What are green skills?

“Green skills” are the abilities, knowledge, and hard and soft skills required to address environmental challenges and create a sustainable future. While these skills can pertain to “green jobs,” they can also play an important role in many positions across an array of industries. These skills enable an organization to use resources more efficiently, decrease its carbon footprint and do its part to nurture a more environment-friendly society. 

What are some important green skills? 

Some green skills may prove more valuable to your organization than others, depending on your industry. With that caveat in mind, here are a few commonly sought-after green skills:

• Environmental science: Individuals with this skill possess an understanding of the natural world and how humans impact it, including areas such as biology, biochemistry and physics. 
• Measuring and reporting: This is the ability to conduct environmental audits to assess and monitor the impact of an organization’s activities, such as measuring emissions and analyzing a company’s overall carbon footprint.
• An eye on the future: Team members with this ability are adept at considering the impact on future generations when making decisions and implementing systems. 
• Green building and design: This skill set involves knowledge of eco-friendly building supplies, the efficient use of energy and how to construct or retrofit green environments.
• Green digital skills: Employees with these skills are proficient at developing and using green technologies such as smart grids, cloud computing, and energy-efficient appliances and equipment. 
• Supply chain management: Supply chain management as a green skill involves identifying ways to source raw materials, produce and package goods, and transport products in an ethical and environmentally sustainable fashion.
• Waste management: This green skill can be applied to a multitude of industries, enabling them to reduce waste, reuse and recycle, and responsibly dispose of hazardous materials. 
• Energy efficiency: This skill encompasses many abilities, including understanding how to decrease an organization’s energy consumption, utilize renewable energy, conduct an energy audit and teach other team members how to reduce energy use.
• Sustainable agriculture: People with this skill are well-versed in water conservation, organic farming methods, promoting soil health and agroforestry.
• Water management: This relates to conserving water, eliminating water pollutants, using efficient irrigation techniques and promoting streamflow. 

How can green skills benefit your organization? 

Green skills can benefit your organization in several ways. Here are some of the most noteworthy possible benefits:

• Environmental preservation: The most obvious result of a focus on green skills is the ability to protect the environment, minimize your company’s impact on it and safeguard the future of generations to come.
• Enhanced compliance with regulations: These skills can better ensure that your organization is adhering to environmental policy and regulations, preserving your corporate image, and negating possible infractions and fines.
• Cost-effectiveness: By reducing waste through green initiatives, your company can decrease operational expenses.
• Enhanced brand image: Engaging in green initiatives shows the public that you value the environment and recognize the impact that corporate entities can have on it. This demonstration of care may significantly elevate your brand image. 
• Boosted sales: Thanks to your company’s image as a brand that cares about the environment, you could potentially see an increase in sales. 
• Enhanced employer image: Many talented job candidates want to work for a company whose values align with their own. By fostering a culture of environmental responsibility and improving your employer branding metrics, you can attract a wider pool of potential employees.
• Increased employee retention: Employees enjoy working for a company they admire and feel good about. By demonstrating your care for the natural world and future generations, you can foster a more positive company culture and dramatically improve your employee retention.
• Positive community relations: Your organization is part of the community in which it resides. By taking measures to protect the air, water and soil that community members rely on, you can ensure that your relationship remains positive and beneficial to everyone involved. 

How do I hire candidates who possess green skills?

Is this your first time seeking a candidate with green skills? There are ways to improve your ability to attract top-notch job seekers who possess the knowledge you require. Here are a few tips to help you find the right candidate:

Clearly outline requisite green skills in job postings

Ensure that your job descriptions state the exact green skills each position requires, such as conducting energy audits, seventh generation thinking and sustainable supply chain management. This will better ensure that potential hires have the precise skills you seek. 

Consider adjacent skills

A candidate may not possess specific green abilities, but they may have experience or knowledge in an area that allows them to slide into a green role. For example, a job that involves STEM skills can equip someone for a green scientific or auditing role. This method greatly widens your net, ensuring you don’t miss out on candidates with potential. 

Team up with education providers

Keeping in close contact with local universities, colleges and training institutions can create a win-win situation. By letting the educator know what green skills you require, they can refer potential hires with those qualifications. This allows you to tap into a pool of graduates with the requisite green skills while the educator has the benefit of helping students secure employment. 

Access Government of Canada programs

The government offers several programs and initiatives that provide financial incentives and assistance for organizations wishing to introduce green business practices. Canada’s Job Bank provides a comprehensive list of available programs.

Use the STAR method to interview candidates

While you have likely used the STAR interview format to interview applicants in the past, you may not have considered customizing this process to identify candidates with green skills. For those who are unfamiliar with this method, “STAR” is an acronym for the following: 

• Situation: The candidate is asked to describe a problem or scenario they faced.
• Task: The candidate outlines the task or goal they wanted to achieve.
• Action: The candidate describes the decision-making process and the actions they took to achieve their goal.
• Result: Now, the candidate will share the results of their actions and quantify them wherever possible. They can also include any valuable lessons they learned during this experience.

By using prompts geared to assess green skills, you may be able to determine the breadth of an applicant’s know-how, how they apply green skills to daily tasks, and if their adjacent skills are easily transferable. 

How can you provide green skills training? 

Perhaps you wish to provide your current team members with valuable green skills. Thankfully, there are a variety of ways that your organization can teach staff members how to foster environmental sustainability and develop an overall green mindset. Here are a few examples: 

• Industry-specific training: Develop a training program that teaches green content relevant to your organization’s industry. You can start by teaching the foundations of sustainability and branch out into more specialized topics like waste management or energy efficiency. 
• Learning sessions: You can make learning fun by holding staff training sessions that involve a guest expert or video. Incorporating a lunch or snacks makes it more enjoyable.  
• Appealing to different learning styles: Increase employee engagement by incorporating a variety of training tools, such as workshops, videos, online modules, games and case studies.
• Employee mentorships: It is often helpful to have employees with green skills impart their knowledge to their peers. These mentorship programs enable the regular reinforcement of green skills while keeping the team motivated to be environmentally responsible. 
• Gamify learning. Make learning fun by creating a competition between teams. By adding a competitive element to your training, you can foster collaboration and teamwork while rewarding those who put in the most effort. 

You are now better prepared to lead your organization’s journey to becoming greener. With a deeper understanding of the green skills requisite to your organization, you can ensure that your company acquires the skills it needs. It’s a matter of deciding whether to seek new talent, train your existing team or do a bit of both.