By Teh Shi Ning

PROSPECTIVE employees favour organisations that take ethical, social and environmental responsibility seriously, a survey by human resource consultancy Kelly Services found.

Some 91 per cent of 3,000 workers polled here said they would prefer to work for an organisation that is ethically and socially responsible.

This puts Singapore above both the Asia-Pacific and global averages of 87 per cent. In all, 100,000 people in 34 countries were polled.

Dhirendra Shantilal, Kelly's Asia-Pacific senior vice-president, says it is important for employers to be aware of the value potential recruits place on strong corporate reputation.

'Prospective employees take pride not only in what they do while at work, but in what their organisation stands for and how it is perceived by the entire community,' he said.

In fact, some workers seem willing to forego monetary benefits to be part of an enterprise that focuses not just on profit and performance but social goals too.

More than one in two Singaporeans polled said they would take a pay cut or a lesser role to work for a firm known for caring about its employees, the community and the environment.

Environmental consciousness among workers here was slightly less pronounced, but even then, 80 per cent of Singapore respondents said they would be more likely to work for an organisation reputed for its environmental initiatives. This was on par with the global average and just under the Asia-Pacific average of 81 per cent.

Singaporeans seemed to be a little less concerned about an organisation's reputation for ethical conduct. 66 per cent of those polled considered this 'very important' when deciding where to work - a smaller proportion than the Asia-Pacific average of 71 per cent but closer to the global average of 69 per cent.

Differentiating the responses by age groups, the survey found older Baby-Boomer workers had a stronger preference for ethically and socially responsible employers than younger Gen X and Gen Y people.

This article was first published in The Business Times.