Employer Branding. Marketing the company as an attractive employer

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

List of abbreviations

List of figures

1. Introduction

2. Definitions
2.1 Brand Identity
2.2 Employer Branding

3. Why a company needs Employer Branding?
3.1 Attract and retain talents
3.2 Effect on employee performance

4. What influence Employer Branding?
4.1 The Product and Employer Brands
4.2 Elements to define Employer Branding

5. The Employer Branding process – a practical roadmap
5.1 Process of Employer Branding development
5.2 Internal marketing
5.3 Challenges & critical areas
5.4 Employer Branding success stories
5.4.1 Award for Excellence in Employer Branding
5.4.2 Most attractive European employers

6. Conclusion

Bibliography

ITM Checklist – 360°Analysis

Declaration

Executive Summary

Employee attraction and retention will continue to play an important role for companies. Vacancies needs to be filled with qualified and flexible talents which are limited available on the HR market. Thus companies have to create effective instruments for fighting for talents. Before compiling a strategy for initiating an Employer Branding development, this working paper analyzes the needs for Employer Branding as well as the elements influencing the attractiveness of an Employer. According to surveys mentioned in the following chapters, it is proven that a strong Employer Brand has a significant influence in the employees performance and that a strong product brand can essentially support the development of the employment brand. The attributes playing highest role in Employer Branding importance are reputation of products and services, corporate culture and work environment.

The practical roadmap for initiating an Employer Branding strategy consist of a four step system. Embedded system elements are (1) assess, (2) construct, (3) implement and (4) measure. In the phase of setting up an Employer Branding strategy as well as measuring its effectiveness, a benchmarking with other company’s efforts and best practices can be helpful. Some sources and success stories are listed later in this assignment.

A number of examples and numerous researches reflected in this paper allow to state that an investment in a strong Employer Branding is a good investment in the company’s future.

List of abbreviations

illustration not visible in this excerpt

List of figures

Figure 1: The Brand Pyramid

Figure 2: The connection between a company’s Product Brand and Employment Brand

Figure 3: The most attractive Employer in Europe

1. Introduction

The global market, the current demographical trends and other challenges will produce a shortage of talents. During the last decade, many labour markets had encountered a shortage of skilled labour. In fact, whole industrial branches have had serious problems to fill vacancies. Many have forecast horror scenarios for the labour market, whereas others have created strategic concepts to cope with it.

Employee attraction and retention will continue to be an important issue for many companies in the beginning of the 21stcentury. The new up-coming competition for talents draws the attention on a new strategy, in order to deal with the future challenge

- Employer Branding.

What supports a company's effort to built a strategy for developing his Employer Branding and to motivate his staff in order to withstand this competition for talents? To answer theses questions, the next chapters focus on the relevance of employer branding and on a concept of strategic Employer Brand management.

2. Definitions

2.1 Brand Identity

A brand image refers to how the target market perceives the brand. A brand identity is the message sent out by the brand through its advertising, product form, name, visual signs etc. But what image people have of the brand can be quite different from the message that the company is seeking to communicate. Management should plan the

brand identity since this the key to acceptance in the market^[1].

Kapfferer ^[2] introduced the concept of the brand pyramid, consisting of three levels, further on used by Doyle.^[3] The fundamental code is the brand core in the top of the

pyramid which remains fixed over the time. The middle level of the pyramid is the brand style which expresses the brand core in terms of the culture it conveys, its personality and its self-image. The base level of the brand pyramid consists of the brand themes which are how the brand currently communicates through its name, advertising etc.

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 1: The brand pyramid by Kapfferer (1997), modified by Doyle (2002) containing the brand identity

The concept of the brand pyramid is useful. First, it enables the company to understand the brand, its strengths and opportunities. Second, it helps to develop a brand strategy and the formulation of the brand’s position in the market. Third it enables the brand team to develop consistency in the message being transmitted through packaging and design, advertising and through line and brand extensions. Finally, when the brand’s core and style has been understood it helps to set the scope of brand extensions, that means how far the brand an be meaningfully stretched to other products and market segments.^[4]

2.2 Employer Branding

Employer branding is the process of placing an image of being a “great place to work” in the minds of the target group. It is a concept borrowed from the business side of the company. Product branding is designed to create a lasting image in the consumer mind, so that he starts to automatically associate quality with any product or service

offered by the owner of the brand. An employer brand has the same approach: it creates an image that makes the targeted candidate want to work for the employer’s company due to the image of a well managed company where workers are continually learning and growing. Employer branding uses the tools of marketing, PR and advertising to change the image targeted candidates have of “what it is like to work at the firm”^[5].

Harding^[6] claims the Employer Brand concept is borrowed from marketing. It helps companies focus on how they can identify themselves within their branch as an employer of current staff, as a potential employer to applicants and as a supplier or partner to customers. Employer is a relatively new concept, but in practice some companies have been making use of the idea for some time now.

3. Why a company needs Employer Branding?

3.1 Attract and retain talents

“Attracting raw talent and awareness of what we do at an early educational age” Fiona Warnock, Human Resources Manager at Canon Information Systems Research is stressing in a survey^[7] about the drivers causing Employer Branding development. And Eileen Klitvad, VP Human Resources at Telia Denmark is saying “We need good

employees. And first of all, we need our employees to stay here longer than they do today”^[8].

According to a survey among HR professionals ^[9] in various countries, the most frequent Employer Branding expectations mentioned were:

- ease in attracting candidates (84%),
- recognition as an employer of choice (82%),
- increased retention rate (65%),
- shortened time-to-fill (53%) and
- delivery of a vision and values program (52%).

In an executive brief by an HR agency it was stated that “during strong economic times, the employment experience can help attract choosy candidates who have the ability to find a job that meets their specific needs and wants. In a poor economy, it can assist in narrowing a large pool of potential candidates and finding the best fit available.

Employer Branding acts as a vehicle in marketing your company’s unique employment experience to current and potential employees”.^[10]

3.2 Effect on employee performance

The strength of an organisation's brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees, according to survey of 800 workers employed at organisations defined by marketing experts as 'business superbrands'^[11]. The survey shows that the

interviewed employees feel a much greater sense of pride, attachment and trust towards their employer than the British national average.

As a potential result of the employees trust in their company they are also significantly more likely to recommend their employer to others and claim their company treats employees well.

The following statements that influence commitment and performance highlight the difference between superbrand employees and the national average:

- "I am proud to work for this company" 82% superbrand (50% national average)
- "I have a strong attachment to the company" 76% superbrand (39% national average)
- "I would recommend my employer to other people" 68% superbrand (38% national average)
- "The company treats its employees well" 69% superbrand (43% national average)
- "It is an organisation I can trust" 76% superbrand (41% national average)

[...]

^[1] Doyle (2002), p. 163

^[2] Kapfferer (1997)

^[3] Doyle (2002), p. 163

^[4] Doyle (2002), p. 164

^[5] Sullvian (1999)

^[6] Harding (2003)

^[7] The Bernard Hodes Global Network (2006), p. 40

^[8] The Bernard Hodes Global Network (2006), p. 40

^[9] The Bernard Hodes Global Network (2006), p. 27

^[10] Anon (2007)

^[11] Personnel Today magazine (2005a)