In this opinion piece, Kellie Holt, director of impact at My Net Zero and Impact GPT, argues that agencies and advertisers should use climate change as a way to rally their staff to a greater cause — future-proofing their businesses and boosting employee engagement at the same time.
Authentic and impactful climate action is no longer a motive for the morale few – it’s a business advantage for the many. And an incredible talent recruitment and retention tool for the media and advertising industry.
Business leaders are in a bind. Climate change and Net Zero headlines populate your LinkedIn feed. The planet is important, but the new financial year comes with increasing pressures, and your P&L is the priority right now. Meanwhile, another employee just quit. Your team is feeling burned out, and motivation is plummeting.
While the two may seem disconnected, the evidence suggests otherwise.
Whether it’s catchy concepts like ‘climate quitting’ or ‘The Great Resignation’, the global workforce is increasingly making career decisions based on their values, and desire to make a positive impact in the world and in their own lives. And they are backing their beliefs with action.
This isn’t just rhetoric, it’s real. I know because I am one of them.
Over a year ago, I became an agency defector, saying goodbye to over 15 years in the global media and advertising industry. I was determined to put my knowledge and experience to work in environmental and social impact.
Thousands have flown the media and advertising agency coup. And while industry churn has slightly slowed down, this shift in employee expectations is a huge opportunity to attract and retain the types of employees who drive businesses forward – yes, the people who actually care.
WHAT THE DATA TELLS US
My Net Zero’s Climate Engagement Tracker reveals that 98 per cent of employees in the Australia and New Zealand media and advertising industry are concerned about climate change. Moreover, 87 per cent would feel more positively about their workplace if provided with tools and support to act.
Similarly, Deloitte’s Global 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that environmental sustainability remains a top concern for Gen Zs and millennials. And with the average age of a media agency employee being 32.1, according to the latest census by the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), the industry is primed to attract and retain top talent through impact-driven climate action.
The key is to effectively leverage these insights to build impactful ESG strategies and elevate your Employer Value Proposition.
EMBEDDING IMPACT INTO YOUR EVP
Actions speak louder than words when it comes to climate action. Whether you go big or start small, it’s essential to implement tangible and impactful actions alongside long-term emissions reduction plans. Embedding positive impact into your business’s DNA and cultivating a culture of shared values, experiences, and belonging will ultimately drive your employer reputation and brand.
Next, support these actions with an integrated communications strategy that embeds your environmental sustainability commitments (and corresponding messaging) into core employee lifecycle moments, including:
Recruitment – showcase your authentic ESG commitments, initiatives, and any tangible staff benefits & incentives.
Onboarding – identify and showcase any ESG opportunities, and how to get involved, in the onboarding process.
Learning & Development: provide opportunities and upskill employees to engage in meaningful work that contributes to your sustainability goals and can drive change across the business. Take it a step further and provide education, tools and solutions to support your people in their personal climate action journeys, in the office and at home.
Career progression: build and empower self-appointed “Green Teams” and create opportunities for them to transition their interests into sustainability leadership or support roles.
Reward and Recognition: integrate impact-specific KPIs into job descriptions and reward achieving them; identify storytelling opportunities (individual and collective) and amplify them across internal comms (such as email, Town Halls and team meetings) and external media channels.
SUPERCHARGING YOUR IMPACT WITH GEN AI
Gen AI is a powerful tool to help connect your employees to your organisation’s sustainability goals and commitments and to further increase employee engagement.
Here are five ways we are helping organisations implement AI:
Personalising education and training to educate and upskill employees, accommodate different learning styles and promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
More effective communication: simplifying complex information, and creating consistent, authentic and transparent communication (across channels, departments and stakeholders) to avoid greenwashing.
Measuring impact by identifying and analysing the individual employees, departments or locations making significant and measurable contributions to sustainability goals.
Visualising the real-world impact of your organisation’s sustainability commitments and gamifying challenges that encourage employees to adopt sustainable practices while at work and in their personal lives.
Data-driven decision-making by providing predictive insights into the most effective sustainability initiatives, prioritising actions that have the greatest impact and identifying areas for improvement.
STACKING UP THE NUMBERS
Here’s a statement I’ve heard more than once – “employee engagement is a nice-to-have, but it’s not a priority”. In other words, it’s just a cost.
With increasing financial pressures on individuals and organisations, it makes sense that any expenditure needs to drive business-critical outcomes in the current landscape.
However, the business case speaks for itself:
Employees who feel heard are 4.6x more likely to do their best work – (Salesforce research, 2017).
Companies with highly engaged workforces are 21 per cent more profitable and 17 per cent more productive than those with disengaged staff – (Gallup Employee Engagement Research).
Conversely, employees who are not engaged or who are actively disengaged cost the world $8.8 trillion in lost productivity – (Gallup State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report).
Losing good talent is costly to any business. Estimates suggest up to 3x of their salary in recruitment expenses, time spent on hiring and training a replacement not to mention the loss of knowledge, impact on team morale, and potential higher turnover down the line.
Two-thirds of employees want their company to take a stronger stance on climate, and half are willing to quit over a mismatch of ethics conducted a survey of 4,000 employees across the UK and the US. (‘2023 Net Positive Employee Barometer’)
The days of a boozy pub run have long passed as an effective employee engagement strategy. The tribe has spoken, and they want more – more meaning, more purpose, more impact.
In the words of Paul Polman – a climate leader, author and former CEO of Unilever – “Sustainability is not just about saving the planet. It’s also about making sure our business is future-proof.”
DRIVING BUSINESS GROWTH
When businesses are impact-driven, it really pays off – for the planet, their profits and their people. Take a look at tech giant Atlassian. Since their release of Don’t F&*! The Planet (a sustainability guide for SMEs) in May last year, revenue is up by 24 per cent this quarter (with a 37 per cent increase in subscription revenue) and their carbon emissions are down (by 85 per cent compared to 2019).
The company’s irreverent and ambitious approach to tackling climate change has also seen its ranking on the ‘Forbes 100 Best Places to Work’ list rise to #7 in 2023, up from #47 the previous year.
Global brands like Microsoft, Unilever, Ikea and Danone have all set ambitious goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030/2050. With all companies reporting that their sustainability efforts have contributed to higher employee engagement and revenue growth.
FINAL NOTE
Sustainability and climate action are not just a moral crusade to save the planet. It’s about making sure your business is future-proof. And while I may have formally defected from the media and advertising industry, I didn’t stray too far – I’m now working with agencies, industry bodies and suppliers to do just that.
By instilling authentic impact-driven action into broader organisational values, and creating a unified purpose that resonates with employees, the media and advertising industry is primed to turn climate impact into its own climate currency – and employee engagement is just the beginning.
