Job Opportunities in Business & Sustainability
Kevin J. Dooley
Academic Director
The Sustainability Consortium
This study was financially supported by a grant from
W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University
White Paper #107 | April 2011
© 2011 The Sustainability Consortium, Arizona State University, and University of Arkansas
Executive Summary As a company increases its sustainability-­‐related initiatives there is a need to consider the impact on human resources. A study done by The Sustainability Consortium has found that 97.5% of executives in large businesses would value sustainability-­‐related skills in a potential candidate. The study also found considerable demand for sustainability-­‐related training in topics such as corporate social responsibility, measuring environmental performance, and making the “business case” for sustainability. Executives need to think strategically about the human resource needs required to support their move towards more sustainable business practices. Jobs in Sustainability Motivation There is a lot of talk about the “green economy” and promises of “green jobs”. This discussion tends to focus on labor-­‐related jobs though, for example, installing solar panels or refurbishing buildings to make them more energy efficient. Often ignored is how the move towards more sustainable business practices will impact jobs created for and skills needed by business professionals. Recent research indicates that most businesses have already adopted some type of a sustainability initiative. Green and socially responsible purchasing, cradle to cradle design, corporate reporting, and stakeholder involvement are often mentioned as practices that businesses are currently following. With an increase in the demand for managers and executives to support sustainable-­‐related activity, we must begin to understand the human resource implications of these efforts. Methods The research that can address this question was conducted by the Department of Supply Chain Management and Center for Executive and Professional Development in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. In order to find out what type of sustainability-­‐related jobs existed, we examined about one hundred job postings related to sustainability, both in general sites like Monster.com and specific green job sites. We also informally interviewed ten corporate sustainability managers. To understand what specific training and education needs existed, we surveyed 200 business managers and executives about their training and education strategies for sustainability. What Type of Green Jobs Are There? Function First The data overwhelming suggest that most companies are expecting the bulk of sustainability-­‐related work to be done within specific functions and business units by the people already working in those areas. Thus sustainable purchasing is going to be done by professional buyers and merchants; sustainable marketing is going to be done by marketing managers; and sustainable IT is going to be done by IT managers. Similarly, these professionals will have to interact with others functions in the company similarly tasked, e.g. marketing professionals figuring out ways to approach green consumers, or finance professionals implementing carbon accounting procedures. Implications For the existing professional, this means that your department must take on most sustainability-­‐related tasks—one should not expect much if any help from a centralized corporate sustainability staff. The imperative is to get a critical mass of people trained and working on projects so as to improve their knowledge and skills. For the new graduate who wants to help businesses become more sustainable, it means one should concentrate on obtaining the degree, certifications, and experience needed to get a regular functional job. Any sustainability-­‐related education will enhance the chance of getting hired, all else being equal, and will get you placed into sustainability-­‐related projects once you have the job. Training & Education Needs Approaches Our survey of 200 business managers and executives found: §
“Strategists” were more likely to believe everyone should be trained, while “Implementers” were evenly split as to whether everyone should be trained versus particular functional areas. §
Manufacturing firms and business services firms were more likely to respond that training needs were significant, across almost all functional areas. §
VPs showed the most interest overall. In large firms, CEOs and other executives responded more interest than Directors. §
In large companies, Strategists find sustainability skills attractive for some managers, while Implementers find sustainability skills attractive for any manager. §
97.5% of executives from large firms said they would value a business school graduate who had taken a concentration of courses in sustainability. Curriculum Our research indicates that managers and executives should consider developing education and training programs that touch upon topics that all professionals should have: §
Corporate social responsibility §
Environmental and health policy and business §
Sustainability strategy (making the business case for sustainability) §
Social entrepreneurship §
Measuring sustainability §
Sustainability related product and process improvement Additionally, managers and executives may also wish to develop staff expertise or identify external partners to help assess sustainable technologies and perform life cycle analysis. The former is needed to support strategic technology acquisitions while the latter is needed to identify where the best opportunities are for reducing the environmental or social impacts of a product.