Everyone at TBL Services and Support the Goals were delighted to find out that we have been shortlisted in the Next Generation category at the Environment Analyst Sustainability Consulting Awards! In this blog, we will explore why this achievement is so important to us and the initiatives that have contributed our nomination.
What are the Sustainability Consulting Awards?
This award ceremony recognises environment, social and governance (ESG) achievement and celebrates consultancies who have made contributions to their own and their clients’ sustainability journeys. The winners of the 13 categories will be revealed on 27th June in Chicago. We are honoured to be a part of this important event that mainstreams ESG consulting and celebrates the achievements that have been made in this field. Other shortlisted companies in the wide variety of categories include Tesco, ERM, Atkins and Hatch, among others.
What is the Next Generation Award?
Companies in the Next Generation category are celebrated for their efforts to safeguard the future of the industry by developing early career professionals and nurturing employees. Recruitment and retention are often considered the sector’s biggest challenge, so these achievements are important to recognise.
The experts at Environmental Analyst say that the winning entry will efficiently attract, recruit, retain and retrain the next generation of professionals using innovative and creative methods. They are also looking for activities which demonstrate an acknowledgement of diversity, equity and inclusion.
The other nominees alongside us for the Next Generation Award are Jacobs, Arup, X-Academy and WSP. We are proud to be shortlisted for this award which celebrates such important values, alongside these huge names.
Why have we been nominated?
A major part of this achievement is our partnership with Support the Goals. TBL Services founded Support the Goals in 2018 with the aim of providing young people with environmental and sustainability knowledge with the UN Global Goals in focus.
Researchers progress through a Certified Sustainability Researcher scheme which quantifies their understanding of corporate sustainability. In just four years, 110 young people have successfully completed the research program and 94% of these believed it helped them to obtain a career. 44% have retained careers in sustainability-related jobs, showing the program has been a launchpad for careers with environment and sustainability (E&S) at the forefront. In 2022, there were 18 new recruits and 24 researcher certification levels achieved, with over 80% of researchers becoming certified.
Researchers who have completed the programme have secured job roles such as Environmental Advisor at Natural England, Climate Adaptation & Resilience Assistant Consultant at WSP and Assistant Operations Manager at Ofgem. It offers young people the skills and knowledge to go forward in a sustainability career and make a meaningful impact in the consulting sector, and this has had positive impacts on our operations - over 50% of the current TBL team has developed their career through Support the Goals.
Furthermore, 73% of TBL’s team are under 28 years old. Most are recent graduates with 1-2 years of business experience. We are keen to recruit with the future in mind – hiring young people who can develop into their career and use their E&S knowledge going forward within a range of sectors and disciplines.
This manifests through our focus on retraining. For example, our Learning and Development Fund is an allowance for employees to take part in training courses and gain new qualifications or professional memberships. We also have regular knowledge sharing sessions where all members of the team get the chance to educate others on a topic they are an expert in. In addition, our internal working groups encourage employees to have a greater involvement in the company beyond their job title. All of these initiatives mean that TBL employees get the chance to experience new areas of consulting, develop their skills and gain a wide depth and breadth of knowledge. This level of nurturing not only allows our services to be optimized but means that our employees develop an impressive portfolio for advanced professional development.
Alongside this, we enforce a range of innovative policies to ensure employees enjoy working at TBL, meaning retention is optimized. We have recently tested and launched a four-day working week which has significantly improved work-life balance, with no negative impact on the quality of our services. Our hybrid working approach means that the window of opportunity within our organization is not limited by factors such as access to our office or care responsibilities. Everyone is also entitled to three paid volunteering days, which encourages them to take part in activities that matter to them, championing personal fulfilment. We have also developed a parental leave policy of 6 months maternity/paternity leave so that new parents are not disadvantaged.
Plus, 66% of our current team identifies as women and in our applicant pool in the recent recruitment round was a balanced gender split. We are proud to be an inclusive and equal employer which encourages and celebrates the diversity of our team.
The Takeaway
As a sustainability consultancy, we help other businesses to control their ESG risks and commit to achieving the UN Global Goals. We are a Certified B Corporation, meaning we practice what we preach and are certified to the highest ethical and environmental standards. Being shortlisted for this award shows that we are taking important steps to empower this to continue well into the future within the next generation of employees.
We are delighted that our achievements in maintaining the future of the sector has been recognized and we can’t wait to find out the results of the awards!
