The list of Canada’s “Green 30”—organizations whose employees are most positive about their record on environmental stewardship—was released this past week by Aon Hewitt, the global human resource consulting and outsourcing business of Aon Corp. The list was compiled from employee feedback using Aon Hewitt’s Employee Green Index, which focuses on employers’ environmental strategies and activities and their efforts to consider long-term social, environmental and economic impacts when making decisions.

As part of the 2011 Best Employers in Canada and Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada studies, Aon Hewitt surveyed more than 130,000 employees at more than 250 organizations regarding their employers’ commitment to environmental stewardship. At the Green 30 organizations, an average of 82 percent of employees have a positive perception of their employers’ eco-friendly efforts. At the 30 organizations with the least positive reviews, that figure is 46 per cent.

“Our findings show that employees really see the difference when their employer is focused on developing and implementing environmentally-conscious policies and practices,” said Neil Crawford, Aon Hewitt’s leader of the Best Employers in Canada study. “Effective green programs and practices may persuade certain employees to join or stay with an organization. Certainly employee engagement scores at the Green 30 are higher than those at the 30 organizations that ranked lowest on the Employee Green Index—67 percent for the Green 30 versus 46 percent at the 30 lowest ranked employers.”

The Green 30 list appears in the May 9 issue of Maclean’s magazine, available now on newsstands.