Businesses fail to get message across to graduates

Many companies are throwing away the chance to hire quality staff because they fail to mention their business’s ethical credentials.

Communications consultancy Edelman says companies with a good story to tell often make no mention of their corporate responsibility programmes in their recruitment materials, even though there is ample evidence that such programmes are a factor in persuading people to join a business. Edelman says two-thirds of the 3100 individuals in 18 countries who responded to its recent survey on CSR communication complained that recruitment materials from companies often neglected to provide information on social responsibility. All respondents were university educated and aged between 35 and 64.

Chris Deri, global practice leader of Edelman’s corporate social responsibility and sustainability practice, claimed that companies ‘do not consistently integrate CSR messaging in their recruiting because they underestimate the importance a prospective employee places on corporate responsibility programmes’.

He added it was strange that companies devote so many resources to engaging their existing staff, yet fail to court prospective employees who support corporate responsibility.