Talking ’bout your generation: younger workers and sustainability

As debates about climate change heat up (again), with arguments about whether the documented rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is actually causing warming, here’s a totally non-carbon reason to get on with sustainability anyway: your younger workers don’t believe in business as usual. And they’ll be pissed off if you do.

(Never mind that the creeping vogue of maybe-we-don’t-have-to-worry-so-much global-warming analysis seems to ignore that we’re still on track for a nine billion global population within half a lifetime or that China alone is buying – and presumably driving – 10 million new cars this year, a 500% increase from 2000 and rising, on a planet that does not, at last measure, seem to be growing any larger. Arguments about parts per million and fractions of degrees should take stock of a much bigger picture.)

Your younger workers, the ones who wield little clout now but who can certainly temper the atmosphere of the workplace, are not only seeking some action on climate change – they’re also firmly fed up with what they see as generational responsibility-evading tactics.

“They trashed the pension system, the health-care system and the education system; they trashed the economy; and now they’re trashing the planet. And they’re not willing to pay to clean it up.”

McAllister was speaking at BC Hydro’s recent Power Smart Forum as part of a climate-change panel. He describes talking about climate change with young people in focus groups, where one person will start to articulate anger about the legacy they are receiving, and others start to nod and agree. Some, he says, are so stressed they tear up.

“Twenty-somethings are very concerned about global warming,” he said. “They have a feeling that something is wrong. They articulate it in different ways, but this is one issue that they understand will affect their generation – and they will have to pay for it.”

McAllister says another identifying feature of this up-and-coming set of employees is that they are firmly seeking jobs that include some sort of vision that have to do with “doing the right thing.”

“Younger Canadians are very excited about joining a company with a mission that’s not just about taking your human hat off during the day and putting it back on at night,” said McAllister. “If you’re concerned about keeping your workforce, you have to give them that. And they have to see that it’s real, that it matters to you. Authenticity is really important to them.”

Putting intergenerational politics aside, hands up all you older workers who crave jobs where you check your values at the door, do work that seems irrelevant to your community and the wider world and engage with colleagues and leaders who seem blasé about corporate impact or legacy.

Not that many older workers are keen to enlist at a vision-free, community-reduced, responsibility-lite company either. It’s just that they’re more established in workplace routines and may be more willing to accept the status quo. Not so with younger workers, who, McAllister reports, “want to make cool shit happen.”

Oh, and it has to be real, too. “[Your sustainability effort] has to make sense,” said McAllister. “It has to link to your business case, even if it evolves over time. It has to be part of the larger story of your company. You have to create meaning; you can’t just slap it on.”

Which is, fortunately, the best formula for a high-performing, profit-enhancing sustainability program, in any case. You may start with disparate projects – improved recycling here, community engagement there, some green purchasing policies and energy efficiencies. It’s when you start to connect the dots that the synergies (and positive bottom-line impacts) appear.

If this sounds like something you think someone else should deal with, check your head. “What’s funny about the boomers is they don’t get that they’re boomers; they’re forever young,” said McAllister. “They’ll listen to young people and they’ll agree. And then they pause and realize, ‘Oh, it’s people like me.’”

Of course, no single generation is responsible for our current overshoot of the planet’s carrying capacity (warming, cooling or undecided). And no single generation or individual is going to get us back on a saner track. But sustainability is a story about generations – about considering what you inherited from those before you and being respectful toward what you pass on. Which is why it’s worth listening to the younger ones. After all, how do you want to be remembered? •

Nina Winham ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is principal of New Climate Strategies, helping clients build value through sustainability and communications strategy. She writes regularly on sustainability topics. www.newclimate.ca.

This article from Business in Vancouver October 27-November 2, 2009; issue 1044

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