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Employer Branding Report Level 27, 333 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 p: 1300 95 16 59 w: www.altituderecruitment.com e: info@altituderecruitment.com
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Employer Branding Report

Level 27,333 Collins Street,Melbourne VIC 3000

p: 1300 95 16 59w: www.altituderecruitment.com e: [email protected]

"Highly engaged employees makethe customer experience. Disengaged employees break it."

Timothy R. Clark, Founder & CEO, LeaderFactor

Contents

Introduction 2

What is Employer Branding? 3

Why is Employer Branding Important? 4

Employer Brand Best Practice and the role of HR    5

Strategy & Implementation 6

Making an Impact 8

Measuring Results 11

Lessons of Negative Employer Branding 12

Conclusion  13

1 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

Introduction

An employer brand represents and projects the benefits of an organisation as a potential employer. We know that a positive employer brand is the essential ingredient to successfully hire in today's competitive talent market. The rise of social media has forced companies to become more transparent with talent attraction, relying far heavier on employee engagement and advocacy. A strong employer brand is essential to place you ahead of your competitors and hire the very best talent.

Over the last 12 months, we've asked our candidates at interview, what matters most to them when considering a new opportunity. The resounding answer was culture. The issue then becomes, as a potential employer how do you ensure candidates know that your organisation is a great place to work, with a "winning" culture?

In today's competitive job market, establishing and showcasing a strong and unique employer value proposition is crucial to hiring and retaining the right people long-term.

There is now a synergy between the employee experience and the customer experience and by increasing your company profile in the right way, you'll enchance the loyalty of committed, hard-working employees, increasing your profitability.

The following paper has been produced as a result of 12 months’ consultation with our clients and professional networks and is just one way in which we have committed to helping our clients reap the benefits of a higher level of employee engagement, retention and diversity in the workplace.

By taking a deep dive into the world of employer branding, we hope to encourage a new way of thinking regarding the way your organisation is perceived on a local, national and global scale.

We will provide you with a skill set that can be utilised across the business when facing the radically shifting context for the workforce, the workplace and the world of work.

Who is Altitude Recruitment?

Altitude Recruitment delivers functional and technical ICT professionals ranging from graduate level through to managerial positions in the sector across all industries, throughout Australia.

We have a team of dedicated consultants who specialise in permanent and contract recruitment for all BAU and project focused requirements. Our bespoke approach to recruitment ensures that, in a fast-moving and mercurial industry, we are able to provide you with labour hire solutions that enhance your business performance and capabilities.

Our success is built on a wealth of experience and innovative technology, that means we can always find the most qualified candidate who will strengthen the cultural identity of your organisation as well as bring in the technical capability you require.

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding | 2

57%of employers say that they have an

employer brand strategy (CareerArc)

65%of job seekers would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation,

even if they were unemployed (Glassdoor)

43 - 50%Is the decrease in cost per hire for

employers with strong employment brands

(LinkedIn)

75%of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job

(CareerArc)

3 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

What is Employer Branding?

Employer branding “establishes the identity of the firm as an employer. It encompasses the firm’s value system, policies and behaviors toward the objectives of attracting, motivating, and retaining the firm’s current and potential employees” (Conference Board, 2001).

When the concept of “employer brand” was introduced by Ambler and Barrow (1996, they suggested that “there is considerable synergy between the processes of nurturing brands on the one hand and human resources on the other".

Where consumer branding seeks to attract and retain customers through identity, employer branding seeks to attract and retain employees through identity. As we will see later, the two branding messages to customer and employee often become one single message.

Employer branding is more than a website or a post on LinkedIn - it is central to having a successful, productive and profitable organisation. Organisations with positive employer branding generally report an increase in productivity from existing staff, higher retention rates and lower recruitment costs.

Why is Employer Branding Important?

The 2016 Accenture global survey stated that Google, IKEA and the Marriott Group all reported that for them, employer branding has gone from being a "nice to have" to a “must have” to remain competitive in the employment market.

According to Accenture, 60% of CEOs are “deeply concerned” about retaining and attracting the best people to their organisations. This has caused an internal dialogue about not only what their employer brand is, but what it represents and whether it is authentic.

Employer branding is particularly important in Australia for several reasons; unemployment is relatively low, the total working population is under 13 million and geographical isolation means there are genuine skills shortages in some industry sectors.

This thin talent pool, coupled with employees being increasingly mobile (and will typically move jobs every 3.2 years) means retaining and attracting talent is harder than ever before, making having a positive and authentic employer brand crucial.

Finding the right person, not only for the role but for your organisation, is no easy feat and it is through a strong employer brand that you will make sure that you are attracting the very best talent.

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding | 4

Figure 1: Proportion of vacancies filled in Professional Occupations, Victoria, 2012 to 2016 (%)

Source: Department of Employment, Survey of Employers who have Recently Advertised

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

1. Research the present situation2. Develop an Employer Value Proposition (EVP)3. Decide on a communication strategy4. Produce communication material5. Action it

Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) describe it similarly, but with a three-step process1. Develop an EVP2. Marketing “the value proposition to its targeted potential employees, recruiting agencies"3. Internal marketing of the employer brand

There are many other similar schools of thought and the simplest conclusion is a 4 step process:

5 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

Employer Brand Best Practice and the role of HRThe traditional role of HR as an administration process and dealing with regulatory and disciplinary matters is now evolving into one of employee experience, branding and the communication of this message.

Organisations are increasingly aware of the crucial role HR plays in their overall brand message and this is reflected in the emergence of titles in HR such as Talent Director, Organisational Development Director and Employee Talent Manager.

HR Executives are best placed to lead employer branding initiatives and must do this in partnership with the broader Executive leadership and marketing teams. In working together they get an overarching view of the entire organisation and are able to communicate the brand message in a succinct way.

To achieve a successful employer branding strategy, employers need the “buy in” of the whole organisation, including and most importantly the Executive Management team. The employer brand must represent the genuine current state in a truly authentic way.

The principles regarding how to succeed with employer branding are mostly described as sequential and linear measures. The process can be described as a journey that is aiming to understand the desire to stay and contribute as an employee and the wish to be employed from among a pool of potential candidates with the right skill set.

Parment and Dyhre (2009 suggest a five-step model to creating an employer brand:

Strategy & Implementation

In this next section of the report, we will walk you through each step in the process of developing and implementing your employer brand strategy:

Research

To find the authentic current state of your business before it can present itself to current and future employees, first you need to survey your existing employees.

Big data and electronic marketing has enabled employers to develop and deploy employer brand strategies in half the time than previously. Specifically, social media and online surveying of staff means relevant data can be collected quickly and effectively.

To get this information firms must engage with employees to ask them:• What do they believe the organisation stands for?• Why did they first join the organisation?• Why do they continue to work there?• What is their employment experience?• What do they stand for personally?• What are their personal values?• How would they describe their colleagues?

After surveying existing employees, your Executive team should have enough information to answer the following questions:

• Why would someone want to join your company?• Why do your employees continue their employment with you?• What percentage of your employees would recommend your company to their friends?

This will help to build a true understanding of your employer brand. From the above exercise, you can now create your 'hook' as to why are you different from your competitors and why your organisation is a great place to work. The survey will also give you the opportunity to address any concerns from existing employees before they make their way online and influence any potential hires or cause staff to leave.

Develop an EVP

Central to the success of an employer brand is a clear, well defined EVP. The EVP is defined as ; "The package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company” (Lievens, 2007). It provides the central message conveyed by the employer brand to current employees and potential employees.

A powerful EVP includes tangibles and intangibles. It is vital for employers to focus on more than day-to-day business when forming the EVP. Examples of attractive non-tangible characteristics are: an inspiring mission, a social conscience or "worthwhile vision", a culture in which talent flourishes and diversity is encouraged, exciting and challenging roles, a high degree of autonomy, career advancement and growth opportunities, and inspirational leadership pathways including mentoring.

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding | 6

An organisation's vision and values should be clearly defined and include how your employees live these values and how your employment culture reflects this.

Developing and Actioning an Employer Branding Strategy

Your employer brand will be evaluated from at least two angles: trustworthiness and correlation with the applicant’s personal values. There are a variety of channels, such as social media, industry groups and personal networks to help judge if a proposition is authentic before investing time, dreams and ambition in a new workplace (Berthon et al., 2005).

People tend to be cynical of advertising and want to see real employees telling real stories about their experience working at an organisation. Central to these highly personal stories should be why these people enjoy working there.

Research by LinkedIn echoes this, quoting job seekers as looking for "high quality, content rich, real life stories".

Airbnb Group also conducted research and concluding that candidates are most drawn to "authentic high quality videos" to understand a prospective workplace.

The PWC Global Survey found that candidates trust their peers 3x more than company messaging; emphasising that not only are employees central to your employer brand, they are also your most direct, effective and authentic message to market.

Questions to ask:• Do employees know and understand your EVP?• Do they leverage their network when you are hiring?• Do employees leverage their network to share your company updates?• Do they share their positive work experience through social media - through LinkedIn,

channels and blogs?• Are employees rewarded/acknowledged for assisting with hiring and referrals?

Tangible

1. Remuneration and financial benefits2. Geographical locations3. Learning and development programs4. Flexible work arrangements5. Wellness programs and schemes

Intangible

1. Set of workplace values2. Clear organisational vision3. A complementary strategy to this vision4. Culture of positive, inspirational leadership5. Purpose of the work6. Wider community service and impact

7 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

Strategy & ImplementationA successful EVP will be all encompassing and unique to each organisation but will typically include:

Making an ImpactBelow are the areas in which a strong employer brand can make a big impact in your organisation:

Employer Branding and Diversity

Employer branding and gender diversity are undeniably interrelated. Promote your organisation in a way that is attractive to women and improve diversity in your workplace. Seems simple, right?

Being gender equal is widely seen as a positive achievement for your business. Gender diversity is a hot topic when it comes to employer branding and is highly desirable, yet sadly often not the reality.

The labour market is still highly segregated by gender both horizontally and vertically. This is a result of legacy restrictions that made it difficult for women to achieve equal possibilities and rights compared to men.

Globally, Western economies are at varying levels of maturity when it comes to gender balance. In Australia, many would agree that gender diversity is a desirable goal, if for the simple reason that a gender diverse workplace gives “a heightened level of innovation, and the injection of a diversity of experiences, competence, and knowledge about the surrounding world” (Danilda & Granath Thorslund, 2011).

There is one common issue, "the conflict between production and reproduction, the balance between family life and work life" (Mellström, 2006; Burnett, Gatrell, Cooper, & Sparrow, 2010). The effect of implementing work-life balance policies is not gender neutral; women who adopt a strategy to allow a work life balance (via workplace flexibility) tend to be seen as less committed and serious about their career than their male colleagues.

Employer branding needs to have clear messages that both genders can be very successful, hold senior roles and have a balanced life, including enjoying quality time with their family.

In talking openly about flexibility in your organisation, you can remove the stereotype that flexible roles are the domain of young mothers and challenge the concept that people choose between a senior job and a flexible job.

To generate an employer brand that addresses gender issues, the process needs to be transparent, holistic, inclusive, and innovative. This should result in developing an authentic, unique,\ and attractive workplace.

"To succeed it is important for the organization to have a clear and honest desire, based on active ownership and professional management” (Brulin & Svensson, 2012) and the willingness to learn more about the gender system in order to counteract the effects of old gender-stereotypes.

Many of the qualities highlighted as being perceived to be attractive as an employer brand are particularly pertinent to women. When creating an employer brand with women in mind, know that when job seeking they pay particular attention to organisations that:

• Can show existing diversity success• Demonstrated career opportunities• Encourage collaboration and a strong culture of recognition• Foremost, the possibility for work-life balance

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding | 8

Women want to see and hear stories from existing employees, generic statements on websites are not

enough. To truly buy into a company, women need to see and hear real

authentic stories from existing employees.

The first thing men look for when researching an employer brand is company facts and data relating

to company size and profitability.

See it to believe it!

The Altitude Recruitment Flexibility survey found that 4x as many women than men described

gender diversity as being very important when considering their next employer. Women expect to see gender diversity at the organisations they wish to work for and need to be shown that this is the

case during interview.

The employer brand is every interaction people have with the business and this is at its highest relevance

during the interview process. If women are faced with an interview panel of men they are highly unlikely to believe that the organisation is truly

diverse.

Employee Advocates

Your existing employees need to be advocates of your business. Women are 3x more likely to apply for a job if the organisation is recommneded by a

friend than if they see it advertised.

Women trust their networks.

Women talk about their professional networks

as friends, whereas men describe the same group as

colleagues.

9 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

Making an Impact

Similar to addressing other areas of gender diversity (such as unconscious bias), this is not a one off policy but an ongoing activity involving interaction between individuals that creates cultural changes.

An organisation that has gender equality as part of the employer brand must take swift and decisive action and measures to correct any discrimination to minimise the risk of disappointing its current and potential employees.

Gender diversity, if successfully managed, can be a strong selling point as an employer. When an organisation embraces and acts on issues relating to gender diversity, it is in general terms putting itself ahead of the competition and therefore successfully attracting and retaining female talent.

Our research has shown that female job seekers put more time and effort into researching employer brands than their male equivalents. They do this via the same methods as men, however not only do women put more emphasis on the employer brand than men, they also respond to employer branding differently to men.

As part of the decision-making process when looking for a new job, women research employer brands more thoroughly than men and look for very different things.

Making an Impact

Profitability and Customer Impact

Ernst & Young completed a 4-year global survey to find the link between employer brand and profit. It reported a major upturn in profitability and were able to relate it directly to employer brand strategy.

According to recent LinkedIn and PwC surveys, having a clear, authentic employer brand can reduce employment attraction costs by up to 50%. This comes from a combination of a reduction in turnover, advertising costs and recruitment spend.

The customer impact of employer branding is also significant. Companies such as Volvo and Emirates Airlines have synergised their employer branding and their consumer branding with significant results.

Executive teams are increasingly part of these conversations and those organisations that have done this successfully have seen the linkage between employer branding and profit. Employer branding is now a route to your customer.

Employer branding can assist in allowing your customers to experience why they should want to connect with your brand. Emirates achieved this by aligning all lines of business and culture to create an employee experience that is consistent with their customer experience.

Candidate Attraction & Retention

We've moved away from a one employer career and consequently, the need for traditional employer differentiators such as security, salary and benefits have declined in importance.

The Altitude Recruitment Flexibility survey asked candidates, what is most important when considering your next employer? The overwhelming answer was culture.

Candidates wanted:1. A culture that genuinely promotes flexibility2. A culture that encourages learning and professional development3. A collaborative environment

They told us that they researched company culture by:• Speaking to recruiters• Speaking to their personal and professional networks• Googling and using websites such as Glassdoor and Whirlpool• Reading employer reviews on Seek and LinkedIn

This is further supported by the 2016 global survey by LinkedIn finding that 75% of candidates researched a brand before making an application. They did this via; LinkedIn, Seek and of course Google and other search engines.

The most powerful message job seekers look for is real tangible examples and career stories from existing employees.

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding | 10

Measuring Results

Having spent the time and effort in not only defining your EVP but also marketing and communicating it both internally and externally, it is vital that you know whether or not it is working. It is essential that you build a measurement system to track the return on investment (ROI) of your employer branding program.

The first step is gaining your baseline data prior to the implementation of your employer brand strategy.

Typical measures include:

• Cost-per-hire• Time-to-hire• Candidate quality (ratio of qualified applicants to total applicants)• Cost-per-qualified-candidate (if using job posts or paid sourcing)• Retention rate• Employee engagement• Employee satisfaction• Quality-of-hire

Non-quantitative data such as employee feedback is also a helpful way to measure your employer brand. Key issues should be documented on a regular basis in order to monitor trends over time.

Reporting Schedule

Without a schedule, you may miss out on key dates that contribute to your goals and opportunities to promote successes or create improvements.

Here is a rough guideline on when and how you should schedule these measures:

• Weekly: Candidate quality• Monthly: Cost-per-hire, time-to-hire, applicant-to-hire, candidate demographics,

recommendations, ratings against competitors• Quarterly/annually: Overall themes and sentiment, retention rate, quality-of-hire, employee

engagement, ratings trends, CEO rating

Regular monitoring of your progress will allow you to create a clearer picture of what is working and how well, giving you real-time data and allowing you to build a business case to your Executive team.

The more successfully you focus your business investments to procure the best returns, the more positive your impact on applicants, candidates, hires, retention and employee engagement.

11 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

Lessons of Negative Employer Branding

People are now more mobile and don't fear lack of tenure. Employees will no longer choose organisations where they have an inconsistent, disjointed employment experience and if the organisation doesn't end up being what it promised in the recruitment process, the employee will simply leave.

As quoting Edwards, 2010 "Individuals experiencing unexpected behaviours in an organization that diverge from the communicated employment proposal or clash with personal values will more likely look for new job opportunities". Lawler (2005, p. 11) states: "And when they do not get what they want, today’s workers are quick to move on to more attractive employment situations."

When actions drown out a positive brand

The employer brand acts as a promise – one that extends beyond customers to employees, investors and other community stakeholders. Like any promise, evidence of a contravention can seriously damage relations with those relying on it in good faith.

The employer brand is created formally and informally. Typically, employers promise working conditions and remuneration contractually, but also make more implied promises with the values espoused internally through practice and culture. Consequently, the employer brand of any organisation is not a static, immovable concept, it is continually being created through the interaction of both the firm and the employees.

A significant danger to employer brand emerges when there is a disconnect between the promised and actual employment experience and divergence between the espoused and actual values. By wearing down employee trust, firms undermine the investments they have made in attracting and retaining talent.The association that stakeholders - including customers and employees - have with a brand takes significant time and investment to cultivate, but may be eroded rapidly.

The 2016 Volkswagen scandal is an example of how quickly, once trust is betrayed, a brand can fall from grace. More locally in Australia, ANZ and CBA have suffered similar events in the last couple of years, where consumer trust is rapidly eroded. These scandals don't have to be corporate wide, they can also stem from individuals. David Jones in Australia has well documented brand damage caused by the actions of an individual Executive.

As a consequence of untoward behaviour, the shared values and beliefs are undermined, destroying employer brand equity. As we know, the employer brand directly impacts on an employees’ employment experience, which has consequences for performance and overall job satisfaction.

The day-to-day employment experience of most employees may be unaffected by corporate scandals but the employees psychological feeling of safety and alignment with the brand is likely to be marred, detracting from optimal performance, job satisfaction and productivity.

These high profile scandals also directly inhibit the organisations ability to attract and retain staff who can best deliver on a superior customer brand experience.

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding | 12

13 | Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

ConclusionSome of the world's most successful organisations (Google, Marriott International, Goldman Sachs) have taken employee branding seriously for a long time and their strong commitment to people management is reflected in bonus structures which see Executives remunerated as much on their people leadership as they are on their financial results.

According to LinkedIn’s 2016 Global Survey, having a “strong” employer brand reduces hiring costs by as much as 50%. When generating your employer brand, survey your existing staff and choose the positives that you can emphasise. Do not allow your employer brand to be fictitious or purely aspirational and well meaning.

The authenticity of the message is of utmost importance and to achieve authenticity the entire business needs to be engaged. One person or team cannot be responsible for employer brand, it is the responsibility of the whole organisation.

While undertaking the process of understanding and communicating your employer brand, it is also important to identify the aspirational aspects of your EVP. You can then work on developing these so they do become real and you can have authentic conversations about this in the future as part of your employer branding.

Leaders need to be educated on employer branding for it to be successful. All leaders need to know what their employer brand is and why it's important in order to impact its success.

With increased use of social media by job seekers, what your employees are saying about your company has never been more critical.

Your employees voice can spread far and wide with pace. Ensuring their experiences and views are positive plays a vital part in your strategy to retain and attract the very best talent.

Altitude Recruitment: Employer Branding

Be consistent and regular with your communication about your employer brand, be authentic, use real people telling real stories.

Your employer brand is not an annual message or statement on a website. It is everything you and your employees do and say. For example, the employer brand does not stop when a candidate reads your website and job advert, the employer brand continues through the interview process and their work life.

If policies and promises consist only of “lip service,” and your leaders are not truly committed to these promises, employees will not believe in them.

Your employment proposition will not meet the expected standards and the consequences are counterproductive, staff turnover will increase and hiring costs will rise. As quoted from Bruckmüller, 2014 “For while practice without policy is hapless, policy without practice is worthless”.

Which of the following applies to you?

• We have an employer brand strategy but are nothappy with itContact us for how to improve it.• We do not have an employer brand or the HRcapability to develop oneContact us to define the perception of your brand inthe market.• We have an employer brand of which we areproud ofTell us more, we'd love to promote yourorganisation.

Altitude RecruitmentLevel 27, 333 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000

p: 1300 95 16 59e: [email protected] w: www.altituderecruitment.com


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