Industry Professionals Who Attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accreditation: An Examination of Motivations in Human Resource (HR) Training and Development

Despite the economy, the green building industry continues to grow and drive the demand for environmentally conscious, highly skilled professionals (USGBC 2009). LEED Accredited Professionals (APs) have the knowledge and skills to meet such demand; however, information is limited regarding LEED APs or their motivations and expectations toward prospective employers. The author surveyed a sample of LEED Accredited architects and found a combination of job and personal factors motivated them to attain accreditation. LEED APs value both a competitive salary and commitment to sustainability in prospective employers. To attract, retain, and utilize LEED APs, executives in this industry must reexamine corporate culture, their willingness to pay for credentialing, and the alignment of their reputation with the desires of potential applicants.

Contributing Factors in Corporate America's Implementation of Policies and Procedures That Protect and Enhance the Work Experience for Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender (GLBT) Employees: An Examination of Corporate GLBT Initiatives

Business organization executives today are routinely challenged to attract and retain key talent and employ innovative techniques to expand their consumer-base. Moreover, these executives have advanced their business initiatives to include workplace equality initiatives with a motivation to attract and retain key talent. In this research the author examined the contributing factors that lead executives in corporate America to implement Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) initiatives as business strategies. The case study methodology applied in this examination illustrated that the implementation of GLBT initiatives can increase a business organization's ability to attract and retain key talent, and increase employee work productivity while expanding the consumer base. Therefore, the business organization's competitive advantage in the marketplace is increased.