Astill said the financial environment of the past five years means every firm has to have an "ethical mindset" if it's going to attract top talent.
He said graduates are becoming a lot more "discerning" and employers, especially those in the financial services sector, must adapt and change.
Astill, who is divisional director for corporate HR, was speaking to HR magazine after Nationwide was named the top graduate employer within the banking and finance sector for the second year running, in a poll conducted by graduate review site The Job Crowd.
The poll is based on anonymous personal reviews written by current graduate employees covering a range of categories affecting their whole graduate experience.
Nationwide's overall ranking was 4.3 out of 5, with the banking firm scoring highly on company culture, colleagues, and environmental awareness.
"For graduates now it's all about the culture, values, type of organisations and the ethics. Young people are now looking beyond the pay cheque," Astill told HR.
Julie Collier, Nationwide, head of resourcing and HR case management, said: "The importance of culture ranks highly in the survey results this year, with many of our graduates citing this as one of the reasons they enjoy working here.
He added: "Our ethos is built on being diverse, supportive and inclusive."
Microsoft were named the number one graduate employer, beating off competition from Barratt Developments and advertising agency Brightsource, which came in second and third respectively.
