When Kiwi’s abroad or those that have travel to here think of New Zealand they will invariably think of the ‘greenness’ of the country. We like to think of New Zealand as being an unspoilt landscape, beautiful beaches, glistening rivers, deep native bush, mountains and an ever changing environment from sea to snow.
This love of the environment is beginning to influence returning job seekers when they seek out prospective organisations. Having been overseas and witnessed the impact that large corporates can have on the environment, New Zealanders are becoming more concerned about an organisation and its corporate social responsibility policy.
In the current market conditions candidates have the ability to be choosy about their employer of choice.
We all know that having a strong employee value proposition is important, however, it is no longer enough to provide a good salary, nice work environment and a bowl of fruit a week. Having a commitment to the community you operate in is becoming a necessity for organisations to differentiate themselves from their competitors and attract the best talent.
There are a number of New Zealand organisations that are doing really well in this area, organisations that encourage the use of environmentally friendly bags, provide volunteering days for their staff and sponsor various charities.
More and more organisations are also asking to get the ‘buy-in’ of staff when choosing how give back to the community. Recently LINK Recruitment, surveyed their entire staff to see how they wanted LINK to support the community.
From a hiring manager point of view, this commitment to corporate social responsibility will also help you attract and retain Generation Y. Studies have shown that corporate social responsibility is high on Gen Y’s list when choosing prospective employers
To close, if you are a business leader in New Zealand, what are you doing to be socially responsible? Looking at your CSR strategy will not only lift your profile as an organisation but may be the difference between securing someone over another organisation.
If you are seeking a role and looking to align yourself to a culture similar to your own ideals, then are you asking the recruiter or the hiring manager what they are doing to give back to the community?
I have visited this site on many an occasion now but this post is the 1st one that I have ever commented on.
Congratulations on such a fine article and site I have found it very helpful and informative – I only wish that there were more out there like this one.
I never leave empty handed, sometimes I may even be a little disappointed that I may not agree with a post or reply that has been made. But hey! that is life and if every one agreed on the same thing what a boring old world we would live in.
Keep up the good work and cheers.
Comment by Suzanne Langley — March 17, 2008 @ 2:34 am
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for your comments.
Am assuming CSR is of interest to you. From a New Zealand perspective there is an interesting organisation that is ensuring that sustainability is at the front of both politicians and corporate minds. They are working on some great projects around CSR in New Zealand. The organisation is called the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development:
http://www.nzbcsd.org.nz
Regards,
Brien
Comment by Brien — March 17, 2008 @ 4:29 am
Hi Brien,
Corporate Social Responsibility raises a number of other issues around ethics of business, such as sustainability and environmental leadership.
Anothe good organisation is the Sustainable Business Network http://www.sustainable.org.nz/cms1/index.php
Check out my blog reference for details on sustainability strategy training as well.
Regards – Gordon
Comment by Gordon Shaw — April 3, 2008 @ 8:37 pm