Corporations with sustainability programs see better employee morale, an improved public image and increased efficiency, according to a new survey from the Society for Human Resource Management.
In fact, 53 percent of respondents report that their sustainability initiatives led to better employee morale while 51 percent of respondents say those enhanced their public image. Forty-seven percent of respondents say they experienced more efficient business processes.
Another 37 percent of respondents say they measured the return on investment of their sustainability initiatives, and of those, 56 percent say they saw a positive ROI. Thirty-nine percent of those respondents say it is too early to tell, and 5 percent say they broke even. Only 1 percent of respondents say they experienced a negative ROI.
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"Sustainability initiatives can play a large part in boosting an employer's brand and improving employee retention," says Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president of research at SHRM.
These figures are from 2012 and are mostly improved over 2010 when 47 percent of respondents had a positive ROI, and 46 percent felt it was too early to tell. While 6 percent of respondents broke even, 1 percent of respondents had a negative ROI.
Seventy-two percent of respondents say they are engaged in sustainable business practices, which remains unchanged from 2010, and 50 percent of respondents say they have a formal policy connected to business strategy while 42 percent of respondents say they have an informal policy. Only 8 percent of respondent say they do not follow a policy.
To engage employees in volunteer community outreach initiatives, 62 percent of respondents recognize participating employees, 51 percent of respondents offer company-sponsored volunteer events during work hours, 48 percent of respondents provide company-sponsored volunteer events after work hours and encourage senior management to participate, and 43 percent of respondents urge employees to take charge of volunteer programs.
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