We worked with a Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) cohort of students in a collaboration with Farrell Associates — a sustainability-focused recruitment advisory firm.
To help recruiters strengthen their role as sustainability-focused recruitment and advisory partners, the cohort researched how organisations build the culture, skills, and credibility needed to drive sustainable/ESG-aligned change — and translated that research into practical recommendations for the firm’s client and its own positioning.
The cohort built an evidence-based strategy — grounded in academic literature, case studies, and competitor benchmarking — to advise recruiters on how to embed sustainability more deeply into both its own culture/positioning and the recruitment services it offers clients. They identified five sub-strands:
Cultural transformation – What internal cultural shifts (leadership alignment, empowerment, psychological safety, incentives) enable employees to become catalysts for change, using Microsoft's culture shift as a case study.
Talent profiling for green sectors – Mapping the skills, competencies, and personality types (MBTI-based) best suited to roles in renewable energy and infrastructure investment, to help recruit more effectively for these verticals.
Sustainable recruitment frameworks – Identifying frameworks organisations should adopt for "green recruitment," and who should own implementation, drawing on HRM literature, ESG guidelines, and case studies (Unilever, Google, Patagonia).
Position as a trusted sustainability partner – Using trust and stakeholder theory, benchmarking, and case studies (Unilever+WWF, Starbucks+Conservation International) to define what would let them evolve from a recruiter into a trusted ESG advisor.
Making the case for sustainable recruitment to clients – Articulating recruitment's role in the green economy amid skill shortages and budget pressures, using examples like Patagonia and Greggs/Timpson.