"The war for talent" : A study on employer brand attractiveness and how the choice ofemployer among potential employees are affected by corporate socialresponsibility engagement

Abstract: An increased social and environmental responsibility has arisen as a result of globalization. Corporations are forced to be more about their social impact to stay attractive on the employer market, since employees are becoming more aware of corporations’ effects on the environment. Also, since the competition for the best employees is increasing among companies, there are incentives for corporations to act more responsibly in order to attract the desired prospective employees. The aim of this study is to analyze how corporate social responsibility engagement affects employer attractiveness from the perspective of potential employees. A qualitative study has been done by using focus groups. Based on employer attractiveness theory, a semi-structured interview and job advertisements have been analyzed. The data was collected by using a model we created, based on theories from previous studies on employer attractiveness. The result of the study indicates that CSR engagement does not affect potential employees to a large extent when they apply for a job. The findings show, however, that when potential employees have the possibility to choose, companies with a better CSR engagement are favored. Employer attractiveness can therefore be seen to be affected by CSR engagement in some situations from the perspective of potential employees. The authors of this study have not found a study which analyze the underlying effect of CSR engagement on employer attractiveness from the perspective of potential employees. The result may therefore be used by managers who need to increase their attractiveness towards potential employees, to be able to receive the best employees.