As you survey the landscape of potential employers, you’re weighing a lot of factors. Besides the obvious concern for professional opportunities and suitable compensation, you may also be searching for an organization that aligns with your personal values.
If environmental sustainability is high among those values, you aren’t alone.
In fact, a new global survey from IBM Institute for Business Value shows that 71% of employees and job seekers view environmentally sustainable companies as more attractive employers. Additionally, more than two-thirds of the potential employees are more likely to accept roles with “environmentally and socially responsible organizations.”
How can you be sure your next workplace takes those concerns seriously? Here are four important sustainability commitments to look for in a prospective employer:
Annual reporting
Committed companies report their sustainability efforts so employees and the public at large are aware of such initiatives. Year-over-year and benchmarking data related to these efforts shows how an organization improves over time.
Along with providing the most current data, sharing goals for improvement promotes accountability and demonstrates companies are serious about their environmental impact.
Reducing waste
Recycling and composting efforts can have a significant environmental impact, so look for an organization that provides designated receptacles for both. If a company provides supplies in its cafeteria or break rooms, are they eco-friendly? When possible, items such as cutlery, to-go boxes, napkins, drinkware, lids and plates should be made from 100% recyclable or compostable materials.
Electronic waste matters, too. Vendors can assist today’s companies with the reuse and recovery of hazardous electronic waste to divert toxic materials from landfills.
Energy use and efficiency
Energy reduction and efficient energy practices set apart those organizations committed to sustainability. Look for Energy Star-rated and -labeled equipment, including servers, desktops and appliances.
Organizations can choose renewable energy sources like wind power and 100% renewable grid electricity. Regular audits help them identify even more ways to improve efficiency.
Reducing emissions
Companies committed to environmental sustainability often take steps to measure the amount of greenhouse gas emitted across their facilities. With this information, they’re able to reduce those emissions over time, so look for an employer with stated goals regarding future emission levels.
Paycom and sustainability
As a corporation, Paycom is committed to continuous improvement, and that extends to our sustainability initiatives. Our technology helps our clients go green by eliminating paper-based processes as they manage their payroll, HR tasks and documents in our single software.
We also work to minimize our environmental impact by implementing green initiatives throughout our daily operations, from Energy Star-rated equipment to e-waste reuse. In July, we partnered with a local utility provider to power our OKC campus with wind-based electricity.
Plus, in 2021 alone, employees at our Oklahoma City headquarters:
- recycled 150,105 pounds of paper waste through secure shredding
- composted 6,380 pounds of organic matter
- processed 47,695 pounds of electronic assets, reducing more than 66,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and diverting over 1,300 pounds of toxic metals from landfills
Our new Grapevine Operations Center in Grapevine, Texas, goes a step further by being fully powered by renewable energy. For all Paycom-owned facilities as a whole, renewable energy use increased from 9% of total electricity consumption in 2020 to 53% in 2021.
To read more about Paycom’s environmental efforts, take a look at our current corporate responsibility report.
Go green with us! Find your next great position at Paycom Careers and apply today.
