Ch4

SECTION 4: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION | 28 Gen Z and millennials seek Listening and communicating greater sustainability and To develop sustainability and DE&I policies DE&I focus and strategies that resonate with stakeholder Younger generations, such as gen Z (ages sentiment and values, you 昀椀rst have to 11-26) and millennials (ages 27-42), are understand what these sentiments and shaping a societal shift towards a greater values are. Mercer’s Global Talent Trends focus on sustainability and DE&I in the 2022–2023 Study recommends building workplace. According to Deloitte’s 2023 “a multi-method approach to listening” to 55 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, about one in achieve this . For example, you could gauge six respondents say they have changed jobs employee sentiments by setting up resource or industries due to climate concerns, with groups, doing surveys, and hosting virtual 56 53 town halls . another one-quarter planning to do so . In a separate Gallup survey, younger millennials The Mercer study also recommends that and gen Zs identi昀椀ed a “diverse and inclusive once you’ve de昀椀ned your organisation’s organisation” as one of the top three qualities sustainability and DE&I priorities, you should 54 they look for in an employer . communicate them to all stakeholders to 57 To effectively engage and retain younger foster a sense of “collective responsibility” . generations, leaders and managers need One way to accomplish this is by sharing to recognise the signi昀椀cance of taking all relevant data with everyone – beyond meaningful action on sustainability and DE&I. HR and marketing teams58. This empowers stakeholders to make decisions and take Walking the talk on action in a way that aligns with company 59 sustainability and DE&I priorities . Really ‘walking the talk’ on sustainability and Tying executive compensation DE&I takes more than just words. It demands to sustainability and DE&I concrete actions and a steadfast dedication to performance change. Here are two ways that leaders and managers can put values into action: To foster accountability and promote • Listening and communicating progress, forward-thinking organisations are offering incentives to their executives to • Tying executive compensation to achieve sustainability DE&I goals. According sustainability and DE&I performance to the Deloitte 2023 CxO Sustainability Report, almost a third of respondents say their organisations have implemented incentives for senior leaders to drive change in sustainability by linking compensation to 60 relevant performance metrics .