Summary of Findings
My research question was two-fold: Does CSR impact attraction and retention of employees with a focus on Generation Y? The second part of that question was answered with a resounding no. When asked about retention, interviewees replied that CSR was not something that would keep them at a company. They would leave if the company had an egregious violation against their stated ethics or policy, but a CSR program was not enough to keep the employees at the company. However, in terms of retention, a company must maintain its values and the environment that employees expect. While a specific CSR program may not keep employees, a culture that does not match the employee‘s expectation will make them leave. It is critical for corporations to
operate in accordance with their values, like CSR principles, and act in an ethical manner. McElhaney (2008) stresses, ―senior leadership and management of the firm, including the board of directors, must make an authentic, firm and public commitment to CSR efforts,and engage with them‖ (p. 19). Employees are increasingly savvy and astute observers of corporate executive behavior, and employees will quickly observe conflicting corporate stated behavior and actual corporate behavior. In the absence of authenticity, employees could become disengaged at work and may leave or become less productive. Cone (2006) found ―56% [Generation Y] are likely to refuse to work at that [irresponsible)] company‖ (p. 9). Interestingly, when I asked the question regarding what type of company or industry would you not work for, they did not answer the question by saying, ―I would
not work for an irresponsible company.‖ The interviewees said that they would not work for a company that did not match their value set. It is personal as to what an irresponsible company is to the interviewees. An irresponsible company is a company that does not match the employees‘ values or violates their values while they are working for the corporation. Their qualitative responses to a seemingly simple quantitative question helped to more fully understand what Generation Y are wanting in a ―responsible‖ company.