Career ethics

Summary
Introduction
The research
Career decision-making and corporate responsibility - University of Sydney research
The flip side
Current initiatives
Conclusion
About the author
References/resources

Summary

In this article, Rosemary Sainty, Manager of the Careers and Employer Relations Office, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney, discusses the growing importance of corporate responsibility as an influence in choice of employer and in students’ career decision-making, which has important implications for careers practitioners, universities and recruiters.

Introduction

Just as ethical concerns have gained significance in responsible business practice, so too have the inclusion of ethical considerations in people’s career choices: 'Career Ethics'. Employees are keen to pursue what they perceive to be meaningful careers with employers of choice that offer things like work/life integration, genuine career opportunities for women, integrated corporate responsibility practices including consideration of environmental and social impacts, and an alignment of an individual’s values with the organisation worked for (or at least the opportunity to contribute to the discussion of these). These are issues for individuals of all ages but it may turn out to be our 'Gen Ys' that drive the point home, as the war for talent heats up and the skills shortage with decreasing entrants to the work force looms.

Accordingly, university careers service practitioners world-wide are becoming increasingly aware of a broader, more externally focused set of values of importance to a students’ career-decision making: those of corporate (or organisational) responsibility. Broadly defined these include: marketplace and business conduct, ethical governance, responsible workplace practices, and social and environmental impacts.

The research

There are a number of current and compelling research findings supporting this trend. In 2005, over 6,227 final year students at 12 universities in Australia in a survey by High Fliers selected 'socially responsible' at the top of the list of important characteristics of their first employer [1].

In a survey conducted by the Guardian (UK, 2006) of 2,000 final year undergraduates, over 70% of students said that a company’s ethical track record is a crucial factor when choosing an employer [2]. Work-life balance was also important - a consistent finding with this age group internationally. Interestingly, if companies were all offering similar packages, a clean ethical track record could be the deciding factor. Further, if a company says it is an ethical employer, it needs to be able to prove that, in an independent way, via external validation. The survey also shows that students are relying more heavily on the media to expose a company’s unethical practices.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business’ now often quoted survey in 2004 of more than 800 MBAs from the UK and European Business schools found that more than 97% of the sample of MBA graduates were willing to forgo financial benefits to work for an organisation with a ‘better reputation for corporate social responsibility and ethics... that is a reputation for high ethical standards about employees (workplace practices), environmental sustainability and community stakeholders.’ [3]

Career decision-making and corporate responsibility - University of Sydney research

In my own scoping study at the University of Sydney (2006), I conducted a survey of primarily final year students to investigate the importance of corporate responsibility as an influence in choice of employer and, therefore, an important element in career decision-making. The response from 77% of a surveyed 230 students indicated that 'Corporate social responsibility practices and reputation would influence my interest in applying to an organisation'. As a result of the scoping study findings, I have recently completed a more detailed research project entitled 'Career Decision-Making and Corporate Responsibility', with a smaller sample size using a questionnaire and semi-structured interview to explore these concept [4].

The most striking feature of this research has been the students’ high level of awareness, reflection and articulation of these issues - such as ethical governance, stakeholder responsibilities, and sustainability. Just as the language of modern psychology is now a part of mainstream language usage, so too is ethics in the context of responsible, sustainable business practice.

The corporate responsibility values base of environmental impact, marketplace and business conduct, social or community impact, ethical governance, and workplace practices rates strongly alongside the more traditional work values of money, opportunity for professional development, and job security. A fairly clear picture emerges of the ideal company in a first graduate job - an employer that enables opportunity for advancement and challenge, providing a supportive and friendly environment. Good reputation is important - within its own industry and in the community generally. Interestingly, despite the fears of many employers of the looming skills shortage, very few of the students felt that there were jobs for the picking:

My first priority is to get a job. Then I can pick and choose.

Almost all students define corporate responsibility as meaning a responsibility, or even moral obligation or duty, towards multiple stakeholders: employees, shareholders, the wider community, customers, and the environment - going beyond simple compliance with regulations:

Corporate responsibility is the voluntary choice by the company to act in a way that is ethically correct, rather than just profitable. It is about the way the company chooses to manage the sometimes conflicting goals of profit and social responsibility.

A company needs to strike a balance between corporate desirability of profits weighed up constantly with CR. Its a juggle, a trade off. A successful company is one which successfully achieves this balance - which is blown when the balance is out by media exposure. Then you can assess a company by the way they react to a problem - whether created by them or from outside. It’s very interesting to see what response they take, if they have the resources to deal with it and do they feel responsible.

Despite some skepticism the media was by far and away the most relied on source with which to judge an organisation’s corporate responsibility practices and reputation, with 80% of students indicating it was an important source of information, followed by word of mouth (60% as another important source) and moving down to 15% for the organisation’s own information. Although media bias is acknowledged it is felt that:

If they have drawn media's attention it’s worth considering - it’s compelling and influential.

Desired resources that are needed to assist in career decision-making were listed as awareness raising materials explaining the significance of corporate responsibility, and comparative data to see who is doing what and how genuinely:

Keep it simple. No one will read long sustainability reports.

In response to these findings I have developed the resource: How to choose an ethical employer, now in circulation across all university campuses in Australia and in the UK, providing key pieces of information on definitions, an invitation to reflect on individual issues of importance, a guide on how to research and approach employers and a selection of comparative data on companies as regards a range of corporate responsibility ratings. The resource advises students to:

Get the conversations going on these issues. If you ask questions about corporate responsibility, an organisation learns that this is an important driver in attracting new staff. It is also an opportunity for them to showcase their initiatives and receive some positive reinforcement.

The flip side

Partnering this is a 'walk-the-talk' resource: Ethics and your employability, which asks job seekers: 'Have you noticed how many times job ads ask for someone with integrity, ethics, high professional standards or commitment to the organisation’s values? What do organisations actually mean by this?' The aim of this resource is to both inform students of the growing importance of attributes such as ethical, professional and social understanding in the labour market and to encourage reflection on these issues.

With the move from an industrialized to a knowledge society, a shift in organisational culture and values is currently underway, placing a premium on balancing respect for all stakeholders, tolerance of diversity and rising expectations for interpersonal communication skills, integrity and professionalism. Thus, values commonly include - commitment to teamwork, honesty, integrity, respect for stakeholders (e.g. community, customers, clients), high standards, achievement, and in the private sector a commitment to profitability, creating value for shareholders. Simultaneously, concepts of corporate responsibility/sustainability and global citizenship are emerging. A new form of ethics, 'Global Ethics', now ranks highly in organisational values, e.g. Microsoft's commitment to 'responsible global citizenship'.

Broadly, Global Ethics encompasses an awareness of, and concern for, the social and environmental impacts of both the individual and organization, and acknowledges the implicit social contract involved in running a business. In this way, companies hope to manage any reputational risk - of critical importance in the global marketplace.

A graduate’s ability to engage in ethical reflection over these issues will increasingly affect their employability. Universities are beginning to recognize this and may include a version of global citizenship or ethical and professional understanding in their graduate attributes. According to the Australian corporation Westpac (a global leader in corporate responsibility and sustainability):

As an organisation we have an expectation that graduates are able to understand these issues, can form an opinion and clearly articulate their views on the subject.

Students have the opportunity to demonstrate their integrity early in the job seeking process - by considering their personal values in relation to stated organisational values and whether these are in broad alignment, and by displaying honesty, integrity and genuineness throughout the recruitment and selection process - for example, handling multiple job offers. In turn, graduate recruiters can demonstrate their organisational ethics by, for example, the way they treat their candidates.

Current initiatives

In order to 'get the conversations going', at the University of Sydney a number of initiatives for the 2007/08 recruitment cycle have been introduced, enabling suitable organisations to showcase their corporate responsibility and sustainability credentials during their graduate recruitment activities. For example:

The Essential Careers Skills for Final Year Students series - co-hosted by companies with outstanding sustainability records. These organisations had the opportunity to discuss with students the link between their 'CSR' practices and the employability attributes they were seeking in their candidates.
An Employer-of-Choice Best Practice Forum, for business leaders themed to corporate responsibility and sustainability. Both staff and students were invited to attend.

Such events enable a far greater reach into an organisation - and present careers services with a genuine leadership opportunity.

Conclusion

There are important implications from the research and the trends discussed for careers practitioners, universities and recruiters. As corporate responsibility continues its journey into the mainstream of social expectation, it will become increasingly important for employing organisations to address corporate responsibility at their most senior levels or face significant reputational risk in the labour market. Simultaneously, graduates will be required to emerge from university campuses as articulate 'global citizens'.

About the author

Rosemary Sainty is the Manager of the Careers and Employer Relations Office, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney. In 2006, she took sabbatical leave to work on the Corporate Responsibility Index project (a Business in the Community initiative). She has postgraduate qualifications in professional ethics and psychology and undertook an exchange to Warwick University’s careers service in 2004.

References/resources

1. High Fliers Research, 2005.

2. ‘Planning for a Fairer Future', The Guardian, 15 July 2006.

3. MBA Graduates Want to Work for Caring and Ethical Employers, Stanford Graduate School of Business news, January 2004.

4. The research project 'Career Decision-Making and Corporate Responsibility' will be published later this year. For a copy of the paper, email: r.sainty@econ.usyd.edu.au

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