Job market talent war hots up

Johannesburg - "The war for talent is intensifying as customers become more empowered by technology and much more demanding, raising the bar for companies providing services to them," according to Professor Deon Rossouw, CEO of the Ethics Institute of South Africa (EthicsSA).

"But in their rush to attract and retain the talent they need, employers risk missing an important factor," he said.

"Employees are positively motivated by a company's reputation for ethical behaviour, and may even be willing to accept a lower salary to work for the 'right' company."

A company's success has always relied to a great extent on its ability to attract and retain the best and brightest people, according to Rossouw.

It would appear that the ethical trend holds good across countries and cultures, an additional factor for companies to consider as talent is increasingly mobile.

A study by Kelly Services conducted among about 100 000 people from 34 countries found that almost 90% of respondents would be more likely to work for an organisation that is considered to be ethically and socially responsible.

Almost half of respondents would consider accepting a lower salary to work for a firm with a reputation for being environment-friendly and caring about employees and the community.

Other research showed that 90% of MBA students, often categorised as future business leaders, would be prepared to accept 8% less salary to work for an employer that cares about its employees.

About 94% said that they would accept 11.9% less in the way of salary to work for an employer that cares for employees and its broader stakeholders, and that was committed to sustainability.

"It's also worth noting that companies with strong ethical commitments have historically outperformed the average," remarked Rossouw.

"Part of the reason for this outperformance is that ethical companies are tapping into their employees' full potential. They're not just buying their time."

Rossouw explained that viewing employment purely at a transactional level is self-limiting. It focuses on ensuring that employees are physically present at the right times and do what they are mandated to do.

But this type of approach does not ensure their loyalty to the company - and therefore their willingness to go the extra mile. Nor does it engage the employees' creativity.

"You need to create a work environment in which employees will go beyond the call of duty to ensure the company's success-and that inspires them to unleash their creativity to solve the company's problems and create innovative products and services," he said.

"When people want to work for a company because of what it stands for - even to the extent of accepting less money - then it follows they will feel loyal towards it and ready to give more than just their time."

Simply adopting high-sounding values and vision statements is not adequate. Companies must go further, focusing on creating an ethical culture within the workplace that permeates the way the company operates, according to Rossouw. In that way, what the company says about its ethics is borne out by the way it and its employees act.

In the same vein, corporate social responsibility activities will prove to be unsustainable unless they spring directly from the company's values and core competencies, thus making a sustained contribution to the wider society in which the company operates.

"When the culture of the company is similar to its ethics policies and vision statements, employee motivation will soar and, over time, the company is likely to outperform companies with less motivated employees," said Rossouw.

"Our highest motivation as humans is not to earn the most money, but to lead meaningful lives."