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Sustainability

As an IT leader, you see firsthand the pressure your organization is under to attract and retain top talent. You’re not alone. This is an area of renewed focus in companies of all sizes and across multiple industries.

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The Great Resignation impacted organizations of all sizes, with 3.5 million people a month quitting their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.1 In today’s competitive hiring landscape, the solution to attracting and keeping the best and brightest talent isn’t found only in offering higher salaries or inventive office perks. The next generation of workers will also evaluate potential employers based on an organization’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. Sustainability is more than an organizational responsibility; it’s now an employee priority.

Shifting (green) expectations

Remote work, and now hybrid work, bought a seismic shift in expectations with workers seeking more social benefits, vacation time, and flexible hours and work locations. Employees also want to join organizations that align with their core values and beliefs. When it comes to hiring top talent, sustainability, equity, and governance are increasingly important.

According to a recent survey by intranet company Unily, 65% of workers said they were more likely to work for a company with a robust sustainability policy.2 Bottom line: The more your environmental policies align with your employees’ values, the more likely you are to hire and retain engaged and creative people.

While you might imagine these changes are driven by your future workforce (Gen Z), it’s not the case. Workers across the board expect organizations to adopt more ethical practices. A global survey across nine countries conducted by IBM found that seven in 10 employees and job candidates want to work for an organization that has a positive impact on the world.3 We can only expect this number to increase as the next generation of workers continues to find their purpose, and their voice, in the workplace.

IT leaders are taking note

IT teams are rising to the “green” challenge, implementing policies that directly impact an organization’s well-being — but also the environment’s. How? With smarter technology choices. It’s important to offer employees a broad range of laptops, tablets, and workstations. Modern devices like the Lenovo ThinkPad® Z Series, running Windows 11 Pro with business-ready AMD Ryzen PRO 6000 Series processors, was created for your new generation of users.

The Lenovo Z Series are the most sustainable ThinkPads ever built, with recyclable materials used throughout and in the packaging that surrounds them. At Lenovo, packaging isn’t just a way to get finished ThinkPad laptops from our manufacturing facility safely into our customers’ hands. It’s an opportunity for our packaging engineers and designers to make a sustainable difference through innovation.

Building a more sustainable fleet

Let’s say you’re updating your fleet of employee laptops. In the past, cost per unit and a robust service agreement likely drove your purchase decision. Today, including sustainable, ethical laptops is an additional part of an IT team’s decision criteria. If your employees understand that the devices you’re providing have been carefully selected with an eye toward sustainability, it sets your organization apart and demonstrates in real-world terms your commitment to making a difference through innovation.

As your team begins to evaluate ways to integrate sustainability into your devices selections, there are some key considerations you should pay close attention to:

  • Power usage. Evaluate how much power the operating system uses as well as the energy expended in manufacturing the laptop.
  • Recyclable materials. Look for product packaging that is recyclable and made from post-consumer recycled materials. Also consider the device itself. Is your supplier using innovative, sustainable components and minimizing the number of harmful materials used in the manufacturing process?
  • Asset recovery and disposal. End-of-life asset disposal has a significant environmental impact, adding tons of waste to the planet every year. Check that your supplier has a robust asset recovery and disposal program in place — one that’s easy to implement with demonstrable results.
  • Carbon offset. Partnering with a supplier that offers a resilient CO2 offset service will make it easier for your organization to offset the carbon emissions associated with each laptop you purchase. And when you’re refreshing a fleet of laptops, this carbon offset could be significant.

As an IT leader, you anticipate change and you look for ways to bring modern, sustainable solutions to your workforce. The Lenovo ThinkPad Z Series is designed for today’s professional creators and innovators — helping them work from anywhere, collaborate with ease, and support your users’ vision of work without compromises.