How telcos’ ESG performance can strengthen talent acquisition

For too long, companies across a number of markets have had to face the challenge of balancing  business profitability over long-term sustainability – leading to environmental degradation, social injustice, and corporate governance failures.

But the tide is turning, and investors and consumers are demanding more accountability from organisations regarding their environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and approaches to decision-making.

The ESG reporting directive is a major step in the right direction. Ensuring sustainability isn’t just another buzzword in corporate boardrooms, it lays the foundations for concrete action plans that will curb our collective impact on the planet and society. Increasingly, this is seeing investment and consumer behaviours sway towards those who take urgent action too.

So, what does ‘good’ look like? And how can telcos embrace the change, in 2023 and beyond? These were just some points of discussion in our CEO Dean Checkley’s keynote session – measuring sustainable metrics and channel priorities – at Channel Live last month…

As workforce turnover rises and competition for top talent intensifies, the importance of attracting and retaining employees in the telecoms sector has never been so apparent. According to leading recruitment solution provider, Totaljobs:

• 26% of British workers would be willing to take a pay cut, in exchange for joining a business which acted responsibly in terms of the environment.
• 28% would actually consider quitting their current role and transitioning into one which was offered by a more environmentally responsible company.
• 65% of people in China, Germany, India, UK, and the US want to work for a company with a strong social conscience.

As such, you’d be forgiven for thinking that executives are armed with a considered strategy to engage next-generation professionals. The truth is, many organisations feel ill-equipped to grapple with these growing workforce challenges. Emphasising ESG performance can play a leading role in driving change.

As well as attracting candidates who share your firm’s values, and are looking for a stable and purpose-driven career path that evolves with the business, it fosters a positive culture that prioritises employee wellbeing and community engagement – a must in today’s recruitment climate. 

Flomatik’s route to carbon net zero 

In our own experience, people are the backbone of every successful green initiative. As well as considering how your employees can contribute to wider societal and environmental commitments, it’s important to understand the bearing your partner’s initiatives have on you.

Through the Ecologi platform, Flomatik has not only been offsetting our own carbon footprint, but our customers’ too. We contribute to mangrove and tree plantations for:

• Every new employee who has successfully passed probation.
• Every 1,000 miles driven by our field teams.
• On their 5 and 10-year work anniversaries.
• Every 5,000 homes or 5,000 metres designed.
• Each successful completion of a site closure project.
• Every new customer or workstream awarded (or contribution to a new project).

Through this initiative, our business has successfully offset 265.88 tonnes of carbon between April and December 2022 – feeding into 19 community, capture, and forestry projects across the globe – and planted 5,725 trees across another 15. Our positive offset value now sits at 170.86 tonnes, to balance our business activity both at HQ and on the road.

Considering ESG during mergers and acquisitions 

ESG has never been so important in the due diligence process of mergers and acquisitions – not only showing how the target company operates today, but forecasting how innovation will take shape in the future. This is not only for maximum financial return, but to assess whether these targets are a good cultural fit for the investor’s portfolio.

One crucial aspect of this is ensuring that the two companies’ network architectures are compatible, as differing designs can lead to expensive integration costs. While it may be costly initially, moving towards a sector minimum standard can ultimately lead to reduced costs and prevent future re-work. This approach also leads to operational efficiencies in support and maintenance costs.

Setting clear objectives and targets during the transition, and using these as benchmarks during ongoing reporting, can help maintain focus on costs and reduce the environmental impact too – making ESG an essential consideration for companies looking to merge or acquire. 

Again, the approach of your suppliers and partners will play a part in your brand and impact, so it’s crucial to engage with a variety of stakeholders throughout the process. The talent acquisition complexities that come along with  change management can be significant. But recruitment is an extension of your corporate brand.

And in order to put your best foot forward, it’s important that sustainability messaging feeds into the process. This not only ensures candidates view the organisation accurately, but helps to reduce turnover and cost-per-hire as a result of a stronger talent pool — which is essential to a successful merger or acquisition.

Sustainability isn’t the only thing that matters to telecoms talent today. Explore our careers page, to see if Flomatik could be the right fit for you.