‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’ Investigating Recruitment and Retention at Sustainable Organizations
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
As the private sector continues to come under scrutiny from stakeholders for sustainability behaviors, it has become increasingly important to effectively assess the cost-benefit of sustainable corporate social responsibility (Stahl et al., 2020). The increasing value for sustainability has led to a reassessment of the bottom line that includes people, planet, and traditional notions of profit. The widespread adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and ratings (Howard-Grenville, 2021) demonstrates that organizations need to strive to perform to maintain competitive relevance. However, the question remains, how do industry professionals assess the value of implementing sustainability in organizations? HR professionals, especially those trained in evidence-based practice, can help to bridge this gap and develop measures for the ROI of adopting more environmentally-friendly practices. Building on previous research, this planned study will examine two specific dimensions of the potential human resource benefits gained from ESG-related sustainability practices. Specifically, the study focuses on the sustainability values of an organization and the benefits realized within the domains of employee recruitment and retention. The study’s hypothesis is that there will be a positive relationship between desire to work within an organization and that organization’s sustainability performance. Additionally, it is predicted that employees currently working at sustainable organizations will be more inclined to stay at such organizations. Providing support for these relationships would indicate a significant benefit for the bottom line in terms of people, profit, and ultimately planet when adopting sustainability practices. The study also intends to examine the degree to which these two relationships are moderated by individual disposition toward sustainability. It is hypothesized that individuals who value sustainability will see stronger relationships between retention, recruitment, and organizational sustainability performance. Participants for this study will complete a survey that will assess their views on sustainability and reactions to the constructs of interest. Hypothesis will be tested from a sample of working adults in the United States. The sample will contain approximately 110 individuals, and will be recruited using Qualtrics. Participants will complete a researcher-developed questionnaire that will assess their views and reactions to the constructs of interest.
Date
10-16-2021
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Included in
Environmental Studies Commons, Human Resources Management Commons, Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons
‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’ Investigating Recruitment and Retention at Sustainable Organizations
As the private sector continues to come under scrutiny from stakeholders for sustainability behaviors, it has become increasingly important to effectively assess the cost-benefit of sustainable corporate social responsibility (Stahl et al., 2020). The increasing value for sustainability has led to a reassessment of the bottom line that includes people, planet, and traditional notions of profit. The widespread adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and ratings (Howard-Grenville, 2021) demonstrates that organizations need to strive to perform to maintain competitive relevance. However, the question remains, how do industry professionals assess the value of implementing sustainability in organizations? HR professionals, especially those trained in evidence-based practice, can help to bridge this gap and develop measures for the ROI of adopting more environmentally-friendly practices. Building on previous research, this planned study will examine two specific dimensions of the potential human resource benefits gained from ESG-related sustainability practices. Specifically, the study focuses on the sustainability values of an organization and the benefits realized within the domains of employee recruitment and retention. The study’s hypothesis is that there will be a positive relationship between desire to work within an organization and that organization’s sustainability performance. Additionally, it is predicted that employees currently working at sustainable organizations will be more inclined to stay at such organizations. Providing support for these relationships would indicate a significant benefit for the bottom line in terms of people, profit, and ultimately planet when adopting sustainability practices. The study also intends to examine the degree to which these two relationships are moderated by individual disposition toward sustainability. It is hypothesized that individuals who value sustainability will see stronger relationships between retention, recruitment, and organizational sustainability performance. Participants for this study will complete a survey that will assess their views on sustainability and reactions to the constructs of interest. Hypothesis will be tested from a sample of working adults in the United States. The sample will contain approximately 110 individuals, and will be recruited using Qualtrics. Participants will complete a researcher-developed questionnaire that will assess their views and reactions to the constructs of interest.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology