For many college graduates today, the quintessential decision to “make money” or “do good” is becoming less black and white. This group of young people – the Millennial Generation – has grown up in an age of technology that is dramatically changing how we view the world and our role in it. With the internet at our fingertips, we have access to on-the-ground, citizen-generated knowledge, and with this limitless exposure, young people have yearned to travel more to experience far away continents and the challenges that exist there.
As these advances have reduced the information gap, our global community has grown closer and this reality has colored how young people see their future lives. It has become impossible to ignore poverty and with trends towards citizen-driven social change, we feel more empowered to make a difference. Today students are not just asking, “Why not do something?” but “How can we not do something?”
In the past, these altruistic leanings were for those willing to pursue careers that required them to sacrifice their financial sustainability to feed the hungry, but today young people are challenging this tradeoff – “make money” or “do good” – by demanding careers that satisfy both needs. In counseling the undergraduate students that participate in my program, campusCATALYST, the resounding chorus is that these young people want to have their cake and eat it too, and in turn, they are searching for potential employers who have the same mission-driven priorities.
Yet it is not only wide-eyed college-aged idealists who are re-envisioning their future careers – this trend is also running its course with MBA graduates. In a recent survey conducted at Stanford Graduate School of Business, of 759 graduating MBA’s at 11 top business schools, corporate social responsibility ranked third of their most important values when selecting an employer, and even more surprising was MBA graduates’ willingness to take a sizeable salary cut as a tradeoff for a firm with that exhibited strong social values. Across the country, it is clear that tomorrow’s leaders are looking for something different – a lifestyle that integrates social responsibility in both career and personal life.
But are firms listening? According to a McKinsey Global Survey on the state of corporate philanthropy, they should. CEO’s globally have indicated that they feel growing pressure from shareholders, employees and consumers alike to be more conscious global citizens. In response, companies around the world have been retooling their CSR programs to not only build reputation or brand, as has been the past trend, but also to build employee capabilities and improve employee recruitment and retention. Yet at present, only about one fifth of respondents feel that their corporate philanthropy programs are “very or extremely effective at meeting social goals and stakeholder expectations.”
With a burgeoning demand for greater firm engagement in the social good, it appears to be time for companies to sit down and reassess their priorities and practices if they hope to continue recruiting and retaining top candidates.
-Molly Day
Molly Day is the co-founder and executive director of campusCATALYST, a student-driven consulting corps for non-profits. campusCATALYST matches community nonprofits with five-member teams of undergraduate “community analysts” supervised by MBA students and a professor. The teams act as pro-bono business consultants for a 10-week engagement to help the nonprofits develop partners in the community, strengthen infrastructure and improve marketing, communications and development. The program was launched at Northwestern University in 2007 and has expanded to the University of Chicago.
