Is the Grass Greener Elsewhere? : Organizational Factors for the Retention of Sustainability-Driven Employees

With the increasing importance of sustainability for employees, they tend to seek employment in a company that reflects sustainability in their business practices. It becomes crucial for companies to consider sustainability as a relevant retention factor. However, only little research exists about the sustainability dimension in retention. Overall, corporate sustainability is identified as having a positive effect on employee retention, yet these existing stud-ies and theoretical frameworks do not consider it from the perspective of sustainability-driven employees and do not explicitly reflect the sustainability dimension in retention. Therefore, this study aims to explore the sustainability dimension in retention by identifying which organizational factors can influence employee retention, focusing on those with strong sustainability values as a response to the general demand for more sustainability. A qualitative and inductive approach was used to fill the research gap around sustainability-driven employees, involving interviews with 15 people identifying as such. The interview data was coded and categorized in two rounds, one close to the informant terms and the other connecting to the theoretical landscape to ensure academic rigor. The result of the study is a grounded theory model showing which and how organizational factors increase the retention of sustainability-driven employees.