The Ethical Optimist

I’m catching up on some industry reading and came across a very interesting piece on a study that was done by Hill & Knowlton for their Eighth Annual Corporate Reputation Watch.  The study took a look at global MBA students and “shows that certain industries and locations are losing the reputational battle in the global war for talent.”

The study showed that “MBAs graduating in a post-Enron, post-WorldCom world have a strong preference for the companies with the best reputations.”  Apparently, compensation isn’t the only deciding factor among the newest generation of MBAs.  These folks want to work for a company that has a great reputation!

This is music to the ethical optimist’s ears.

Among the factors that now drive career choice are corporate governance and ethics, social responsibility and community involvement, and environmental/green policy.  While other factors had a higher relevance (like compensation) the fact that these are drivers at all is extremely encouraging.

This theme was echoed during a recent Counselor’s Academy conference call I participated in on recruiting and retaining mid-level managers.  PR industry recruiter and guru Dennis Spring noted that a greater number of public relations practitioners are no longer defining career success in terms of money or position.  Many are citing the fact that they “want to make a difference” and “love what they do,” when expressing their desire to switch employers.

This is great news for an agency like ours, which is small and has to compete for talent with the large NYC firms.  However, we’ve found that our focus on ethics and social responsibility has been a wonderful recruitment tool.

As Paul Taaffe, chairman and CEO of Hill & Knowlton said, “The best talent, like the most attractive real estate, will always be in scarce supply.  The future winners will be the ones who are the quickest to recognize this and take action to enhance and protect reputation.”

You tell ‘em, Mr. Taaffe!