Dive Brief:
- Google, Apple, Bank of America, Best Buy, HP and Microsoft are providing financial incentives based on reaching certain environmental sustainability metrics, reported GreenBiz.
- How such incentives are provided varies company to company — some linking directly to executive compensation through bonuses or through employee programs such as providing a reimbursement for buying a "new, eligible low-carbon vehicle." Such initiatives are also seen as ways to attract younger workers, GreenBiz said.
- According to a new report from environmental nonprofit CDP, many companies are taking climate change and environmental projects more seriously with the COP21 United Nations climate talks taking place next month.
Dive Insight:
Many companies tie sustainability to performance evaluation for executives and "energy managers." Corporations tend to be cagey about revealing details about their compensation programs for competitive reasons, but quite a few in the tech industry (incidentally, where the talent wars continue unabated) have revealed their programs.
C-suite execs at Apple and HP are "evaluated partially on sustainability performance," GreenBiz reported, while Google's VP of technical infrastructure has bonuses tied to certain sustainability goals per quarter.
The variation between each company is strong and it remains somewhat confusing which efforts are actually successful, GreenBiz reported. But a similarly strong school of thought states that HR plays a key role in helping a company make actual progress on their sustainability efforts.
"It is not enough to give someone a volunteer opportunity and say that you've addressed the issue of employee engagement [and] employee empowerment," Aaron Hurst, author of a book on "The Purpose Economy," said. "It's the same as giving money for that one tree and not addressing the fact you've cut down 10,000."