Recruit and Onboard

Recruit and select sustainability-driven talent

Ensure your team is recruiting for the experience and sustainability competencies you need. To do this, seek to balance traditional analytic procurement minds on your team with more relational and holistic thinkers. Relevant skills include critical reflection, strategic and systems thinking, creativity, relationship building, and understanding of sustainability issues.^{1, 2, 3, 4} Consider also expanding your talent search to include a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. This may include talent from other departments that have relevant transferable skills.

To attract the right candidates, you need to clearly communicate your commitment to sustainability and your sustainability talent needs. This starts with emphasizing sustainability throughout the recruitment process. It includes reflecting on what skills, tasks, and expectations are listed in your recruitment materials and job descriptions. It also applies to your evaluation criteria, which should incorporate sustainability competencies.

EXAMPLE: Recruitment for sustainability alignment

CPO and SPP Ambassador, Rob Alexander, highlights the value of integrating sustainability into recruitment.⁵ His approach ensures that new hires drive the company's sustainable supply chain goals. As he puts it, "We were looking for people that absolutely loved the sustainability agenda, understood what was happening, but had the passion, had the soft skills around partnering... asking how we take this agenda and actually make it work with our supply chain."

EXAMPLE: Scenario-based recruitment

A large grocery chain recruits for procurement roles emphasising the "3 P's: people, processes, and how to develop a change program.” It also seeks to create resilience and diversity in its teams.⁶ Using scenario-based interviews, candidates were asked to reflect on personal buying decisions, such as how they would go about buying a new car. Engaging in thoughtful research and considering sustainability were used as indicators of desired procurement skills.

EXAMPLE: Hiring for sustainability fit

An apparel company with a strong sustainability reputation hires almost exclusively based on alignment with a sustainability-driven culture by seeking candidates who demonstrate conviction in the sustainability-focused business purpose and vision.⁷

Onboard for sustainability

Every touch point in the onboarding process should reinforce your commitment to sustainable value chains. As you design your onboarding process, consider the core knowledge and skills everyone in your team needs, like understanding the organisation’s value chain sustainability goals and aspirations, the core processes and practices that underpin sustainability, and where to access more information on sustainability. New hires should be introduced to the sustainability champions in their groups so they know where to turn when they have questions. You will also want to direct new hires to additional resources where they can gain further sustainability insights, knowledge, and skills.