Leveraging the Reputation of Being Socially Responsible: Evidence from Firms’ Online Job Postings

Abstract

While prior research has examined individuals’ preference to work for socially responsible employers, little is known about how firms actively leverage their CSR reputation in recruiting talent. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), we conceptualize CSR reputation as a strategic resource that provides firms with a competitive edge in the labor market. To leverage this strategic resource, firms set higher skill requirements and advertise their CSR activities in job postings, which allows them to more effectively target and recruit talent. Using a large sample of online job posting data, we first provide empirical evidence confirming that CSR reputation is positively associated with higher skill requirements in terms of education, experience, and social and cognitive skills, as well as greater promotion of CSR activities in job postings. Using employee resume data, we further show that these two recruitment strategies mediate the positive effect of CSR reputation on actual recruitment outcomes, measured by the actual skills of new hires and job position filling rates. Overall, our findings support the notion that firms can rely on their reputation of being socially responsible as a valuable resource for recruiting high-quality human capital.