How much does a company's reputation matter in recruiting?

We began our discussion with a breathless press release about how a reputation for "doing good" mattered in the war for talent. The results of our research suggest that an offer based on fundamental job features like remuneration, time demands and salary certainty will stand a better chance of being favorably evaluated by potential employees in MBA programs than one relying on corporate social reputation. Indeed, for many corporations, it may make little sense to seek out a stellar reputation for corporate social responsibility with the ratings agencies just in the hope of attracting talented employees. Having a "good enough" reputation for social responsibility may be sufficient to play effectively in the war for talent. This finding will not sit well with those promoting the importance of corporate social responsibility as a critical factor in an individual's career choices. However, what is important about our findings is that they are the result of a more rigorous examination of preferences and they are based upon different samples of individuals. In this, our work should help organizations focus on what really matters to talented employees and avoid overinvestment in features of reputation that should more naturally follow from how they provide functional value to their employees. This recommendation is not inconsistent with other work in the social responsibility and reputation literature. Invariably, opinion poll style surveys and qualitative case studies significantly overstate the importance of social reputation as a signal of an organization's standing. So while companies might choose to invest directly in CSR for many reasons, the value of that investment from the standpoint of attracting talent should not be exaggerated.