The green job frenzy of job seekers, web sites, recruiters, etc. isn’t helping us make major progress on sustainability. The two things that strike me are that people want green jobs, but haven’t determined the personal and professional development required to qualify for green jobs. Second, the green job frenzy seems to set us up to think that green or sustainability jobs are separate, when every job and every employee needs to apply sustainability concepts to their current jobs and businesses. From all the sustainability case studies, sustainability progress is a journey that involves learning and application at all levels, i.e., integration of sustainability in the way we do all jobs and business processes. With a basic foundation in sustainability, employees applying sustainability in their day jobs within their companies will bring more progress toward sustainable business and living than green jobs themselves.
Green jobs are attractive because they are new and seem directly related to contributing on climate change, environmental degradation, etc. Job seekers, whether unemployed or looking for a change, can’t just switch to a green job without the appropriate education, training, and experience. Is it worth the investment in personal development to qualify for specific green jobs? Absolutely. The demand for green job experts and experience will continue to grow exponentially for the foreseeable future. Most of these jobs require specific education or skills whether a wind technician, a solar installer, an environmental biologist, various types of engineers, botanists, environmental impact experts, etc. Many job seekers don’t have the luxury to invest the time or money to develop the qualifications. However, this should not preclude you from making a contribution to social and environmental change or starting to build a foundation in sustainability knowledge or green job qualifications.
We need employees, managers, and executives in small and medium business (big business too, but they seem to be making some progress on sustainability commitment, planning, and even implementation) that the state of our environment and the future of their business or job is beginning to depend on operating sustainably. Again, from all the research and case studies of companies working sustainability, the sustainability journey that requires a lot of learning, trial and error, a longer term view than we are used to, and a systems thinking approach to our businesses, jobs, and our issues or problems. As importantly, it requires sustainability to be integrated into every job and process, as well as top of mind for all employees. Perhaps your first step in developing yourself for a green job is to make changes in your job or processes for more sustainability or initiating a green team within your company to focus on a low hanging fruit that can make a visible, measurable impact on your company’s environmental impact with strong results in the short term. It could be a green team to increase recycling, waste reduction, water conservation, a financial analysis of applying solar for water heating or electricity.
Pathway 1: New Job or Change of Job to Green
- Identify your ideal green job and its growth potential
- Define and plan the education, training, and experience you need to qualify
- Look for internships or volunteer activities that can contribute to your qualifications
Pathway 2: Integrate sustainability in your day job and/or within your company
- Do you have a foundation in sustainability; have a sustainability framework you can apply? No?! Get started on your learning by reading The Natural Step: Seeding A Quiet Revolution by K. Robert. I had a finance MBA ask how he could get into sustainability. When I asked him what he had read or learned about sustainability, business sustainability approaches, what a sustainability framework was, I got a blank stare. Not good. Applying sustainability in business requires learning, some foundation in the issues we face and how to approach sustainable action.
- Do you have a basic understanding of systems thinking? No?! Learning the basics of systems thinking has been the most life changing for me. It has helped me assess and question my mental models of the world, think more about team learning, understand that achieving sustainability requires understanding the behavior of complex systems, stepping outside the system and looking at the whole, and what kinds of actions change the behavior of complex systems. It is transformational not just in relation to sustainability, but to almost any personal or larger issue. Get started on your learning by reading Thinking in Systems: A Primer by D. Meadows.
- I’m an avid reader. Did you know that if you read one book a month for a year in a particular subject area, you know as much as 85% of the experts in the area? I know it is hard to make time for reading and we are even less of a nation of readers now. The two books I recommended above are easy reads, compelling, and may spark your interest to learn more.
I don’t recommend reading about climate change or our other social and environmental issues, if you already have a basic foundation. I have read a ton in those areas. It is depressing and overwhelming. Focus on learning and action because it is positive and fulfilling. Do make a point of talking about sustainability with anyone that will listen. Recent research shows that about 80% of the public is reticent to talk about the changes we need to make to become a sustainable society. Different research shows that cities are strong on sustainability plans, but very weak on implementation. Consider yourself an early adopter with the job of pushing toward the tipping for broad sustainability action.
- Use your new learning to assess the most significant environmental impacts of your job or within your company. Can you make changes in job or job processes for more sustainable operation?
- If your job itself doesn’t provide fertile ground for sustainability progress, then look for ‘low hanging fruits’, where you can involve yourself. Start a green team of like-minded employees to determine a focused initiative all of you think will get support, you can work without interfering with your day jobs, and offers the opportunity for visible, measurable results in as short a time as possible to build momentum.
By Debbie Deland, Director of The 10% Initiative. She works with Green Cities Florida, the Chamber of Commerce, and NetImpact.
Tags: Green Jobs
