War for Talent in Socially Responsible Companies

As a result of the increasing market competition to attract and retain employees with the highest qualifications and growth potential, McKinsey & Company (1997) coined the term ‘war for talent’. This concept shows how those companies which incorporate in their recruitment criteria a concern to hire highly valuable professionals may obtain competitive advantages via human capital. Based on this idea, how CSR could act as an instrument which helps companies to ‘win this war’, attracting, retaining and maintaining the best employees in the labour market. One of the ways for companies to make this possible is to uncover the socially responsible actions and behaviours through annual CSR reports and information based on responsible indices which include The Great Place to Work, Best Employers, Top 50 Employers and many more.

It is understandable that the best qualified university students, after finishing their education, want to work for socially responsible companies (SRCs) in order to properly develop their careers. However, the personal values of the candidates at the moment they start to work for the SRC do not always fit their ethical conditions, codes and institutionalized responsible behaviours. Therefore, it is interesting for future human resource managers to know what the possible ethical and labour conflicts of prospective candidates are in their future incorporation to an SRC.