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The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical analysis, which consists of interviews with executive trainee programs of three international companies. The results of this analysis offer answers to questions currently being discussed in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature, namely, on the effects of CSR communication on top talent attraction.

The study uses structured interviews to analyze the communication perceptions and expectations of (n = 15) top talents when making employer decisions. It compares these with the expectations and intentions of HR managers responsible for programs and communications (n = 15).

The study found that HR managers only partially reflect top talents’ specific communication expectations. In addition to the program-specific CSR content, corporate communications have an overarching optimization potential in the communication mode and information architecture. It is particularly striking that future executives proactively seek CSR content in hiring and access corporate and brand communications for this purpose.

The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made a digital interview setting necessary and did not allow to react in detail on every physical signal. On top, the study has only 30 participants (15 HR/15 talents) from three different talent programs.

The study identifies practical, gender-specific and industry-specific implications for corporate communications regarding content and mode of communication. Companies should specify concrete measures for recruiting future executives, but they can also indicate efforts and first initiatives, thus setting a more decisive stage for an aspiration.

The study is characterized by its unique data set. Only a few companies have explicit programs for the development of future executives. The study also examines HR managers’ communication planning and expectations and future executives’ effective communication perceptions and perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to identify what attention science pays to CSR communication for the process of career orientation and employer decision-making by the critical sought after top talent.

The review is structured as a systematic literature review of the CSR–HRM intersection. In 11 EBSCO online databases one of several “CSR-terms” was combined with one of several “HRM-terms”.

Although CSR has long been recognized as a relevant factor for organizational attractiveness (Greening and Turban, 2000) and talent attraction and its importance is reflected in the ongoing “war for talent” (Chambers et al., 1998) in which (prospective) leaders are considered a critical human resource for corporate success (Ansoff, 1965), few contributions are focusing on successfully recruited future leaders/high potentials.

There is a knowledge gap about the importance of CSR in high potential recruiting, which influences both resource-strong decisions on the company side and the communication behavior of applicants. Companies only know about a general CSR relevance for employees and applicants. Accordingly, no attention-optimized CSR communication can take place. In the highly competitive battle for the attention of high potentials, this leads to undifferentiated communication formats. At the same time, high potentials may not receive the CSR information of interest to them from an employer at the relevant time and therefore cannot present an optimal fit in the cover letters and thus cannot prove themselves as ideal candidates.

CSR is not only an obligatory field of communication for companies, but also a special opportunity in recruiting the young value-oriented generations Y and Z. The research on CSR communication in the course of their career decision has not been covered in a review so far, the research situation is thus explicitly addressed for the first time and practical implications for the post COVID-19 employer brand and recruiting communication are addressed.