A group of 138 participants from 25 countries took part in the Sustainability day at the ING International Talent Programme. For most of the young graduates who participated, this was their first introduction to ING’s approach to sustainability.
The day kicked off with a presentation by the Sustainability team on ING’s approach to being a sustainable financial institution. This was followed by John Grant, author of The Green Marketing Manifesto, providing the external context with a presentation on how other companies have integrated sustainability into their business.
As the day progressed, these future ING executives were given an assignment to encourage them to truly internalise the issues a financial institution has to deal with in order to be more sustainable.
The main focus of this assignment was to address how ING can successfully improve its sustainable image with its employees and customers. The 138 talents were divided into working groups and given a couple of hours in the afternoon to work their ideas into a pitch.
At the end of the day the various sub groups were given a few minutes each to present their pitches to the wider group. Over the next months the participants will be given the opportunity to further refine their ideas, which will be appraised by the Sustainability Department in January 2012. The three best ideas will be then chosen for execution.