Some continuing thoughts on the excellent event in Aspen I went to a few weeks ago (earlier post here). One theme I heard repeatedly was how much sustainability can drive employee passion and loyalty.

I had an interesting conversation with James Murdoch, CEO of BskyB, the largest media company in the UK (and, oh yeah, son of Rupert). Under James’ leadership, BskyB has become very interested in green, declaring that it will go climate neutral, and making many operational and product changes such as redesigning cable boxes to use 50% less energy. But one of the first things he said to me was that the company's green work has made recruiting easier.

Later, Ray Anderson put it powerfully: “In my 51 years in business, I’ve never seen an issue galvanize people in a company like sustainability.”

I’m not surprised at statements like this anymore. Throughout my research for Green to Gold, and in many conversations since then, I've heard the same. Companies discover that the best audience for their CSR reports is actually their own employees, who are generally thrilled to find out what their companies are doing right. As a BP exec told me, the green stuff comes up in recruiting and training meetings all the time now.

Of course the pursuit of sustainability has also driven the work RMI employees and Amory Lovins. While it’s more obvious to see this drive at RMI than at a cable company, it was still inspiring. It also helps explains what has kept Amory working so hard for 30+ years while he waited for the world to catch up to his thinking. Only passion can keep you going for decades. Amory's speech at the gala was incredible -- a vision of what a the future could look like.

This is the core issue: sustainability, once you get past the gloom and doom warnings about environmental issues, is fundamentally an optimistic pursuit – a vision of a healthier, stronger world for all.

Imagine what that kind of optimism can do for your employees and your company.

BusinessWeek seems to have taken on the self-appointed role as debunker of green business, which as I've written before is an odd switch from the beginning of 2007. This week the magazine takes a harsh perspective on an interesting new survey about interest in green values at work.

PR firm Hill & Knowlton talked to MBA students globally and asked them what factors would influence career and job choice. They ranked the factors by % that said it was "extremely" or "very" important. Here's the list from the study:

Career opportunities.......................................95
Corporate culture/working environment.............86
Compensation and benefits package................85
Employee satisfaction....................................84
Quality of products and services......................75
Financial performance/growth potential.............73
Corporate governance and ethics.....................58
Social responsibility/community involvement.....49
Brand and marketing message........................48
Environmental/green policy..............................34

BusinessWeek looked at this and declared "Green Isn't Gold for MBAs" and pointed out that green stuff is at the bottom. Now, color me optimistic, but I think these numbers -- 49% on CSR and 34% on green -- are actually pretty high. Of course career opportunities and money are going to be nearly universal; it's like asking consumers about price and quality versus other considerations -- of course they come first. I would expect that very few MBAs would pick on environmental considerations alone.

But I'm amazed that one-third or more of these MBAs consider green as important as those other factors (remember, this is 'extremely' or 'very' important). And where would those numbers have been 5 years ago? What's the trajectory on this?

What was interesting, and BusinessWeek does get to this after its sensational headline, was what happened when the questions got more specific. Two-thirds won't work for tobacco and half don't want to work for energy or autos -- those are just the two biggest sectors in the world. Finally, to cap it off, 1 in 5 American MBAs -- and 42% and 38% in EU and Asia respectively -- would be inclined not to take an "attractive" job offer from a company with a poor environmental reputation.

If you're recruiting for top talent, and you're not tackling green issues, wouldn't it worry you that 20-40% of your pool of applicants may have no interest in you?

And the numbers may be rising as you look at even younger cohorts. Monster.com did a survey of undergrads recently and found that 92% wanted to work for a green company. They were so impressed by this finding, they launched a green careers website. The recruiting giants are convinced even if BusinessWeek isn't.