The right hiring “environment”

Tomorrow is Earth Day, a global celebration of… the globe. For each person, Earth Day takes on a different significance — whether you care about wildlife, climate change, or conservation, there is something to celebrate. There are also a number of global organizations dedicated to advocacy on each of these topics.

I wanted to see how these organizations stack up on hiring by checking out how they perform in the Textio Index. Textio has proven that the language you use in a job post changes who applies, which ultimately determines who gets hired. The Sierra Club was one of the very first environmental organizations, created in 1892. Its original mission was to protect the Redwood Forests of California but has become much broader. It is impressive to see that The Sierra Club maintains its pristine reputation by landing on for hiring, with an overall Textio Score of 46.

Women make up 66% of all staff positions in non-profits, however, that number shifts quite a bit when you look at non-profit boards (69% are predominantly male), and CEO positions (71% are male). You can see this dichotomy play out in the gender tone of the organizations’ job posts. Here again, the Sierra Club rises to the top with a neutral gender tone, along with the lowest overall score getters The Nature Conservancy, and Wildlife Conservation Society. However both National Wildlife Federation and the Environmental Defense Fund have language that is biased feminine, and the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International have language that is biased masculine. By writing job posts in a gender neutral tone, these organizations will be able to attract more qualified candidates, faster.