One of my personal brand strategist colleagues, Deb Dib, the Executive Power Coach, just posted a link on our strategist Yahoo group that made for some interesting reading.

"In The War for Talent, Good Companies Finish First" - is the title of a survey conducted by The Good Search - a retained search practice that delivers great talent to great companies that also happen to be good - (how is that for branding yourself in a niche!).

In the survey that looked at the potential benefits of leveraging corporate social responsibility in both recruiting and retaining talent they found that of the respondents;

- 96% would rather work at a company that aspires to be good
- 92% would be inclined to trust a good employer and would feel better about themselves for working at a good company
- 90% would feel happier working at a good company

However only 36% felt that they were currently working at a good employer
When I talk about the rise of personal branding, in particular with in corporations, and the need for forward thinking companies to consider this approach as part of talent acquisition and retention these sorts of figures are exactly why.

A key part of the personal brand foundation is connecting values to your work and life - that is what candidates are now seeking.

The survey goes on to say that;

- 91% believe working for a good company serves as an extension of their personal branding as a good, ethical person
- 68% believe it would be detrimental to their careers to have a bad company on their resumes
- 57% believe that working at a bad company raises questions about whether they are a bad person.

Its up to individuals to determine their brand and then find companies that are on brand for them as employers.
Its up to companies to live up to their side of the bargain and walk the talk - they have to live their values too.

Cross posted by Paul Copcutt at the Reflections of a Square Peg blog