gep-project

GEP

Background

Knowledge and skills will increasingly drive competitiveness in the future. The ability to attract talented employees will be crucial for companies all around the world. However, knowledge about preferences and criteria for job choice of young job-seekers is still scarce. Sense making, work-life balance and identification are important aspects they consider when deciding on a job. Also, CSR is thought to be a relevant aspect for job choice for an increasing segment of job-seekers.

The results of the German based project "MitCSR“ suggested that socio-demographic variables as well as values influence employer related preferences and the importance of CSR for employer choice. Also the socio-economic surrounding (GDP/capita, unemployment rate, quality of education and health) will probably influence preferences of young people with respect to their employer. This suggests that there are differences in the CSR preferences of potential employees in different nations and with different cultural backgrounds.

The research project GEP therefore takes a global approach and investigates whether CSR preferences vary in different regions of the world and which variables influence these preferences.

Research objective and questions

The project aims at investigating in more detail preferences for different CSR dimensions in comparison to other non-CSR related employer attributes, taking into account the potential influence of cultural and socio-economic variables. It builds on current research in Germany (MitCSR project) that tested the approach and procedure. In particular, the following research questions are posed:

Which employer attributes are most important to the next generation of employees worldwide?
Which role do different aspects of CSR play in comparison to other non-CSR attributes?
Which fields of CSR are most significant to young job seekers across the globe?
Do nationality, demographic and experience variabales, values and general socio-economic and cultural variables influence preferences for CSR and non-CSR attributes?
If CSR is important to young job-seekers – what is the reason for it?

Framework and Methodology

Based on the attributes identified in the MitCSR project, we surveyed 25 potentially relevant employer characteristics/attributes. Supported by factor and correlation analysis, we grouped these attributes into two non-CSR and three CSR dimensions* (see figure 1):

Figure 1: CSR and non-CSR dimensions

Source: Bustamante et al. (2021a)

* In some publications we work with three instead of two non-CSR dimensions in order to allow a deeper investigation into the influence of socio-demographic variables on the preference profile of respondents (see for example Bustamante et al., 2021b).

In order to identify students’ preferences, an (adaptive) conjoint-analysis approach was conducted (Sawtooth, 2007). This approach allows determining implicit valuations (or utilities) of respondents for each employer attribute by showing them different and changing profiles of potential employers and making respondents choose between these employers.

Value orientations were assessed based on the value system of Shalom Schwartz (2003), who identified 10 individual value-types (e.g. self-direction, stimulation or universalism), each being linked to underlying motivational goals and characterized by a number of single values.

For measuring a potential influence of the socio-economic environment we used among others indicators such as the Human Development Index (containing an income index, a life-expectancy index and an education index), the unemployment rate in a country and selected cultural values identified in the GLOBE project (House et al., 2004).

Sample and Procedure

We collected approx. 5000 online surveys from bachelor and master students from 25 countries worldwide. The selection of target regions and countries was based on the cultural clusters identified by House et al. (2004). The participating countries and the ascribed cultural clusters are summarized in the following table 1:

Table 1: Sample.

Source: GEP project data

Findings

Overall the concern for most CSR attributes (especially those related to socio-ecological responsibility and governanance and ethics) is low. Variance analysis suggests that there are significant differences in employer-related preferences of young job seekers with different nationalities. There also seem to be correlations between selected socio-economic indicators as well as individual values. Contextual country specific variables can explain some of the variations in CSR preferences between nationalities.

The GEP project showed, that also on a global basis the concern for most CSR attributes (especially those related to socio-ecological responsibility) is, in general, low. However, individual and contextual variables seem to have an impact on preference profiles of jobseekers. Some of the results obtained are summarized below (see also figure 2 and 3 below, Bustamante et al. 2021a):

Attributes related to socio-ecological responsibility rank low, those related to employee responsibility rank high for most respondents.
Work atmosphere is, on average, the highest ranking attribute.
There are significant differences in means in the importance attached to CSR- and non-CSR related attributes between countries.
Socio-demographic variables (e.g. gender, study programme) and individual values (e.g. universalism) are correlated with the importance attached to selected attributes
The general cultural and socio-economic context has explanatory power for CSR- and non- CSR preferences.

A country specific analysis about the role for values for employer attractiveness in Germany revealed, that selected values, especially those indicating a concern for the welfare of others and the environment positively affect the importance of most CSR attributes while more selfish value orientations have a negative effect (see Bustamante et al. 2021b).

Figure 2: Average relative utilities for CSR and non-CSR attributes

Source: Modified from Bustamante et al. (2021a)

Figure 3: Nationality-based spread between maximum and minimum utility values for five CSR and non-CSR dimensions.

Modified from Bustamante et al. (2021a)

A book publication with information about the research procedure, the global results and country vignettes as well as an article about the global results is in preparation (Bustamante et al., 2021a).

For results on the impact of values in preferences (German sample) an article will be published in 2021 (Bustamante et al., 2021b).

First findings were also shown at a number of CSR conferences (e.g. the iCSR conference 2017 in Berlin and the CRRC conference 2017 in Sevilla).

References

Bustamante, S., Pizzutilo, F., Martinovic, M. & Herrero, S. (2021a) (expected). Corporate Social Responsibility and Employer Attractiveness - An International Perspective. Springer.

Bustamante, S., Pelzeter, A., Ehlscheidt, R., Deckmann, A. & Freudenberger, F. (2021b) (forthcoming). "The Effect of Values on the Attractiveness of Responsible Employers for Young Job Seekers." The Journal of Human Values (special issue "On Business and Benevolence") 27(1).

House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., & Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Sawtooth (2007): Technical paper series. The ACA/Web v6.0. Washington.

Schwartz, S. H. (2003): A Proposal for Measuring Value Orientations across Nations. In ESS (eds.) Questionnaire Development Package of the European Social Survey, pp. 259–319.