Abstract
This thesis is motivated by an interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context
of employer branding. As individuals, we worry about our environmental footprints, and thus
expect organizations to do the same. Despite the fact that organizations’ commitment to CSR
seems to influence employees’ attachment to their organization, the starting point for
organizations to engage in CSR is often characterized by the prospect of strengthening
corporate reputation. Or at least, this was our hypothesis going into this project.
Problem statement
On the basis of a preparatory review of the literature dealing with CSR in an employer
branding context, our initial hypothesis were confirmed. The majority of the existing
literature does not link CSR with employer branding in an internal perspective. In other
words, the literature regarding CSR and employer branding has tended to focus on external
outcomes, and therefore the impacts on internal stakeholders, such as employees, have been
neglected.
Therefore, the purpose of this master’s thesis is to link the theoretical fields of employer
branding and CSR with the object of examining how CSR can strengthen retention ability of
organizations. Subsequently, we will discuss this approach by making use of an exemplary
case and we will conclude with reflecting on the theoretical and practical implications.
Theoretical point of view
The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the link between employer branding and CSR. As
mentioned above, a review of the employer branding and CSR literature in an internal
perspective confirmed that these fields have not previously been linked. We found, however,
that identification is the connecting link, and we therefor built the further theoretical
foundation of our thesis around this concept. The thesis takes a social constructivist approach
and as thus focuses on relations between organization and employees. As we consider
identity to be a social construction Weick’s sensemaking theory acts as the overall frame for
understanding identity and identification. Furthermore, sensemaking theory helps explain
how and why individuals make sense of CSR as potentially valuable.
Identification arises when an individual’s identity can be reflected in the organisational
identity to a degree to which the individual incorporates the organizational identity in his or
her self-‐concept. We believe that CSR can add positive values about social responsibility to the
organizational identity, which many employees relate to, and therefore influence the strength
of identification.
Based on the literature review and the following introduction to sensemaking, identity and
identification, we conclude the theoretical part of the thesis by proposing a model. The model
states that through an identification process the outcome of linking employer branding and
CSR is a strengthened ability to retain employees. Identification emerges from the relation
between the organization and the employee and affects – and is affected – partly by the fit
between the identity and values of the organization and those of the individual and partly by
the degree of involvement in CSR activities.
Empirical point of view
The theoretical part of the thesis concludes with a model that illustrates the link between
employer branding and CSR with identification as the outcome. The model also shows that
elements as identity, values and the degree of involvement impact the identification process.
The empirical part of the thesis takes its point of departure in the model and seeks to explore
the link in practice.
To demonstrate the link between employer branding and CSR, the Danish carpet company,
Egetæpper, was chosen as an exemplary case. Through three overall themes – identification,
values and involvement – that we consider as key aspects in making valuable use of CSR in
employer branding, we examine the link in depth. The fact that the Egetæpper’s employees
identify with the organization became evident in part as a result of the congruence between
the organizational values and the employees personal values and in part as a result of their
involvement in CSR-‐related activities. We observed an interesting difference between the
degree of identification of office workers as opposed to manufacturing workers based on the
CSR activities carried out by Egetæpper. It is especially office workers who regard CSR in
relation to their daily work in ideological terms and hence identify with Egetæpper.
Conclusions
Based on the possibility of linking the fields of employer branding and CSR from a theoretical
perspective coupled with the findings from the empirical exploration, we can conclude that
the potential of using CSR in an employer branding context to strengthen organizations’
retention ability does exist. However, the retention ability depends on the condition that
employees make sense of CSR as a constituting value in the organization, which presupposes
that a congruence of values between the organization and the employee and a certain degree
of involvement are required.
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