Who’s the most wanted employer?

Attracting top workers and drawing in business go hand in hand in any dynamic market.
Environmental consultancies put much emphasis on bringing in the crème de la crème of the experts in the field, and strive to draw in the best people with promises of a dynamic working environment and professional growth.


As consultants and clients unanimously said in this survey, a good reputation based on quality of service and expertise is the key to success – and good consultants are needed to ensure that quality. Conversely, good reputation draws talent, as does concern for the wellbeing of employees and investment in their personal development.

To see how successful the top firms are at attracting the best in the business, we asked consultants who they would most like to work for.

Click the image above to view the full results

Atkins, who top the survey in most categories including overall reputation, unsurprisingly emerged as the most desirable employer of them all.

Although the consultants’ choice of workplace did not match the reputation ratings throughout, there was general agreement – especially when considering the all-important consultants’ answers.

ERM came a close second in the most wanted employer ranking. This did not match their reputation among customers – high but not exceptional at seventh out of 51 – but corresponded better with the consultant’s own reputation ratings, where ERM came at a much more dominant third place.

Karen Raymond, ERM’s business development partner for the UK, put the firm’s popularity as an employer down to “the scale and the excitement of the project work we do.”

“We are involved in the biggest problems in the world, and of course that looks good on a CV. And, looking at the figures, ERM appears near the top in most of the categories – that’s a reflection of the diverse range of services we offer, which translates into the opportunities that we offer consultants.

“You come into our business and you may be an ecologist or a waste specialist but you’ll have the opportunity to work on other sorts of projects. That’s something we work very hard to do – to offer opportunities for specialists in one area to experience working in other areas within teams.”

Enviros, who came out third on the most wanted employers’ list, put the result down to the company’s high reputation and the fact that employees are well taken care of. Indeed, Enviros came out high in the reputation stakes, ranked third by customers and fourth by consultants.

Marketing director Nigel Clark told edie: “Enviros is a good name to have on the CV, and [our employees] know they’re working with likeminded individuals.

“As a company we know that the only asset we have is the quality of our people so we do everything we can to look after them, train them and help them become better consultants.”

But while a good working environment is crucial in attracting the quality workers needed for a quality service, it also improves their overall performance once they are recruited.

As Entec spokesman Francesco Corsi put it: “We try to invest in our people in terms of their professional development and try to make sure our internal practices and project management take our staff’s needs into account. This translates into a happier, and therefore more productive, workforce.”

Goska Romanowicz

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