for measuring and monitoring social mobility outcomes over the next 30 years across the UK.
The Social Mobility Foundation is a UK-based non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the social mobility agenda, by directly supporting young people through their Aspiring Professionals Programme and influencing employers to support people with potential in their professional progression. The foundation’s Employer Indexis the leading national study analysing the efforts of employers to improve social mobility within the workplace.
The Sutton Trustchampions social mobility through programmes, research, and policy influence through key priority areas; early years, schools, higher education, access to the workplace, and apprenticeships. According to the Sutton Trust, enhancing social mobility within UK businesses to align with the average level seen in Western Europe could potentially lead to a 9% boost in GDP. This increase is equivalent to £2,620 per person, or a total of £170 billion added to the UK economy on an annual basis.
The Global Social Mobility Index was created by the World Economic Forum in 2020 in response to the impact of globalization and technological advancements on social mobility worldwide. 82 countries were measured on five key metrics: education, access to technology, healthcare, social protection, and employment opportunities. The top 10 countries with the highest social mobility index scores are located in Europe, with the majority of those being Nordic Countries. Nordic countries lead the index for several reasons, including excellent job opportunities, social safety nets and high-quality education programmes.
The highest possible score a country could receive was 100.
(Source: World Population Review)
“When it comes to social mobility and sustainability, if we can support our customers’ goals in these areas, it’s a win/win. In the public sector, social value is a crucial factor, so being able to demonstrate our work in this area is incredibly important and we have a real responsibility to do the right thing.” Anna Crowe, client operations director, AMS
How can we promote social mobility?
How businesses address social mobility will play a pivotal role in fostering a thriving and prosperous UK. Developing an effective social mobility strategy is not a straightforward task. It necessitates a shift in mindset, wherein the entire organization re-evaluates its approach to talent acquisition and recruitment. Both public and private sector organisations have a role to play in advancing the social mobility agenda.
Our recommendations for organisations looking to advance social mobility:
Start with the data. Historically, organizations have neglected to collect socio-economic data on their workforce, resulting in significant gaps in knowledge regarding key challenges, effective solution targeting, and potential areas of impact. This oversight has also contributed to a lack of insight into the extent of socio-economic diversity within the workforce and the identification of potential barriers. For instance, it remains unclear whether these barriers manifest at various stages of the employee lifecycle (from recruitment to advancement), within specific business locations or functions, or in conjunction with other demographic factors like ethnicity and gender. Addressing these gaps in data collection and analysis is crucial for fostering a more inclusive and equitable workplace environment.
Increase upskilling and reskilling. Access to upskilling and reskilling opportunities is not evenly distributed. Leaders must establish inclusive opportunities by providing training and work experience to their employees as well as the broader community. This can be achieved through partnerships with educational institutions and charitable organizations.
Broaden your talent pool. Many businesses continue to view universities as their main source of talent, whether consciously or unconsciously, limiting their talent pool. PwC’s research indicates that 83% of the general public views access to local employment opportunities as a significant obstacle to achieving social mobility. Businesses have the opportunity to leverage virtual work arrangements to offer valuable work experience opportunities and expand their talent pool through targeted recruitment campaigns.
Review end-to-end recruitment process. Organizations should thoroughly review and analyze each step in the hiring process. This includes assessing job posting language to ensure it is inclusive and free from biases, expanding outreach efforts to reach a more diverse pool of candidates, implementing blind resume screening practices to remove any unconscious biases, providing equal opportunities for all applicants regardless of their background or education level, and setting clear diversity goals for hiring managers to follow. By taking a comprehensive approach to enhancing social mobility in recruitment, organizations can create a more equitable and diverse workforce that reflects the values of inclusivity and equal opportunity.
Reassess procurement. This entails considering how vendor selection criteria can be adjusted to provide opportunities for historically marginalized groups, such as minority-owned businesses or those led by women or individuals with disabilities. By deliberately seeking out suppliers who prioritize social responsibility and promote workforce diversity, companies can not only make a positive impact on society but also benefit from a wider range of perspectives and expertise. Additionally, implementing measures such as supplier diversity programs or mentorship initiatives can help level the playing field and create pathways for underrepresented businesses to thrive in the marketplace. Through conscious efforts to reevaluate procurement practices, organizations can contribute to creating a more equitable and inclusive business environment while driving innovation and success.
Develop a strategy in line with your business and ESG objectives. Integrating social mobility efforts into ESG objectives demonstrates a commitment to addressing systemic inequalities and promoting sustainable practices. As businesses continue to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in their operations, developing a tailored social mobility strategy is crucial in driving positive social impact while also achieving long-term business success. This may involve implementing initiatives such as mentorship programs, skills training opportunities, or flexible work arrangements to support employees from all backgrounds in advancing within the company.
“Social mobility is a key strategic enabler for AMS. Our business is all about talent and having a fair and level playing field which is open to all, including those of us who may be from lower socio-economic backgrounds.” Matthew Rodger, Chief Growth & Commercial Officer and ExCo sponsor for Social Mobility, AMS
Top tips to enhance social mobility through recruitment:
Collaborate with schools and community organizations to provide internship opportunities and develop talent pipelines that can help bridge the gap for underprivileged individuals seeking employment opportunities.
When evaluating entry-level candidates, contextualise their academic achievements to create a more level playing field for all applicants.
Eliminate bias in the hiring process by implementing blind recruitment practices and ensuring that all candidates are evaluated solely based on their qualifications and merit.
Offer mentorship programs and professional development opportunities to help individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds navigate the corporate world more successfully and advance in their careers.
Transition away from competency-based models that solely focus on candidates demonstrating specific skills, which can be influenced by their access to extracurricular activities or job opportunities. Instead, consider adopting strength-based models that incorporate interviews and scenario testing to assess an individual’s abilities and potential more effectively. This shift will allow for a more comprehensive evaluation of candidates, leading to better hiring decisions and improved organizational outcomes.
Provide additional job opportunities in areas outside of major cities to reduce the burden on candidates who may be reluctant to relocate. Leveraging remote or hybrid working is key.
Creating employee resource groups around social mobility. Establishing employee resource groups focused on social mobility is essential for promoting socioeconomic inclusion and ensuring a diverse representation of the communities we serve. These groups aim to support the professional advancement of employees from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Relax the requirements for bachelor’s degrees where possible. This could potentially open up more opportunities for individuals seeking to advance their education and career prospects. By re-evaluating the criteria for earning a bachelor’s degree, we can create a more inclusive and accessible educational system that benefits a wider range of individuals.
The Social Mobility agenda at AMS
We are honoured to be recognised as a top 75 employer in the Social Mobility Foundation’s Employer Index.
In September 2023, we officially launched its partnership with Movement to Work(MtW), a not-for-profit coalition of UK employers, youth-outreach organisations, training providers, and government – all aiming to level the playing field for young people, aged 16-30, who are not in employment, education, or training.
MtW works with employers, free of charge, to design and create vocational workplace opportunities and work experience placements either in-house or through its recommended training providers. MtW counts some of the biggest UK employers among its members including Accenture, BAE Systems, Tesco, BT, Barclays, M&S, Marriott, The Department of Work and Pensions and the British Army.
Measures taken by AMS in recent years include increasing partnerships and collaboration with key social enterprises, charities, and small businesses as well as a renewed focus on data collection allowing AMS to understand the socio-economic makeup of their colleagues based in the UK&I region.
AMSTalent Lab, provides expert training to help organisations turn people with the right potential and aptitude into people with the right skills. Whether it is upskilling or reskilling existing tech talent or developing a recruiter team from scratch. Every element of Talent Lab is designed to enhance social mobility, tapping into the potential that exists in all corners of our society, from attraction to assessment, training, and ongoing support. AMS Talent Lab enables organisations to gain a competitive edge and benefit from a diverse viewpoint.
AMS’s Public Sector Resourcing (PSR) service provides more than 19,000 skilled workers across the UK government at any one time, meeting contingent resourcing demands on large projects including Brexit and the pandemic. PSR formed its Social Value Model and strategy to align with the challenges facing the public sector and works collaboratively with clients.
The Social Value Model was built to address five key themes that include Equal Opportunity, Tackling Economic Inequality and Fighting Climate Change each with subsequent policy outcomes. On the PSR framework we have projects and programmes aligned to each of these areas to drive positive change, as well as repurposing initiatives already in place at AMS to make them applicable to our public sector customers.
We introduced a new service line in PSR, called ‘Recruit, Train, Deploy’, to bring in trainees from under-represented or those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, upskill them and then place them in a client organisation, providing both commercial and social value. Our partnerships with inclusive recruiters likeRecruit for Spouses, Auticon, and Bridge of Hope help to provide opportunities to individuals who might not think public sector roles are for them.
“Since its inception in 1996, social mobility has been part of AMS’s DNA. We believe that we can further help ourselves and our clients who wish to diversify their talent pipeline by creating opportunities for candidates from underrepresented talent groups and if needed training them with in-demand skills.” Matthew Rodger, Chief Growth & Commercial Officer and ExCo sponsor for Social Mobility , AMS
AMS is committed to driving the dial forward on social mobility and championing change to level the playing field for the world of work.
Interested in learning more about how your organisation can advance social mobility?
Contact Fionuala Goritsas, Head of Analyst Relations & Global Co-Chair for Social Mobility, or Marisa Baker, Client Services Manager and Social Mobility ERG Co-Lead.
With Earth Day fast approaching, the time is especially fitting to celebrate the planet and reflect upon our relationship with it. Many businesses across the globe take this month to address their environmental impact, while others (such as Patagonia, IKEA, and Adidas) launch effective Earth Day campaigns. It is increasingly an occasion to recognise not only environmental stewardship but also the intimate connectedness of social responsibility and financial impact: the three concepts at the core of Sustainability.
As an executive search professional, the questions that spring to my mind are: What is the role of leadership on the sustainability journey and what makes this leadership effective?
Defining Sustainable Leadership
In the face of ‘increasing social and environmental problems arising from economic development, there is a serious imbalance between economic benefits, social responsibility, and environmental protection in the process of enterprise operation.’ Combatting this imbalance lies at the heart of sustainable development, which aims for comprehensive progress towards the achievement of economic, social, and environmental goals.
Inspiring and driving action through leadership can take many forms. One is the Chief Sustainability Officer; over the last few years, there has been a significant rise in the number of companies appointing a CSO, and, even more recently, rather than coming up through the sustainability function, these individuals are tending to come through via functions such as finance and R&D. Another is the ecopreneur, a business founder with an environmental purpose. Sustainability leadership may likewise take the form of an ESG-minded investor, or a CEO who convenes a cross-functional sustainability committee.
Key Components
On the surface, leadership in this sphere shares many crucial facets with other, often overlapping, leadership domains. These include a clear vision and strategy – which truly incorporates sustainability goals into organisational objectives, setting measurable targets and timelines – and an innovation mindset, embracing technological advancements and the need for creative problem solving.
Although the elements outlined are not particular to sustainability leaders, they form a schema for responding to sustainability challenges. The model was created against a backdrop of sustainability leadership aimed at effecting profound change; it establishes three major components: the context wherein the leader operates; the leader’s characteristics; and the leader’s actions. This framework brings not only clarity and structure to the concept, but also a way for leaders to assess areas of focus or improvement.
Challenges and Opportunities
In 2010, the then CEO of Johnson Matthey, Neil Carson, compared sustainability leadership to the quality revolution of the 1980s: ‘What happened was companies either died or they got quality. One day this is going to be the same for sustainability. But there’s an interim period where that’s only true for some companies.’ He predicted a period of ten years or possibly longer before sustainability leadership and its importance no longer needed to be pointed out. Indeed, more than ten years have passed and the state of sustainability remains mixed. Merely half of senior management teams are prioritising sustainability risks, opportunities, and impacts, with just a quarter of companies allocating adequate capital to sustainability initiatives.
states the PwC Sustainability Practice Leader, Lynne Baber. 2024 is a pivotal year for implementing sustainability-related regulation, including enhanced sustainability reporting, and most companies have a lot of work to do to meet new requirements. Beyond reporting, a recent Deloitte article identifies four key themes for companies to address this year: circular design, supply chain sustainability, decarbonisation, and avoiding greenwashing. While these present a challenge to many executives, effective sustainability leaders have the opportunity to ensure business resilience and a positive global impact.
One of the most important aspects of business resilience is talent. A company with leadership committed to sustainability is an attractive employer when it comes to new talent. As David Ingleson, AMS Sector Managing Director, notes in his exploration of ‘EcoMagnetism’,
‘Principles of fairness, inclusion and purpose are inextricably linked to employer attractiveness.’
Companies such as the Global 100 perform highly in terms of investing in green solutions, diversity and inclusion, and fair remuneration metrics; these organisations are best placed to attract ‘talent that are motivated by purposeful and long-term careers.’
In your search for sustainable leadership, contact our AMS Executive Search team, whose practice leads have an holistic and nuanced approach to securing the best individuals for your organisation. For a conversation, give us a call or get in touch via LinkedIn or email.
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.
2024 marks the 20th 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.
The ‘Global 100’ are 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.
In the quest for organisational resilience, four key pillars – attitudes, beliefs, agility, and structures – must be sustained if a business is to thrive. Having examined the ‘attitudes’ component of this framework in the first article in this series, here we look at the importance of weaving the right beliefs into the fabric of an organisation, and how to equip life sciences leaders to implement this approach.
An example: diversity, equity & inclusion
The need for core values and beliefs to underpin meaningful action is a well-established concept, from Kant’s Categorical Imperative to Martin Luther King’s famous statement on the ultimate measure of a man. In a business context, this means embedding the right beliefs to drive forward initiatives that create a strong organisational culture, which in turn contributes to the organisation’s resilience. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are a salient example.
Businesses with higher diversity outperform their peers; those in the top quartile for gender diversity have a +25% likelihood of doing so financially, while those in the top quartile for ethnic diversity have a +36% likelihood of financial outperformance. Furthermore, businesses with robust DE&I initiatives are far more likely to attract and retain top talent. Just one instance of such an initiative are flexible working models for parents. As recent studies have indicated, the Pandemic smashed cultural barriers to working from home which previously existed to parents, and especially to mothers. Leaders who not only adopt a new attitude to hybrid working, but embed within company culture equality for working parents, will see the fruits of organisational resilience.
The same is true when egalitarian beliefs are firmly rooted in a business around ethnicity, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, and beyond. Surveys and field studies conducted last year by the MIT Sloan Management Review, assessing companies with proven strengths in DE&I, have revealed that at the core of successful progress in the space are values (representation, participation, application, and appreciation) which form the basis for transforming the workplace. Such evidence further reinforces the idea that purposeful action and results are best achieved when driven by beliefs.
From a life sciences talent perspective, action may take the form of a shift towards skills-based hiring. When underpinned by a fundamental belief in diversity and accompanying values, skills-based hiring allows life sciences companies to in turn improve on this strategic business aim, in a self-sustaining cycle of diversity excellence. With a 65% white workforce in the life sciences industry, black individuals accounting for only 6%, discovering a broader spectrum of talent is made possible by prioritising aptitude and potential over experience.
Equipping leadership
Executive education
In the last article, we discussed how executive education programmes can help to equip industry leaders to futureproof their businesses, including by addressing leadership mindset. Indeed, inclusiveness is increasingly considered a key dimension of successful leadership. Executive courses dedicated to diversity and inclusion bolster the growth of executives into their roles as inclusive leaders who can build these values into their organisation, developing and executing comprehensive DE&I strategies.
In the same vein, senior leaders can enrol on executive education programmes focussed on sustainability, learning how to translate into business action the fundamental belief in environmental protection, positive ecological impact, and an equitable future for all. Most, if not all, sustainability issues are business issues; matters like climate change and women’s empowerment belong not merely in standalone sustainability discourses, but in boardroom discussions, informing resilient business strategies.
Today, leading life sciences companies are looking at sustainability not only as a compliance requirement but also as a source of value to their patients, their organizations, and the planet.
Mentorship
Compared to our other three pillars of resilience, beliefs are much more human and personal. Even when adapted into a business setting, beliefs remain quintessentially subjective and identity-rooted. Mentorship therefore lends itself well to equipping leaders to embed the right beliefs into their organisation.
The wisdom of a one-to-one, mentor-mentee relationship is conveyed and absorbed differently than content from an executive programme or even a workshop; two-way communication, a close relationship, and weighting toward real-world relevance can allow for a more profound and meaningful understanding of beliefs and values and a mentor can offer guidance on how these have shaped business decisions and practices. She then has the opportunity to reflect, learn from her mentee’s perspectives, and ‘give back’, in a deep learning experience for both parties.
Christian Dimaano, former Executive Director, Head of Regional Medical Affairs at Mirati Therapeutics, proposes tips for finding a mentor in the Life Sciences. These can be distilled down to three steps: making full use of personal networks, seeking a mentor committed to one’s success, and being open and authentic in one’s approach. Mentorship relationships are often organic, both cross-institutionally and within the same organisation. But, without relying exclusively on this path, how can talent leaders facilitate high-quality mentoring? They can evaluate the right types of mentorship programme for their organisation’s needs and for different situations. Types of relationship to consider may be:
Traditional mentorship
Reverse mentorship (when the less experienced employee mentors someone more experienced in their field)
Group mentorship (more cost-effective and relaxed)
Virtual mentorship (which complements hybrid and remote working)
Peer-to-peer mentorship (which builds camaraderie and strengthens team dynamics)
Sponsorship (helpful for underrepresented groups)
Onboarding mentorship
When intelligently designed with defined parameters and objectives – in this case, around values and beliefs – such programmes are an invaluable tool for building resilience more authentically.
Even when adapted into a business setting, beliefs remain quintessentially subjective and identity-rooted.
As the father of a Gen Alpha (2010 onwards) girl, I have a vested interest in giving Gen Z what they want, so Gen Alpha don’t have to fight quite so hard! I came across the ‘Energy Transition Skills Project’ report recently that has been written by ‘Student Energy (studentenergy.org)’ in partnership with Ørsted (the renewable energy leader). I found it incredibly insightful.
Those of you who know me, know that I love data, and some of the insights I have gleaned from the report I find fascinating. Here are just three insights from this very interesting read;
Youth respondents globally rank ‘Purpose of Work’ (19.9%) as most important when looking for a job, comprehensively beating ‘Opportunities for Growth’ (14.8%) and ‘Salary and Compensation’ (13.8%)
This is great news for the Energy Sector companies who are on the right path for transition! However…..
The most common barriers facing those who want to enter the Energy Sector are ‘lack of awareness of opportunities’, ‘lack of available entry-level positions’ and ‘lack of access to skills training’
So this means if Energy Sector companies can improve their employer branding and market outreach (no greenwash please!) they can access talent that desperately wants to work for them, but only as long as they have the development programs and entry level roles available. This will of course depend on the right approach to talent acquisition, workforce planning and development.
41.5% of all respondents chose ‘working at a renewable energy company’ as their ideal energy transition job
So let’s hope that through collaboration between education, industry and government we can establish the right frameworks for skills development, because it seems like the renewable energy companies are in pole position to attract motivated and engaged talent.
If you are interested in talking to AMS about how to tackle the ‘green skills’ challenge and attract the best talent in your organisation, please reach out to me – at AMS we want to be part of the solution, and make a brighter future for all the ‘Gen Alphers’ out there (and everyone else!)
ENERGY TRANSITION SKILLS PROJECT
The Energy Transition Skills Project led by Student Energy, explores what is most important to young people when looking for employment and what barriers they face to entering the energy transition jobs labour market.
In 2022 AMS formed a Diversity & Inclusion Alliance, a market-leading collaboration hub of DEIB focused partners to improve diverse representation across our clients’ total workforces and bring market leading DEIB expertise and insight to inform talent strategies. 
