In Reflets Magazine #145 (in French), ESSEC Alumni and ObSoCo reveal the findings of the 2022 Environmental & Social Transition survey, which interviewed 1,200 ESSEC graduates and students. How does our community perceive these issues? What levers for action does it recommend?  Here is a free online translation of the article… click here to get the next issues (in French)!

As abnormal climatic events multiply and scientific publications point to increasing environmental deterioration, consensus on the ecological question is gaining ground. According to the barometer of corporate engagement perception,¹ 79 % of the French population expresses concern for the issue, and 74% believe that major companies are not doing enough.

In reality, however, it is the organisation of society as a whole which is being called into question. According to the same survey, 87% also say they are in favour of reducing inequality in France, and 90% believe it is ‘intolerable that certain people are victims of discrimination in France’.

What is the position of the ESSEC community in this context?

ESSEC Alumni and ObSoCo carried out a major survey with a sample of some 1,200 community representatives.

The results point to a broad consensus:  98% of alumni consider pollution to be one of the major problems which businesses should address. Results are similar with regard to the depletion of natural resources (97%), climate change (95%) or the decline in biodiversity (94%). 87% describe the current environmental situation as ‘very worrying’ or ‘alarming’, whereas 82% agree that businesses must change radically to achieve a truly sustainable model.

While views on social themes are less unanimous, they are nevertheless highlighted by a vast majority. 86% believe that companies should engage in gender equality, 79% are against all forms of recruitment discrimination and 74% favour diversity and inclusion in the professional world.

Consensus on the situation, divergence in the solutions

Like the rest of the French population, alumni have sometimes differing views on how to address the issues of environmental and social transition.

One such divide concerns the role of institutions. While 68% of alumni identify the State as the leading player with a duty to act, major companies come second place, on a par with citizens (45% and 43% respectively). On this point, a higher proportion of younger generations call on the State (83%) and major companies (53%) than older generations (62% and 18% among over 62s, respectively, a much larger proportion of whom call on individual citizen action).

Alumni also differ on the view that ‘technological progress will provide a sustainable solution to environmental issues”, with 34% in agreement, while 51% believe, inversely, that this issue ‘cannot be solved through a technological solution’. Once more, younger alumni, and women, tend to be much more doubtful. 

From the action of organisations to individual engagement

While a vast majority of alumni believe that businesses need to transform radically, just 15% claim that the company they work for is actually on that path. The most frequently perceived hurdles are: company culture, which is above all driven by economic performance (56%); the cost of implementing solutions (44%); the inertia of organisational models (39%) and the reluctance of management (30%).

Given all this, some individuals are taking matters into their own hands. 20% of alumni say they are now ‘actively involved’ in the transformation of their company. Around a quarter of respondents are just starting to act and would like to further their efforts. The remaining half are equally divided between alumni who express their awareness and desire to act, and others who claim they are aware of the issues but feel at a loss to address the situation. Just under 10% say they are unconcerned by the subject in their professional life or do not see its relevance.

The majority of alumni have no plans to ‘abandon’ major companies. A slight majority (51%) even believe that participating internally in transforming businesses is the best way to contribute to positive improvement. A third (32%) nevertheless believe that the best thing to do at present is to ‘refuse to work in companies that have a negative impact on the environment’ - a proportion which rises to 43% among the youngest respondents.

A matter of generations

Generally speaking, the youngest alumni (under 32 years at the time of the survey) appear more concerned, informed and demanding with regard to these issues.

They also tend to express a more disillusioned attitude. More than a quarter point to a general lack of interest in environmental issues (+9 point over the average). 31% see only minor changes in their company’s road map for the next ten years (+11 points).

They form the majority of alumni who consider that corporate reactions to environmental issues are driven mainly by opportunism. For more than half of these respondents, such actions are aimed above all at shifting to meet consumer and employee expectations (33%, +10 points), or at finding new growth opportunities (18 %, + 4 points).

These young alumni and ‘climate natives’ are more demanding in terms of environmental standards. They do not claim to be more committed than other alumni, yet their responses taken as a whole tend to reflect a more radical stance. 66% say they wish to go much further in their commitment (+15 points). 43% believe that a boycott of negative impact businesses is the best way to accelerate transformation (+14 points). 30% have already changed job or company to take up a role more in keeping with their convictions (+6 points).

Expectations for ESSEC & ESSEC Alumni

Around three out of four alumni believe that ESSEC Alumni should strengthen its support for alumni in this matter. More broadly, 71% believe they require new skills to address environmental issues and 68% are willing to invest time in training.

Three categories of training are frequently cited: training to further the transformation of businesses on a sectoral level (37%); programmes geared towards leaders and managers wishing to initiate the transition of their company (34%), and training modules to help employees and managers rally their hierarchy and support operational teams (29%).

Once more, it is the youngest alumni who stand out: a substantially high proportion expresses the need for support with a view to converting to impact professions (48%), and they have a particularly positive reaction to the proposal to create a ‘directory of committed alumni to foster contacts’ (44%) or to set up a ‘job board devoted to professions in environmental and social transition’ (42%).

Once over the 40-year mark, expectations focus on slightly different aspects. 60% mention the idea of ‘exploring new models for success’. 38% would like to see reverse mentoring, where young experts would accompany older alumni looking to boost their skills in transition. This figure indicates that social and environmental transition is not a matter of generational conflict, rather a question that concerns everyone and requires an intergenerational commitment.

5 attitudes to transition among ESSEC

The survey also enabled a categorisation of alumni into five groups, of which three are actively committed to social and/or environmental transition.

The firm believers (20%): they are younger and more radical, even if their actual commitment and feeling of control does not rank the highest among the panel.

The climate activists (27%): mostly young and urban, highly informed and highly committed, they call for a radical transformation of companies, and do not rely on technology as a solution; these are the influencers of environmental transition.

The socially aware (8%): characterised by a rejection of the employee status, they believe that the best way to contribute positively is to create one’s own positive impact project.

The observers (38%): they have relative knowledge of the issues and feel helpless in the face of the changes to come, which places them in a waiting role, even if they express a desire to get more involved in the future.

The conservatives (7%): economic influencers, a majority of men, and the wealthiest and oldest respondents on our panel, they are indifferent, even sceptical, and believe that businesses already do enough for society and the environment.

This categorisation indicates that the proportion of graduates demanding a radical transformation of businesses will continue to rise and must be listened to.

Method

The survey was carried out online from 7 June to 11 July 2022 on a total sample (after clearing of the database) of 1,191 alumni respondents, of which 896 answered the questionnaire fully. The whole alumni community (which includes qualified alumni, besides students) was invited to take part in the survey, specifically via the ESSEC Alumni newsletter.

Representativeness of the sample was established via the quota method according to the following criteria: age, programme followed at ESSEC, country of residence, contribution payments to ESSEC Alumni and membership of the ESSEC Alumni Transition Club. Data was adjusted across all the quota variables in order to offset residual discrepancies between the structure of the sample and that of the whole population surveyed. In particular, the weighting of contributors and members of the ESSEC Transition Club was reduced slightly, in order to avoid overrepresenting these groups and creating a potential bias linked to the structural effect of the sample due to this overrepresentation.

Several coherency checks were implemented to allow for a clearing of the database and to ensure the quality of the data collected.

For the section of the survey dealing with alumni’s perception of corporate engagement on a social and environmental level, the method used was as follows: alumni active in a company were questioned on the company they work for; alumni with an independent or freelance status and those undergoing a career change were questioned on ‘companies in general’.

It must be noted that one of the contextual elements which may have had a slight influence on respondents’ perceptions during the survey period was the early heatwave occurring between 15 and 19 June 2022.

¹ Barometer for the perception of corporate engagement, ObSoCo / Trusteam, 2022.

Translation of an article published in Reflets Magazine #145. Click here to get a complimentary access to the issue (in French). Subscribe here to get the next issues (in French).