Axcel’s Post

Why did you move into sustainability? "To have a positive impact for people and our planet, so I can align my morals to my job!" - every sustainability professional. The average person is estimated to spend 1/3 of their life, or 90,000 hours, working (probably more than that as we all know sustainability professionals work relentlessly hard!). Do we think that a sustainability professional, who is working under a CEO who doesn't see value and necessity for integrating sustainability into the corporate strategy, will feel happy and fulfilled in their career? Absolutely not. I don't think I have had 1 call with a candidate this year, where this hasn't come up in conversation for motivations for moving on, or exploring new positions, "I want to achieve more impact, AND work for a CEO who is genuinely aligned to the ESG/sustainability team". The hiring process looks a lot different now, HR and talent teams get asked questioned about culture but relating to the CEO/C-suites views on the sustainability strategy. Hiring is picking back up again after a strange year across a variety of sectors, but just because there are more candidates applying than roles available, let's not forget that people won't move unless the grass is real, AND greener 😉 Neil, Stephanie, Matt, Tatiana, Tom & Farrell Associates

CEOs and board members in my network, read this. Sustainability professionals in general are quite passionate about the line of work they have chosen and see the writing in the wall for what we have to do, not just for the planet, but for a thriving economy where your company can shine. They can’t do this work if you think of them as a cost center, or a marketing function. Someone to come in and just “fix up our sustainability stuff so investors are satisfied”. They are your allies in building for the future. Get on board.

If there really is scarcity in any particular sector, what could the reasons for that be? This time around, it looks like Sustainability has fallen victim to a talent shortage. Could the number of FTSE100 organisations without a Net Zero strategy have something to do with this phenomenon in this sector? Do we really need environmental expertise at board level in these types of companies? And if so, could lobbying influence the net output of these endeavours? Is it enough to claim this is a barrier for these organisations to put forward a Net Zero strategy, or could private firms or contractors be used to reach that end goal? There are a lot of questions around this - and not just from this post. If you recruit in sustainability, post your thoughts. #sustainability #netzero #rectech #recruitmentsoftware #recruitmentwebsite #TheRecOS

Sustainability careers are evolving, with women leading the charge, CEOs deeply involved, and the field reaching new levels of professional maturity. As sustainability becomes integral to business operations, roles are expanding beyond traditional boundaries. "Fifteen years ago the sustainability leader was most likely an internal candidate with an established reputation that allowed them to work across the organization. Today you can find chief sustainability officers standing up programs in their third organization, such as Dave Stangis, Apollo Global Management, Inc. investment advisory; Jill Kolling, James Hardie building materials; and Lisa Brady, Insulet Corporation medical devices." See more trends in "3 ways sustainability jobs have changed in 15 years" from John Davies at GreenBiz Group: https://lnkd.in/gsThe7FJ #sustainability #sustainabilitycareers #greenbusiness

I love sharing our ambitious ESG plan. This industry wide call to action is something for us to all collectively work towards and improve the way that we work within the commercial sector. We always want to hear about what others are doing in this space and the opportunity to share learnings. If you want to kick start 2024 with a sustainably minded conversation, let's grab a coffee and talk!

Market insight: stand-alone sustainability jobs seem to be the hot area in my business so far in 2024.   Why? Clients are talking about wanting to do the right thing, setting out objectives to become carbon neutral or aiming for B-Corp status.   Exciting times. As a consumer, parent and recruiter, being able to support businesses in this area gives me great pride.   If you are a sustainability professional, or a company seeking to recruit one, feel free to connect and let's talk.   #sustainability #sustainabilityjobs 

“Leave sustainability to activists or the government, we do business to make money‘’ ‘’Sustainability is urgent, but honestly; green tech will solve the problem’’  “I don’t get it, why should investors even care about sustainability?” ➡️Sounds familiar? Are you a Sustainability Executive responsible for developing and driving your company’s sustainability strategy, objectives, and targets forward? Do you often ask yourself ⁉️⁉️🤔 -> How can I instill the necessary sense of urgency amongst my company leaders to open up to understanding and thinking about sustainability in a different / more realistic way?  -> How can I give company leaders the confidence to make business model/activity -changes when the data, modeling, and metrics usually used for decision-making are not yet complete, but the ESG impacts, consequences, and scopes of responsibility are more than evident? -> How can I get cooperation from colleagues of mine, whom I depend on for transformation, who don’t seem to care, understand, or prioritize action? 😒According to the 2023/204 Sustainability Census, 65% of organizations worldwide have made public commitments to sustainability, while more than 60% of 2,253 sustainability professionals interviewed by recruitment firm Acre express doubts about the timeframe for delivering against sustainability targets, while 33% were very or moderately dissatisfied with the resources they have access to. Could it give you hope, peace of mind, and the energy to keep going ..if you had the chance to share challenges, find solutions, and cultivate courage with others in a similar rocky boat as yours? ➡️: then Katrien Rennemeier and I are excited to invite you into a confidential and open conversation structured as follows: a. last 45min - 1hour b. scheduled at your convenience through a link we will share. c. what you tell us will remain strictly confidential d. 3 open-ended questions to respond to at your discretion. With your answers, we gain a deeper understanding of your context and the challenges you face. We will close by asking you which pain point you would like a team of sus executive peers to brainstorm around. What will we do after holding a series of interviews like this?  Well, we want to bring together sustainability executives, belonging to different companies, into a safe space where they can anonymously explore some of these big and small changes and pain points together. We aim to build a series of workshops aimed at clearly understanding individual and common struggles, and sharing / framing of best practices, tips, and tricks. Who are we? We are innovators, with extensive experience in the domain of sustainability, having different backgrounds, living different lives, and having one purpose: being idealist enough but practical enough to contribute to improving the world. Inspired? Reach out to us by DM and we will share a Calendly link so you can book a call on a day and time that suits you. Picture Credit: Hans van Dam

We’ve seen CEOs are more involved in sustainability initiatives, and more sustainability staffers are appointed to departmental functions, such as energy and supply chain. Up next: The ESG controller in the finance office. Women are absolutely on the rise in the field too, but — disappointingly — not necessarily their comp. #sustainability #sustainabilityjobs #sustainabilityinitiatives #greenfuture #cleanfuture #sustainabilitygoals Read more 👇

Sustainability starts at the top. In the industries we serve, we’re seeing sustainability hiring at the highest level. “What we’ve seen, especially in the last 1-2 years, is many companies are thinking about sustainability hires at the board level,” ForceBrands' Impactful Search Executive Director Rhonda Taylor said. “It’s become more of a priority among businesses, especially those with robust operations, supply chains, real estate, and facilities. They’re thinking more strategically about their footprint and about how they can be more environmentally sound.” Read more here: https://forceb.co/45XHM7y #sustainability #hiring #GreenEnergy #GreenFuture #GreenJobs #MakeAnImpact #MakingAnImpact