Kenexa Research Institute Findings State That More Than 50% of Workers Care About Working for a "Green" Organization

Research conducted by the Kenexa ResearchInstitute (KRI) evaluated workers' opinions of their organizations withregard to "green" initiatives. The latest research suggests that anorganization's business choices that support the environment such asrecycling, energy conservation and vendor selection have a significantinfluence on employees' engagement levels and views of senior management.The report is based on the analysis of data drawn from a representativesample of workers surveyed through WorkTrends™, KRI's 2008 annual survey ofworker opinions.

"Worldwide, more and more organizations are 'going green' and areintegrating this dedication into their strategic corporate initiatives,"said Anne Herman, research consultant, Kenexa Research Institute. "Thoseorganizations committed to the environment demonstrate this by routinelyrecycling, conserving energy and working with vendors who share similarvalues. This sets them apart from their competition by creating a positiveemployment brand, and establishes an emotional tie between the employee andorganization."

The results from the latest cross-culture study indicate that among the 13countries surveyed, more than half (54%) of workers state theirfavorability with their organization's participation in "green"initiatives. Workers in India (63%) are the most favorable while workers inJapan (40%) and Russia (42%) are the least favorable.

Across all countries surveyed, the research indicates that working for anorganization where employees positively view "green" efforts has asignificant, favorable impact on how they rate their pride in theorganization, overall satisfaction and willingness to recommend it as aplace to work. Furthermore, employees with favorable opinions of theirorganizations' "green" activities are more likely to state an intention tostay, relative to those who have unfavorable opinions.

Employees who have favorable views of their company's "green" activitiesalso have more favorable opinions of their management. They are much morelikely to feel that senior managers have the ability to deal with companychallenges, demonstrate that employees are important to the success of thecompany, and provide employees with a clear picture of the company'sdirection.