Accenture have posted a very interesting article on the emergence of “green talent”, and how organizations can take lessons from the internet boom on how to integrate these new talent pools.

Companies are seeing a rise in both the supply and demand for “green talent”—employees with the mindsets and skills to drive sustainability in an organization. The authors explain how executives can draw on lessons from the Internet revolution of the late 1990s, when they also had to learn how to integrate new talent pools into their workforces. They also reveal how some leading companies are using a framework to define, discover, develop and deploy their talent to advance sustainability strategies.

We’ve been talking about “green talent” and the impact of sustainability requirements on organizations for a while.  It is a great example of an external trend – beyond the organization’s control – which impacts both the supply of and demand for talent.  So, it is also a great example of why your strategic workforce planning methodology and software should not be limited to determining what you need for your organization’s strategy…because some really big trends aren’t included in that.  It seems counterintuitive, but your examination of strategy should be part of a wider environment scanning approach that also considers external social trends…like “green”.

How are you incorporating trends like these?