Interface Participates in Respect Table's Study Group for Corporate Leaders: Focus on Corporate Responsibility and Recruitment
Interface participated in a special "invitation only" session at the annual Respect Table meeting in Brussels on June 21, 2004. Participants in the session included Margot Wallström, EU Environment Commissioner, and the chief executives of eight companies including Interface, ABB, DHL Express, Maersk, Stora Enso and the Body Shop.The session was organized by Respect Table, a study group for corporate leaders committed to corporate responsibility and sustainable development.
Environment Daily quoted leaders in the group as saying, "Companies must be able to communicate responsible values if they are to attract new generations of employees." They also reported that Ms. Wallström backed the message.
Following the closed meeting, Environment Daily reported Ms. Wallström as emphasizing the importance of corporate responsibility for recruitment. She said, "Industry's recruitment procedure shouldn't underestimate the importance of having a moral and ethical code. That's very important to the best students."
Haken Bryngelson of Swedish real estate company Vasakronan agreed that changes were necessary: "Attitudes have to be changed," he said. "Values should be regarded very highly when recruiting young people if business practices are to change."
Ms. Wallström was reported as responding cautiously when asked how long it would take for environmental practices to become an integral part of business strategies. She indicated that it was her belief that it would be "quite a few years, maybe even a generation," while Mr. Bryngelson was more optimistic saying, "in between five and ten years we will definitely start seeing strong support."
More information will soon be available on the Respect Table web site.
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