Do sustainable personalities exist?

: A study examining the link between recruiters' personalities and the communication of sustainability

Abstract

The world that we live in today is neither fair nor sustainable. Since the acknowledgements of theseissues have changed increased in recent years, the preferred attributes in the job seeking process havechanged. Previous research has recognized a positive relationship between the incorporation of thethree components of sustainability into the activity of attracting employees and the amount of attractedemployees. Therefore, one could question why not all companies communicate their sustainabilityengagement to potential employees. Research within this area is scarce, but some researchers state thatthe managers’ personalities can have an effect on the sustainability communication. Therefore, thepurpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between the recruitment manager’spersonality and the level of sustainability communication in the process of attracting employees. This study uses a cross-sectional research design, with a positivistic philosophy and a deductive approach.A quantitative questionnaire was sent out to recruiters, with respondents selected using a systematicrandom sampling method. The limitations of this study is that the sample was restricted, it was limitedto a Swedish context and the results could not be explained only examined.This study indicates that no sustainable personalities seem to exist. However, the major contributionof this dissertation is that it display the ignorance of the UN2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Weconclude that this could partly explain the lack of significant relationships between the five personalitytraits and the level of communication of the three components of sustainability.