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Your Employer Brand attract engage retain First published, June 2006 Copyright © 2006 Collective Learning Australia All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form, electronic, mechanical - or other means, now known, or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Disclaimer The material in this publication is of a nature of general comment only, and neither purports nor intends to be advice. Readers should not act on the basis of any matter in this publication without considering (and if appropriate) taking professional advice with due regard to their own particular circumstances. The author and publisher expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, whether a purchaser of this publication or not, in respect of anything and the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done by any such person in reliance, whether in whole or part, upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication.

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Minchington Your Employer Brand attract-engage-retain

This title is published under the imprint of Collective Learning Australia, PO Box 614 Torrensville SA 5031 Email: (for orders) [email protected] or purchase copies online: www.collectivelearningaustralia.com P 61 8 8443 4115 F 61 8 8443 4149

The URLs contained in this publication were checked for currency during the production process. Note, however, that the publisher cannot vouch for the ongoing currency of URLs. Layout: Peter Davis Printed in Australia by: Hyde Park Press

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About the author Brett Minchington MBA, B.Bus. (Marketing) Brett Minchington has held a number of senior management roles in a diverse range of organisations in the public and private sectors in Australia. With a keen interest on researching emerging trends in business and their likely impact on organisations, Brett's professional interest in employer branding followed on from three years committed to researching the topic. This journey has led to the formation of a global network of employer brand researchers and practitioners who are contributing to the growth of the discipline and an in-depth understanding of the importance of employer branding to organisations of all sizes. Brett is currently the Managing Director of Collective Learning Australia, a firm specialising in employer branding, leadership development innovation and employment transition programs. He holds a Directorship of an International training firm and is a member of the UniSA MBA Alumni Committee. In addition to these roles Brett consults to a number of leading HR firms across a diverse client profile, and is also a Senior Account Executive with Kick Brand Management. Brett has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from UniSA and a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

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Quote

‘Before you can think of selling your brand to customers, you have to sell it to your employees. How the brand is positioned in the minds of consumers is heavily dependent on a company's employees’.

Sergio Zyman, Chairman and Founder of Zyman Group and former Chief Marketing Officer of The Coca-Cola Company

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Dedication

This book would not have been possible without the ongoing love and support of my beautiful family; Andrea, Bailey and Taylah Minchington.

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Acknowledgements I wish to sincerely thank the following people for their persistence, positive attitude and contributions to bringing my book to fruition. Claudia Tattanelli - CEO, Catrine Johansson - University Relations Manager and Rachele Focardi - Ferri Senior Consultant and Senior Editor (Universum Communications, Philadelphia USA), and Anton Öberg - Project Manager Research (Universum Communications, Stockholm Sweden), Simon Barrow - Chairman and Richard Mosley Managing Director (People in Business, London UK), Michael Hall Senior Researcher and Katherine Garrick (Incomes Data Services London UK), Rob Chapman - Managing Director and Sandy Pinkerton Personal Assistant to Rob (Bank SA, Adelaide Australia), Ryan Estis Senior Vice President & Chief Talent Strategist, (NAS Recruitment Communications, Minneapolis USA), Annette Browdy - Senior Vice President and Jorge Patrisso - Manager, Corporate/Global Communications, (Bernard HODES Group, New York USA), Kathryn Oakman (Hays Recruitment, Sydney Australia), Warwick Bowd National Practice Leader (Hudson Employment Branding, Sydney Australia), Sal Vitale, Senior Vice President, Operations (The Conference Board, New York USA), Aysil And - Managing Director (TNS Piar), Alexandre Sidorenko - UN Focal Point on Ageing (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York USA), Liz Sanders Customer Services Executive (Melcrum Publishing, London UK), Tina L. Campbell - Executive Assistant and Sergio Zyman, (Zyman Group, Atlanta USA), Andrew Boal and Margo Weston (Hewitt Associates, Melbourne Australia), Roger Edwards, - Commonwealth Copyright Administration, (Attorney-General's Department , Canberra Australia), Meagan Upsher - Qualitative Data Coordinator - Supply Chain Coordinator - Marketing Assistant (ISR, Melbourne Australia), Alice Atalla (Watson Wyatt, Melbourne Australia), Todd Raphael - Editor (Electronic Recruitment Exchange, New York USA), Clayton Glen - Director (HDA, London UK), Colin Dalby (Thomas Cook, Stamford UK), Rob Willock - Group Editor, (Personnel Today, Surrey UK), Joe Hall - Ad Marketing Manager, (The Economist, London UK), Margit Huber (Global TRI*M Centre in

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Munich - TNS), Mike Petch, Group HR Director (TNS, London UK), Rebecca Schneider, Member Services HR Practice (Corporate Executive Board, Washington D.C USA), Peter Davis (Adelaide, Australia) and my fantastic proof readers, Katie Cavanagh, Michael Devers, Ursula Bronicki, Kimberly, Komazec and Daniel Lloyd (Adelaide Australia). A special thank you to my distinguished colleagues who have each contributed a chapter to this book: Dr Steven Goodman (Chapter 3) - Senior Lecturer, Adelaide University (Adelaide Australia), Ron Tomlian (Chapter 5) - Managing Director, Marketing Counsel (Adelaide Australia), Professor Mike Ewing (Chapter 6) - Head of Research, Department of Marketing, Monash University (Melbourne Australia). And finally to my family and friends who have inspired me to write this book: Andrea Fielding, Bailey and Taylah Minchington, Barbara, Darlene, Rochelle and Felicia Minchington, Herb, Jane, Sean, James and Marnie Ewinger, Ian, Carole, Preston, Lyndal and Leanne Stewart, Rob and Marsha Dowling, Ross Melville, Roger Henderson, and Sandra Bracken.

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Table of Contents About the author Dedication Acknowledgements List of illustrations Foreword Preface SECTION 1: THE ENVIRONMENT FOR EMPLOYER BRANDING 1) The emergence of employer branding in todays knowledge economy The rise in awareness of employer branding Where does responsibility in an organisation for employer branding lie? The objectives of employer branding Workers’ attitudes to their workplace and their employers The brands people want to work for Understanding the value of diversity In the spotlight - General Electric Employer branding and the public sector 2) The role of employer branding in organisational strategy: Dr Steve Goodman Employer branding - Improving the organisation's competitive position The resource based view of strategy Four conditions for organisational success (i) Heterogenous organisations (ii) Capabilities must be rare and have value (iii) Capabilities must be hard to replicate (iv) Capabilities must not be easily traded Planning and control structures Emergent self organisation 3) The strategic drivers behind the rise in acceptance of the employer brand concept The ageing global population

4 7 8 14 18 20

25 26 29 34 36 38 39 40 41 45 46 46 47 47 48 49 50 51 51 55 56

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Declining birth rates In the spotlight - Australia Economic growth Labour force participation Migration Skill shortages 4) Building the business case The major benefits of developing and implementing an employer brand strategy The financial benefits Top management becoming increasingly involved Pitching the employer brand concept to senior management In the spotlight - the BASF Corporation In the spotlight - Southwest Airlines SECTION 2: BUILDING A LEADING EMPLOYER BRAND 5) Understanding the brand fundamentals: Ron Tomlian The history of brands Brands - Where did they come from? Branding - What is it? Branding - What's in it for me? Elements of the brand Who was that masked man? Position - Position - Position Taking care of business 6) Employer attractiveness: Professor Mike Ewing Advertising's role in creating strong employer brands Advertising's internal audiences Towards a typology of employer advertising approaches Implications for management Introducing the notion of employer attractiveness The underlying dimensions of employer attractiveness Interest value Social value Economic value Development value

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58 59 62 63 64 64 67 68 68 72 72 73 74

77 78 78 79 81 83 85 86 87 89 90 91 93 95 95 96 97 97 97 98

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Application value Applications for business Future research directions into studying employer attractiveness 7) Employer brand metrics Employee engagement In the spotlight - Australia Human capital measures The top 25 levers of engagement The value of employee research in tracking your employer brand efforts In the spotlight - technology organisation - an illustrative HDA case study 8) Employer brand communication and actions Getting the right message across Employer brand communication methods Conveying a brand across cultures Importance of differentiation Web technology Recruitment advertising In the spotlight - Coca-Cola Amatil The strategic employment brand in action - a holistic approach to living the employer brand The firm-employee relationship cycle First contact The dating game Proposal Marriage Maintaining the passion Anniversary SECTION 3: THE EMPLOYER BRANDING PROCESS 9) Employer Brand Management Framework TM Employer value proposition Defining the employer value proposition Employer brand identity

98 98 99 101 102 103 106 108 110 110 115 116 119 122 123 123 126 126 129 130 130 131 133 134 135 136 139 142 142 144

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Employer Brand Employee Platform TM Recruitment and induction Compensation and benefits Career development Employee research Reward and recognition Communication systems Work environment Employer Brand Strategic Platform TM Mission, vision, and values Corporate social responsibility Leadership Corporate reputation and culture People management polices and practices Performance management Innovation The Corporate brand Market forces Customers Prospective employees Stakeholders Evaluating your employer brand program 8 steps to developing an employer brand 10) The future for employer branding SECTION 4: EMPLOYER BRAND CASE STUDIES Thomas Cook Bank SA The Compass Group SECTION 5: EMPLOYER BRAND EXCELLENCE SCORECARD TM Worksheets

144 144 145 145 147 148 149 149 150 150 150 151 152 153 153 154 154 155 156 157 157 158 159 165

References Index

211 225

169 181 189

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List of Illustrations Figure 1: How important is employer branding to your organisation? Source: Personnel Today 2005, p.27 Figure 2: In the future employer branding will become… Source: Personnel Today 2005, p.27 Figure 3: Employer branding is too much of an important issue to be left solely to an HR department. Source: The Economist Survey 2003, p.30 Figure 4: Where does the responsibility for Employer branding in an organisation lie? Source: The Economist Survey 2003, p.31 Figure 5: Departments involved in the employer branding work Source: Universum Communications 2005, p.33 Figure 6: How important is your brand in delivering the right message? Source: The Conference Board 2001 www.conference-board.org, p.34 Figure 7: Main objectives for employer branding work Source: Universum Communications 2005, p.35 Figure 8: Main objectives for employer branding work by industry Source: Universum Communications 2005, p.36 Figure 9: Three centuries of world population ageing Source: The United Nations Programme on Ageing, www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop.htm 2006, p.56 Figure 10: Percentage increase in age 60 and over by region 2000-2050 Source: The United Nations Programme on Ageing, www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop.htm 2006, p.57 Figure 11: Ageing is set to accelerate - Annual change in the share of people aged 65+ in the population 1922-2051 Source: Productivity Commission 2005, Economic Implications of an Ageing

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Australia, Research Report, Canberra - copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission, p.60 Figure 12: From pyramid to coffin: Changing age structure of the Australian population 1925-2045 Source: Productivity Commission 2005, Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia, Research Report, Canberra copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission, p.61 Figure 13: Population pyramids: age and sex distribution, 2000 and 2050. Source: The sex and age distribution of the world populations: 1998 revision, volume ii: sex and age (United Nations publication, sales No. E.99.XIII.8), medium variant projections 2006, p.62 Figure 14: The 3P's of economic growth - population, participation and productivity. Source: Productivity Commission 2005, Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia, Research Report, Canberra - copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission, p.63 Figure 15: National skills shortage (NSS) List - Australia 2004 (Professionals) Source: www.workplace.gov.au, p.65 Figure 16: Impact of engagement on business performance Source: ISR 2005, p.69 Figure 17: Expected benefits of developing an employer brand Source: The Economist Survey 2003, p.70 Figure 18: The Brand Pyramid Source: Brand Asset Management 2002, p.85 Figure 19: DaimlerChrysler advertisement in The Economist Source: The Economist, p.92 Figure 20: A model of employer attractiveness Source: Professor Mike Ewing 2006, p.97

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Figure 21: The ISR employee engagement index - variations by country Source: ISR 2005, p.103 Figure 22: ISR engagement model. Source: ISR 2005, p.105 Figure 23: Human capital measures. Source: ISR 2005, p.107 Figure 24: The Top 25 levers of engagement Source: Corporate Leadership Council 2004 Employee Engagement Survey, p.109 Figure 25: The talent management process Source: Clayton Glen, HDA 2005, p.114 Figure 26: Are current and prospective employees clear about what makes the organisation a great place to work? Source: Hudson 2005, p.117 Figure 27: Are job seekers clear about what makes their current organisation stand out as a great place to work? Source: Hudson 2005, p.117 Figure 28: Is the actual employment experience consistent with what is promised to current and prospective employees? Source: Hudson 2005, p.118 Figure 29: Do job seekers believe that their current organisation has delivered the employment experience that was promised? Source: Hudson 2005, p.118 Figure 30: What are the most used and most effective tactics for communicating the employer brand? Source: The Conference Board 2001, p.120 Figure 31: Area you will be investing in over the next two years Source: Personnel Today 2003, p.125

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Figure 32: Coca-Cola Amatil advertisement Source: Adenergy 2006, p.128 Figure 33: The firm-employee relationship cycle Copyright 2006, Bernard Hodes Group. Reprinted with permission from Bernard Hodes Group, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, http://www.hodes.com, p.130 Figure 34: Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM Source: Brett Minchington 2006, p.141 Figure 35: Employer Brand Employee Platform TM Source: Brett Minchington 2006, p.144 Figure 36: Employer Brand Strategic Platform TM Source: Brett Minchington 2006, p.150 Figure 37: What do companies measure and how often? Source: Universum Communications 2005, p.159 Figure 38: Customer vs. employee profile at Thomas Cook Source: Melcrum Publishing 2005, p.172 Figure 39: Thomas Cook's values - PROUD Source: Melcrum Publishing 2005, p.173 Figure 40: Thomas Cook's employer brand strategy Source: Melcrum Publishing 2005, p.175 Figure 41: St George (Bank SA) Values. Source: St George Bank Limited 2006, p.186 Figure 42: Compass Group's cross-functional employer branding team Source: IDS 2005, p.194 Figure 43: The 'Identity Block' and the employer brand promise. Source: IDS 2005, p.197

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Foreword Written by Simon Barrow, creator of the Employer Brand ® approach and co-author of 'The Employer Brand - bringing the best of brand management to people at work' published by Wiley in October 2005. Simon is Chairman of the consultants People in Business, in London.

I owe my inspiration for the idea of the employer brand to the fact that my early experience combined two very different strands, first as a brand manager in the consumer goods business and later as CEO of an HR and Recruitment Group. The need for marketing disciplines in the world of employment rapidly became apparent to me and I gave the first public talk on the subject back in October 1990. I welcome an Australian book on this subject and it is good to see so much research, writing and speaking happening globally. I urge all those interested in this subject to concentrate on the essence of good employer brand management and realise that it is about the realities of every part of the employment experience and not just the communication aspects (i.e. the design and copy) of recruitment and internal messages and materials. Making sure that those realities reflect what you need to create an experience which will enable your people to achieve their business objectives takes courage and coherent management across the often deeply entrenched silos in most organisations. Ultimately, employer brand projects must have the whole hearted, consistent support and total involvement of the CEO. A function-driven initiative will not succeed. HR, Marketing, Internal communications and line management must work together to create the programme with the CEO's approval.

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Foreword

If there is one thought which should underpin your reading of this book it is that of coherence.

Simon Barrow June 2006

The Employer Brand ® is a registered trademark in the UK owned by People in Business Ltd.

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Preface The employer-employee relationship paradigm has been changed forever. The employment world has transitioned from the industrial era to the knowledge era and the supply and demand curve for talent is becoming increasingly favoured towards the employee. This has led to organisations around the world aligning their people management efforts with the development of an employer brand strategy to attract, engage and retain talent. This book aims to build on previous work in employer branding in order to widen the discussion and thinking around the concept in businesses around the world. Simon Barrow, now Chairman of People in Business based in London (UK) is acknowledged as the creator of the moniker Employer Brand ® Concept as early as October 1990. Barrow defined employer branding as: ‘The package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment and identified with the employing company. The main role of the employer brand is to provide a coherent framework for management to simplify and focus priorities, increase productivity and improve recruitment, retention and commitment’. 1 Employer branding is not jazzing up your recruitment advertisement or re-designing your corporate website and other communication touch points. Whilst your company projects its image through its communication vehicles, the employer brand concept lies much deeper than this. An organisation with a superior employer brand is one whose people brand matches their corporate brand. This means that the value proposition that the business articulates is reflected by the actions of all people, at all levels of the business, at all times. In its simplest form the

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process of employer branding requires a long term orientation to the management of people. Employer branding is concerned with building an image in the minds of current employees and the potential labour market that the company, above all others, is a 'great place to work'. The employer branding process is about building and sustaining employment propositions that are compelling and different. Successful employer branding lies in the ability of an organisation to deliver on its employment promise. In a commercial context employer branding is the glue that holds all the different components of the organisation together to ensure: Employee loyalty, commitment and performance = customer loyalty, advocacy and satisfaction = business growth, profitability and market share = stakeholder, competitor respect, employer of choice. 2 Employer branding should not just be seen as a marketing or human resource management function. Support from employees at all levels is required to create and sustain an employer brand. It is not just about developing good people. It cannot be looked at in isolation. All companies, regardless of industry, have an employer brand. But many companies are losing out on a powerful business tool by not developing or maintaining their brand correctly. A strong employer brand with the right target group - the ideal employees - will lower recruitment costs and enable companies to recruit efficiently in a shorter amount of time. It also diminishes costs of your 'regretted losses', i.e. your unwanted turnover. Most importantly though, it ensures your supply of talent for growing your business, for efficiency and for productivity. The driving motivation to compile this book is to provide senior managers and HR professionals with a comprehensive resource to assist them with the increasingly complex task of managing human capital at a time when they are also being asked to take on a more strategic role in the deployment of human resources in their organisation. A well planned employer brand strategy binds an organisation's human

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resource, marketing and internal communication functions to create an engaged and committed workforce that meets the economic, social and environmental objectives of the organisation. Employer brands drive innovation and growth in companies. However the power of the employer brand to build 'great companies' is closely tied to the employee and delivering on his/her expectations better than the competition. This book will provide readers with a detailed understanding of the emergence of employer branding in today's knowledge economy, the driving forces behind its rise in acceptance, its 'fit' with organisational strategy, the business case, the benefits, the methodology, and presents a strategic Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM to guide those responsible for creating and developing their company's employer brand strategy. This book concludes with several case studies of leading companies who have successfully developed their employer brand and reaped the benefits as a result. There has been a significant increase in the awareness and acceptance of the employer brand concept amongst senior managers and the global HR community throughout the world over the past few years. With a deficiency of books and publications on the discipline I decided to consolidate my employer brand research over the past three years with my HR, marketing and management consulting experience to write this book and share with companies and practitioners the best of employer brand research and practice undertaken globally over the past decade. This book provides a platform to promote the benefits of employer branding and to guide your organisation's efforts in the development and implementation of its employer brand program. This book will also clarify the purpose and methodology behind the employer brand concept. The employer brand concept is a relatively new field in the complex world of business compared to the models, theories and methods developed before it. All signs indicate that the concept will continue to be embraced by companies and their leaders who are serious about

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taking a proactive approach to address the challenges of the knowledge age, such as an ageing global population, increasing skill shortages, changing demographics of the workplace and the impacts of technological change and globalisation. My research has shown that employer branding is consolidating its place in the global HR domain at significant speed. And it is here to stay! During the course of writing this book I had the pleasure of meeting with the pioneer of the employer brand concept, Mr Simon Barrow, Director of People in Business (PiB) whose International head office is based in London. I met up with Simon following one of his trips to Hong Kong to conduct workshops and speaking engagements on the discipline. Simon's knowledge and work in employer branding is inspiring and has contributed to an increasing number of companies implementing an employer brand strategy to manage their human capital. I am pleased to have Simon write the foreword for this book. A number of leading business professionals and academics were chosen to contribute material for this book to bring their own professional and research experiences to the topic. It is in this context that, as intended, the writing style of this book may appear to change between chapters on occasions. I am interested in any new work being undertaken in employer branding over the coming years as it is intended that this book will be the first of many that will assist in presenting a balanced view of global research and practice which will contribute to the development of ‘great places to work’ throughout all corners of the world. I have received permission to use world leading research and employer brand best practice which has been undertaken throughout the world by leading HR, marketing and communication firms. As a result you will find this book provides the most comprehensive guide to employer branding ever published.

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From my own professional experiences and research for this book I truly believe that employees are a company's only truly sustainable competitive advantage, and I trust that this book will provide you with a robust and meaningful approach to building a strong employer brand in the eyes of your customers and employees alike.

Brett Minchington MBA, B.Bus (Marketing) E [email protected] P 61 8 8443 4115 F 61 8 8443 4149 W www.collectivelearningaustralia.com

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Section 1 The Environment for Employer Branding

Chapter 1 The Emergence of Employer Branding in Todays Knowledge Economy

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The rise in awareness of employer branding In a marketplace where mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies and layoffs have blurred company identities and rattled employees' sense of security, the rise in acceptance of the employer brand concept is coming just at the right time. Around the world, companies strive to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly complex and challenging market place. External environmental factors such as technological change, the rise of globalisation, and the ageing population has focused the spotlight on the importance of the employee in the employer-employee relationship. Employers can no longer rely on a continuous supply of skilled and talented workers in today's knowledge-driven economy. Is the only remaining truly sustainable competitive advantage for organisations its people? Products, services, and systems can be copied or substituted over time and innovation occurs more rapidly today due to globalisation and the increasing rate and sophistication of technological change. We have been brought up to favour consumer brands over others through our personal experiences and through the referrals of colleagues, family and friends. We choose to buy a certain brand of coffee, brand of cereal or drive a certain brand of car. In much the same way as we choose to favour consumer brands, the employer brand we choose to work for is driven by our own personal experiences, perceptions and referrals from others. Which brand do you work for? Would you recommend it to others as a great brand to work for? Now ask the same questions to three other people and consider the results! Developing an employer brand strategy is fast becoming a popular approach for companies striving to achieve sustainable competitive advantage by differentiating their employment offering from their competitors. In an era when knowledge, commitment and loyalty of employees are among the main competitive tools, no one can ignore the significance of attracting, engaging and retaining committed personnel. The employer brand is therefore crucial for overall company success.

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Employer branding is a relatively new field, both academically and professionally, and is being embraced as an important strategic tool for leaders in organisations of all sizes. In a 2005 survey of 1,889 Personnel Today readers in the UK with responsibility for recruitment it was revealed that 95% of respondents believe employer branding is 'important' (see figure 1). 1 Figure 1: How important is employer branding to your organisation?

Source: Personnel Today 2005 - reproduced with permission In the same survey, 80% said that in the future employer branding will become more important (see figure 2). 1 The research highlights the rise in awareness of employer branding. The challenge now is for organisations to develop a meaningful and robust framework to guide their employer brand efforts in order to establish a platform that attracts, engages and retains talented employees. Figure 2: In the future employer branding will become…

Source: Personnel Today 2005 - reproduced with permission

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The Personnel Today study reveals that the HR community believes branding is vital if an organisation is to recruit the best candidates. In the war for talent, HR professionals are now being equipped with one of the most important weapons in the recruitment armoury - employer branding. There will no doubt be a plethora of suppliers to assist organisations to develop their employer brand over the next few years as it grows in awareness and acceptance. However, beware! Employer branding is not a fast track to attract, engage and retain talent using a slick advertising campaign to simply jazz up the corporate brand. Employer branding is characterised by immense confusion and lack of structure. There is a clear need to create and establish standards, to develop best practices, to measure developments and to exchange knowledge amongst HR, marketing and communication specialists. Although most companies realise that their external messages need to be true in order to retain talent, they seem to attach much less value to the views of current employees than they do to external perceptions. Many companies underestimate that the over-promise but under-deliver proposition leads to disappointments and frustration amongst existing employees, leading to higher turnover rates and problems in attracting talent. 2 An employer brand must be built from inside the company. To build attractiveness and appeal to future employees, companies have to start appealing to their current employees. Most would agree that having a good reputation as an employer and a highly committed workforce can deliver significant competitive advantage. It makes it easier to recruit and retain talented staff who contribute to the growth and productivity of the organisation and who assist in delivering superior levels of service to customers. In the end this results in employees delivering the brand promise to the company's customers. The link between the depth of talent in organisations and the overall success of an organisation is very strong. The manner in which the company's brand is delivered to their customers is highly dependent on how it is delivered to their employees. There must be a strong

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correlation between the corporate brand and the employee brand so that the communication of the company's value proposition is consistent to both its customers and prospective employees. This will assist employees to understand what is expected of them and how to behave in a manner that is consistent with the firm's values and objectives. The employer brand is the most powerful tool for attracting, engaging and retaining the right 'talent/culture fit' that will assist leaders to develop a sustainable organisation in a candidate short employment market. In today's increasingly competitive marketplace and global skills shortages there is so much competition for good candidates, and companies with a strong employer brand will be able to pick and choose from the best candidates. People are becoming more inclined to look for roles where the organisation's values are aligned with their own. According to the Conference Board Report, 'Engaging employees through your brand', an effective employer brand is: 1. Holistic. It applies throughout the company and throughout the internal and external markets. 2. Known and understood throughout the company. All employees know the brand's message and (more importantly) how it applies to them. 3. Known in the employment marketplace. Candidates will be familiar with the brand and will be applying to the company on the strength of the brand. Examples-McDonald's 'food, folks, and fun', Southwest Airlines' 'freedom', or L.L. Bean's 'outdoors enthusiast'. 3 Where does responsibility in an organisation for employer branding lie? In May 2003, The Economist conducted a survey to assess attitudes to employer branding amongst a select panel of readers (senior

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management/heads of department) from companies in UK, Cont/Europe, Asia Pacific, and the U.S. Over 80% of respondents agreed that employer branding is too much of an issue to be left solely to an HR department (see figure 3). 4 Figure 3: Employer branding is too much of an important issue to be left solely to an HR dept

Agree strongly

Agree

Source: The Economist Survey 2003 - reproduced with permission In the same survey the majority of respondents (19%) said that the responsibility for employer branding lies in the HR department, closely followed by 15% saying that responsibility lies with the CEO/MD and 8% said with the board/senior management (see figure 4).

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Figure 4: Where does the responsibility for employer branding in an organisation lie?

Source: The Economist Survey 2003 - reproduced with permission The survey results highlight that the responsibility for contributing to cultivating an employer brand culture lays at all levels of the organisation. Successful employer brand case studies have consistently reported that the strategy requires the sponsorship of the most senior managers in the organisation. At Compass Group the group's executive board and CEO were sponsors of their employer brand program. As part of

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communicating the employer brand message a 15 minute launch video was presented by the CEO which included case study profiles of Compass Group employees from around the world. 5 At Bank SA in Australia the Managing Director, Rob Chapman leads the firm's employer brand from the front. Soon after commencing at Bank SA Mr Chapman increased the company's induction program for new employees from one week to four weeks and he makes a point of attending the first day of the program to promote Bank SA's mission, values, and company history to the new employees. Mr Chapman also encourages questions from the new employees and maintains an open door policy whilst openly encouraging feedback from all levels of the organisation. This level of commitment to the Bank's employer brand has had a major impact on Bank SA's performance. In the first three years of Mr Chapman's tenure employee turnover has decreased 12%, employee engagement has increased 32%, employee overall satisfaction has increased by 30% and before tax profit has increased 57%. In an interview for Universum Communication's 2005 employer branding global best practices report, Elaine Williams of Pfizer said that senior management is the starting point of employer brand strategies, which then cascade and are echoed in department strategies. According to Williams, Lou Clemente, who heads Pfizer's Corporate Affairs division said, 'We have to think as one company and have access to all the resources within the company and get out of our silos'. She pointed out, however, that ‘because we are such a large company and we're so diverse, much of our communication is done at the business level. At corporate, we put together a lot of the key messages and get them out through our communication distribution channels. At the operating division level, these messages are amplified and linked to specific business strategies and objectives. Our CEO, HR, and communications groups work closely on the framework, but everybody is responsible for communicating these key messages. It isn't just a top down thing anymore’. 6 In the Economist survey (2003) 4 previously mentioned 41% of

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respondents said that the marketing department is responsible for employer branding in their organisation whilst 25% said the HR department and 25% said the corporate communications department was responsible (see figure 6). Universum Communication's 2005 employer branding global best practices report involved research with over 300 leading European and American companies. The survey results were similar to The Economist survey and found the main departments involved in the employer branding work in organisations were the HR department (89%), top management-head office (80%), information/communications department (66%) and the marketing department (51%) - see figure 5.8 Figure 5: Departments involved in the employer branding work

Source: Universum Communications 2005 - reproduced with permission The survey highlights the importance of senior leadership support in driving the employer brand strategy through the organisation both at the strategic and tactical level.

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The objectives of employer branding In a 2001 Conference Board Report titled, 'Engaging employees through your brand' (see figure 6) 3 communications/marketing and HR executives identified their top goals of employer brand efforts as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

helping employees internalise the company's values; achieving a reputation as an employer of choice; recruiting employees; retaining employees; and facilitating integration following merger or acquisition.

Figure 6: How important is your brand in delivering the right message?

Source: The Conference Board 2001 - reproduced with permission

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The Conference Board report highlights the strategic importance of the brand in delivering the right message to existing and potential employees and recruiting and retaining customers. The Universum Communication's report (see figure 7) also found that 75 percent of all employer branding objectives chosen can be categorised as external (such as to support corporate branding activities or supporting long term recruitment success) and only about 25 percent as 'internal' (such as to enhance the corporate appeal among current employees). 6 Figure 7: Main objectives for employer branding work

Source: Universum Communications 2005 - reproduced with permission This is a disturbing finding given that the cost of replacing an existing employee can be up to 2.5 times their salary. Faced with the challenges of an employment market with a shrinking pool of talented workers, companies will need to start focusing their employer branding efforts more on existing employees if they are to decrease employee turnover levels. 6

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The study also found that there is currently more focus on recruiting than on retaining talent across industry sectors. Although most of the companies surveyed realise and state that their external message needs to be true, they seem to attach much less value to the views of current employees than they do to external perception. In addition there are fewer targets for internal employer branding than for external efforts (see figure 8). This is a worrying trend as one of the most valuable channels for creating a picture of a company is through dialogue with its current employees. 6 Figure 8: Main objectives for employer branding work by industry

Source: Universum Communications 2005 - reproduced with permission The report findings demonstrated that the focus on external efforts for employer branding is not simply related to a few industry sectors - it is a common theme across all industry sectors. Workers attitudes to their workplace and their employers In the seventh Work USA survey since 1987, Watson Wyatt 7 surveyed 12,750 U.S. workers at all job levels and in all major industry sectors about their attitudes toward their workplace and their employers.

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The major findings of the research were as follows: 1. Never extraordinarily high, trust levels between employees and senior management are falling. Only 39 percent of employees at U.S. companies trust the senior leaders at their firms. In addition, the percentage of employees who say they have confidence in the job being done by senior management dropped five points between 2000 and 2002 to 45 percent. 2. Companies with HR functions that employees perceive as effective are more likely to have dramatically better trust levels, communication, commitment levels and lines of sight. Employees at these companies also are more likely to favourably view their company's ability to manage business change. 3. Only 43 percent of employees say their companies effectively manage business changes such as restructuring, downsizing, merging, expansion and growth. Improvements in this area are necessary since the difference in three-year total return to shareholders (TRS) between companies that manage business change well and those that manage it poorly is dramatic. 4. There is considerable room for improvement when it comes to communication - only 31 percent of employees rate their companies well in this area. Communication about pay is particularly needed - the percentage of employees who say they understand how their pay is determined is at its lowest level in a decade. 5. Huge shifts in corporate strategy in the past two years have left employees confused about the link between their jobs and company objectives. The percentage of employees who say they have a clear 'line of sight' between their jobs and company objectives dropped 13 points between 2000 and 2002 to 52 percent. 6. Managing and rewarding employees to encourage the behaviours necessary for achieving business goals is a challenge for companies. Only 25 percent of employees say their companies perform well in this area. 7. As in 2000, the data showed that strong employee commitment leads to higher shareholder returns. Even more important, it also suggests that employee commitment may pay off even more for companies in

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bad times than in good. High-commitment companies outperformed low-commitment companies by 47 percent in the 2000 study and by 200 percent in the 2002 study. It can be concluded from the Watson Wyatt study that there are some serious issues for organisations to address. Organisations should undertake ongoing employee research to ensure that their perceptions of their performance does not fall short of their employees’ expectations. Furthermore, strategies should be aligned to address any deficiencies.

The brands people want to work for According to a 2005 survey by specialist recruiters Hays 8 of employees in Australia and New Zealand, the most popular brands people want to work for in Australia are the Government/public sector, ANZ, Virgin and Telstra. In New Zealand, the popular brands were Vodafone, the Government/public sector, Telecom NZ and Westpac. Without any prompting, why were these companies named most frequently as ideal employers? Predominately because of the perceived employee experience they offered, or in other words, their employer brand. Career opportunities, reputation of the company and the professional development and training offered were the top three reasons provided by Australian survey respondents for selecting their nominated 'ideal' employer. In New Zealand, the reputation of the company was the primary reason, followed by professional development and training provided, then career opportunities. In both countries, these justifications were ahead of salary and benefits, which demonstrates the value of creating a reputation for a strong employer brand in the marketplace. 8

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Of 614 responses, the top-ten Australian most frequently named ideal employers were: 1. Government/public sector 2. ANZ 3. Virgin 4. Telstra 5. Westpac 6. IBM 7. Optus 8. Microsoft 9. Vodafone 10. PricewaterhouseCoopers Of 260 responses, the top-ten New Zealand most frequently named ideal employers were: 1. Vodafone 2. Government/public sector 3. Telecom NZ 4. Westpac 5. Air NZ 6. Fonterra 7. Bank NZ 8. ANZ 9. National Bank 10. ASB Understanding the value of diversity In an interview with Marietta Cozzi, Vice President of Talent Resourcing at American Express for the Universum Communication's 2005 employer branding global best practices report, Ms Cozzi said, ‘To win in the marketplace, American Express must attract the most talented people and help them thrive so they remain with the company. That is one of several reasons why commitment to diversity is an important business priority when developing an employer brand. The best and

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brightest people don't all look and think the same way. People of character, competence and integrity come from all backgrounds. Moreover, being a leader in diversity provides American Express with a competitive advantage. Reaching our goals, pioneering new products and providing superior service can't happen if we all think the same way. We need to draw on different perspectives to remain innovative, to truly understand the needs of our diverse customers, and to gain market share. Being a leader in diversity strengthens our company's brand image, employee satisfaction and customer loyalty. A majority of our communication with students goes through our website or by email. But last year when we were on campus we found that most of the students still wanted a brochure. They do visit our website, but they still wanted something tangible to walk away with after our presentation’. 6 The value of how a focus on face-to-face interaction contributes to developing a strong employer brand is also evident in the following section where Steve Canale, who manages General Electric's entry-level recruitment, discusses how making an early connection with the students leads to successful hires. 6 In the Spotlight - General Electric Commitment and international focus attract talent People often associate GE with quality, integrity, good ethics and high performance. That strong corporate brand helps the company build an attractive employer brand. Steve Canale elaborates: ‘I believe our international focus and our leadership training programs add to our good reputation. Although not everyone within the organisation can travel abroad regularly, it is very common for people to make international connections on a daily basis as part of their job’. GE invests more than $1 billion per year in employee training. That commitment to its employees is what attracts many talented young people to the company. In building its employer brand, GE values faceto-face interaction. The best and brightest GE representatives involve themselves in many campus activities such as classroom visits and speaker presentations. 6

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‘I want our potential employees to say that 'he was so passionate about his work', or 'she got back to me so quickly', when they talk about their experience with GE. ‘Every year GE hires 1,800 interns and co-ops. It is important to reach out to the target audience early. GE's internship programme was recently recognised on the Wall Street Journal's list of America's top internships. This is a great opportunity for them to learn about our business and for us to see if they will be a good fit for our organisation. Today, 60 percent of our leadership development program hires come from our pool of interns and co-ops’ Canale said. 6 Diversity goes beyond gender and ethnicity GE annually recruits nearly 1,000 students in the US. The company looks for people with a proven record of academic and leadership achievements. Canale said, ‘We want team players with high integrity, a commitment to life-time learning and a passion for their field of study. The aim for the company is to attract a diverse group of people from different backgrounds. Last year our entry-level hires in the US were 34 percent minority and 38 percent female. But we don't just focus on ethnicity and gender. We want to recruit from a variety of schools, a range of minority associations and from various parts of the country’. 6 To measure the success in communicating and upholding the brand, GE conducts its own hire and decline survey. Through the interviews, GE collects valuable information about how the company is perceived. ‘By interviewing students who select us as well as students who select a different employer, I believe we obtain a well-rounded understanding of our image. But we can always improve. It's a continuous process...’ Canale said. 6 Employer branding and the public sector Aside from a few obvious exceptions such as uniformed police and the defence forces, public sector organisations have not traditionally invested in shaping a distinctive image or perception around the particular employment experience they provide. Traditionally the marketing of public sector careers and specific roles has been a relative low-key affair, characterised by bland newspaper advertisements and a highly process-oriented approach to candidate sourcing, attraction and

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selection. Some employees are likely to have some sense as to what differentiates their agency's employer value proposition from the next, however the clearest distinctions tend to have been drawn between public sector employment as a whole and alternative careers in the private sector. Evidence suggests this may be changing, as more and more public sector organisations realise that to compete successfully for candidates and to retain high performing employees, they need to be more proactive in shaping a positive and compelling perception around what it is that they have to offer. This doesn't just mean 'spicing up' their image and being more pro-active with their promotion. It also means deciding on the specific attributes that define their employment experience and delivering them in a way that builds a reputation over time as a great place to work. There are a number of reasons these changes are occurring: 1. Firstly, the types of benefits and value concepts traditionally offered in the public sector such as a sense of deeply meaningful work, reasonable working hours, flexible working conditions and an emphasis on workplace diversity, are now being offered by an increasing number of private sector organisations keen to compete for premium talent. People who may once have chosen a public sector career for some or all of the above reasons are now being given a much broader range of alternatives from which to choose; 2. Secondly, the skills shortage is beginning to seriously hurt the capacity of certain areas of the public sector to deliver their services, and the ageing of the workforce is further exacerbating this pain. There is increasing recognition of the skewed (older) age profile of public sector workers and concern about the impending rapid departure of the baby boomer generation and consequent loss of intellectual property. There will be fewer younger people entering the workforce than those retiring, there is increased competition for available talent; 3. Thirdly, there is considerable competition for talent between the different government agencies, particularly across job roles and functions that are not specific to any particular agency. Not only are

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agencies attempting to attract talent from the private sector, many are also looking to differentiate themselves individually as employers. Government and indeed all not-for-profit organisations are tending to adopt a more competitive mindset when it comes to positioning their employment experience. Despite the increasing need for employer branding within the public sector and recognition of this from within, it is also evident that there is a lack of expertise as to how to go about doing this effectively. The concept of branding, while highly familiar to many private sector companies is a relatively foreign one in most public sector circles, hence the increasing engagement of external employer brand consultants to assist public sector firms in developing their employer brand to attract, engage and retain talent.

This chapter has detailed the rise in awareness of the employer brand concept and has outlined the increasing role of senior management in guiding a firm's employer brand strategy. This chapter also outlined the objectives for employer brand work which provide the foundations for understanding the role of employer branding in organisational strategy. This is further explored in chapter 2 by my colleague Dr Steven Goodman.

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Section 1 The Environment for Employer Branding

Chapter 2 The Role of Employer Branding in Organisational Strategy

Dr Steve Goodman BIntBus (Hons), PhD (Adelaide) Adelaide Graduate School of Business University of Adelaide

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Employer branding: Improving the organisations's competitive position For years managers have touted that staff are their most important asset, a concept that is central to the notion of employer branding. Whilst few would argue against this, is it supported enough to actually base a strategy upon it in order to improve the firm's competitive position? There are several factors that demonstrate 'why' employer branding is a course of action to follow, factors that stem from an understanding of 'how' it actually improves the firm's competitive position in the marketplace, not just as a short term fix, but as that 'holy grail' of competitive advantage, delivering long run, sustainable benefits. The concept of employer branding has its support firmly embedded in the discipline of strategy. The aim of this chapter is to outline this support to enable managers to see the value of employer branding in developing and implementing their organisational strategy. The roots to examining how employer branding works are found in several areas; the resource based view of strategy and the notion of competitive advantage which, to be successful must be difficult to replicate. Michael Porter supports that activity (performed by people) is the basic unit of strategy and that a complex set of interlinked activities is difficult to replicate. Organisational architecture supports that the culture of a firm is difficult to replicate and the concept of emergent self-organisation advises that people in an organisation can achieve success and continually evolve the firm and in doing so develop dynamic capabilities. The resource based view of strategy The resource based view of strategy is the view that firms are different to one another due to the unique set of resources they hold, that assets are likely to be costly to transfer, if at all possible. As such it is held that sustainable competitive advantages are likely to be able to be built upon these resources. It is the resources of the firm that enable strategies to leverage for revenue and growth, these resources are both the tangible and intangible assets of the organisation. This is a fundamental shift in strategic thinking which had previously focused on

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the importance of the external environment, on positioning and moving assets from one field to another, the resource based view supports that it is as much the internal aspects of the firm that matter. Hamel and Prahalad 1 proposed the notion of 'core competence', from which developed the notion that strategy can be developed from within, that the differences between firms could build and sustain competitive advantages over the long run. This core competence or 'capability' relates to the learning, the processes and systems the firm employs to organise its resources for implementation. This is now widely held as the key to successful strategy. As an intangible asset it can be seen through the resource based view of strategy that the labour that the firm employs can play a vital role in the strategy, and likely success, of the firm. The concept of employer branding to give an identity to this asset, this group of people who work for the company can play a role in the direction of effort and deployment of a vital resource. The supporting systems and processes to implement this key resource can be developed through successful employer branding. Whatever form the employer branding takes, its existence gives rise to the identity of the asset, its ability to attract and retain the best fit complementary resources (workers) as well as giving direction as to the shape, feel and culture of the organisation. To some extent the employer branding strategy can be seen to encourage organic growth and movement of the labour force that comprises the key intangible asset of the firm. Employer branding is not just a feel-good marketing exercise - it is strategy itself. Four conditions for organisational success The resource based view states that it is not just a case of leveraging from tangible and intangible assets that builds competitive advantage. Graham Hubbard 2 advises that there are four conditions that must hold in order for success - all of which have ramifications for the importance of employer branding. 1. Heterogeneous organisations Firstly organisations must be heterogeneous; that is companies (read

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'those who employ labour') must have difference. Whilst the idea of world's best practice has merit as a Quality Assurance goal, and outsourcing offers a valuable tool for operational efficiency, neither of these two approaches are actually strategic. Michael Porter 3 warns not to confuse operational efficiency with strategy - the former is about doing things right, whilst the latter concentrates on doing the right things. If many companies have the goal of 'best practice' then all those companies are setting very similar objectives to one another - the goals of what is deemed to be 'best practice' in that industry. Similarly, as industry has followed a trend towards outsourcing, more and more of the work within the value adding chain has been performed by companies that specialise in that area. In Australia, when Pan Pharmaceuticals encountered quality problems and product recalls, many chemists and health stores pulled up to 75% of the brands off their shelves. As a result of so many companies outsourcing their manufacturing to Pan Pharmaceuticals any cost advantages had begun to disappear. More and more companies start to look the same, albeit for the differences in their marketing 'spin' and label design. These minor differences do not rate on the scale of heterogeneity amongst firms that successful competitive advantages require. In fact the more brands, the more buyers then the more the power and competitive advantage shifts to the manufacturer who can then raise prices to seek a larger slice of the value chain profit. Employer branding is a strategy that is underpinned by the resource based approach to building competitive advantage - it is the attempt to truly give the organisation a difference in appearance and organisation of its labour force - of the intangible resource that will then develop and implement strategies. It is the task of the core firm, the employer brand, to attract, engage and retain the individual human assets and collective resource that are needed to begin to build competitive advantage. 2. Capabilities must be rare and have value The second condition needed is that some of the capabilities the

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organisation possess must be rare and have value; the systems and processes that firms have to organise their assets and implement them must be unique to some extent and difficult for others to copy or match. Once again, it can be seen that the management trend of quality assurance or best practice, whilst beneficial in terms of operational efficiency does not contribute to the necessary condition of uniqueness or value. To use the resources of the organisation to build competitive advantage rather than the same benchmarks or quality systems, employer branding offers the opportunity to build this required uniqueness. It does not mean that simply having an employer brand gives this 'rarity', look at the supermarket to see how many products have 'brands' and yet there is in fact very little difference between them (or even amongst their customers). GMH tells us the cars are powerful, solid, comfortable, reliable and the best car - so does Ford, the buyer of a GMH car will tell you that their car is best for much the same reasons a Ford driver will. This is not about differentiation or points of difference. The rarity requirement for building competitive advantage using capabilities and resources requires real uniqueness, uniqueness that stands for something and that can be used to build and maintain the labour force and utilise it as a strategic asset. The employees of the organisation perform activities, in most instances. Activities are the building blocks of strategy 4 , so the efforts and interconnectedness of the employees' activities is where the strategy of the firm is designed, implemented and succeeds (or fails). 3. Capabilities must be hard to replicate For competitive advantage to be built, the resource based view's third condition is that for the firm to be successful the capabilities must be hard to replicate. In more recent work, reflecting on developments in the area of competitive advantage, Michael Porter 3 says that a complex set of activities, conducted by people, becomes quite unique in itself. Complexity supports the view that complex systems are one-offs. The more the processes and systems develop, then the ever increasingly complex and unique the organisation becomes. As a pathway for

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developing competitive advantage, employee branding offers the organisation an opportunity to not simply be different, but to also develop through its people, a collective learning and interconnectedness than only comes with experience. This uniqueness can meet the second condition for success. The firm that builds a successful employer brand will also increase staff retention, contributing toward the increase in knowledge and learning across its labour force. This culture of knowledge and learning built around a core brand of the employer results in a unique organisational culture that cannot be easily replicated. Even if a manager worked inside the organisation, knew of its systems and its employer brand they would not likely be able to move to another firm, implement the systems and the same employer brand approach and get the same results. The results that arise from an employer branding strategy are essentially organic; they take upon a life of their own once implementation leads to staff 'purchase' of the brand. 4. Capabilities must not be easily traded The strategy of an employer brand also assists in meeting the fourth requirement of the resource based view of strategy - that the capabilities must be not easily traded. The employer brand is a powerful tool for attracting good, new personnel and for retaining existing people. It sets the 'tone' for the organisational culture, can define what an organisation is, what it stands for and what its mission is. It can contribute to the working culture, the organisational architecture and the systems and processes for organising resources. It is not however something that can be traded easily, if at all. In many cases where a solid employer brand exists and the company is taken over or sold to new owners it is not always assured that the employer brand will remain as it is. This does not mean it will be successful; it is that it is not likely to remain unchanged. The employer brand is an intangible asset that is the system that drives the organisation and attraction of resources with the goal of increasing the strategic value of the firm.

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The criticisms of the resource based view of strategy are primarily centred around the fact that the view is focused on how things are now; what resources are currently held and how are they currently organised as capabilities, rather than looking or working at what can be developed for the future environments. This is where employer branding as a strategy can move beyond just delivering what the resource based describes as the need to be successful. Hubbard 2 talks about dynamic capabilities, those which change and grow in response to the environment internally and externally. Employer branding is ideal for assisting with the development of culture and organisation that can evolve to be constantly developing capabilities that change and adapt to ensure the firm increases not just its value but also the chances of survival in unknown future situations. Planning and control structures Organisations that follow traditional 'planning and control' structures to organise resources, systems and processes have problems with adapting to their environments. When planning and control systems are developed for the business they hold valid at a certain point in time. Once they are implemented the environment itself, the future, becomes unpredictable and uncertain. Those firms that have organised their resources and into capabilities around a fixed static point in time are most likely to encounter strategic disadvantages as they are unable to shape themselves to meet the opportunities of the marketplace, or even of their employees. Emergent self organisation At the other end of the spectrum from 'planning and control' is the approach to coordinating the organisation, its resources and capabilities so that they are dynamically positioned to adapt, improvise and overcome the environment at any point in time over any number of possible future environment scenarios. This approach is described in literature in a number of ways, most commonly referred to across disciplines as 'Emergent Self Organisation' (ESO). This is a concept that is supported as the most effective way of organising and structuring in fields as diverse as business strategy, nanotechnology,

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evolutionary biology and information technology. The central tenet is that rather than using a centralised, hierarchical, top-down, controlled approach, survival and success is more likely to occur if the organisation is based upon structures that support movement towards a commonly accepted vision, that are permitted and supported to change and adapt and can self-organise around problems or opportunities. Firms seeking to enable ESO need to capture the learning and the knowledge of the organisation; one of the key ways to address this is through a systemic culture and longevity of resource members. Rather than having new resources trying to organise to solve a problem in one year that is similar, or had solutions that are similar to a problem faced in previous years the firm should be attempting to have some of the resources that were actually there in early years to address the issue using their learning from previous attempts to organise. To some extent this means increasing employee retention - having people work longer for the company, which employer branding seeks to achieve. Further to this is the capture of the learning and knowledge of the organisation through a shared culture and 'memory' - this too can be achieved through a communal identity that employer branding can achieve. To solve problems and take advantage of opportunities the firm needs to have access to 'link' resources, the resources who have the time and capacity to sit in cross-functional teams, resources that are not so busy doing what 'has to be done' each day so that they can share and gather knowledge within the organisation. This poses problems for a business community that has been running to 'lean' organisations for the past decade. Much of the so called 'fat' has been removed in the quest to run lean and this is where the knowledge and resource time lies; good people typically take separation packages when they are offered as they know they can get a job somewhere else. This is part of a problem that a successful employer brand strategy will seek to address through building culture and organisational architecture based on the notion that employees are humans, resources who can choose to take their ever increasingly sought after labour, learning and knowledge somewhere.

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For organisation to enable ESO employees must understand the vision and goals of the firm, there must be direction as to what is expected in terms of personal contribution and performance along with the values and inherent mission that the firm has. This does not mean telling each employee what they are required to do each day/week, but has the employee being an individual component of a greater system. In order to be part of the system, the employee needs to know what they bring, what they are expected to contribute - and importantly what the system is that they are working as part of. What does the system strive to achieve, what are its values, what is important to it, why is it worthwhile being a member of the system, what benefits are to be reached when the system works well and what makes it, as a system, unique to other systems. These are all issues that an employee branding strategy seeks to address and in doing so contribute to the firm enabling one of the most powerful aspects of strategy - a bundle of resources that is self organised (to greater or lesser extents) to produce dynamic capabilities. In order to survive and prosper over the long term the firm must acquire resources that can self organise around a vision, central set of values and an identity with a purpose to produce dynamic capabilities to overcome difficulties and take advantage of opportunities. Employer branding offers an opportunity to achieve this in the long run whilst also delivering significant short and mid term benefits to the organisation.

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Section 1 The Environment for Employer Branding

Chapter 3 The Strategic Drivers Behind the Rise in Acceptance of the Employer Brand Concept

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The ageing global population Over the past few years, the world's population has continued on its remarkable transition path from a state of high birth and low life expectancy rates to one characterised by low birth rates and increased life expectancy rates. At the heart of that transition has been the growth in the number and proportion of older persons (see figure 9). 1 Such rapid, large and ubiquitous growth has never been seen in the history of civilisation. Figure 9: Three centuries of world population ageing

Source: The United Nations Programme on Ageing, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop1.htm, accessed 2006 reproduced with permission The ageing global population will impact on the productivity and long term sustainability of organisations due to a decreasing talent pool of skilled workers. There will be a reduction in those entering the workforce (Generation Zs born after 1995) compared to the number of early baby boomers (born 1944-1964) who will be retiring from it in the next 5-10 years. This will lead to increased competition amongst employers for talent and organisations with strong employer brands having a major advantage over those who will have to rely on increasing their expenditure on recruitment advertising efforts to improve their attraction of talent.

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The Strategic Drivers Behind the Rise in Acceptance of the Employer Brand Concept

The current global demographic revolution is forecast to continue over the next 50 years with the percentage increase in persons aged 60 and over predicted to double in some regions (see figure 10). Figure 10: Percentage increase in age 60 and over by region 2000-2050

Source: The United Nations Programme on Ageing, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop1.htm, accessed 2006 reproduced with permission As figures 9 and 10 demonstrate the major features of this revolution include the following: 1. One out of every ten persons is now 60 years or above; by 2050, one out of five will be 60 years or older; and by 2150, one out of three persons will be 60 years or older. 2. The older population itself is ageing. The oldest old (80 years or older) is the fastest growing segment of the older population. They currently make up 11 percent of the 60+ age group and will grow to 19 percent by 2050. The number of centenarians (aged 100 years or older) is projected to increase 15-fold from approximately 145,000 in 1999 to 2.2 million by 2050. 3. The majority of older persons (55 percent) are women. Among the oldest old, 65 percent are women. 4. Striking differences exist between regions. One out of five Europeans, but only one out of twenty Africans, is 60 years or older.

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5. In some developed countries today, the proportion of older persons is close to one in five. During the first half of the 21st century that proportion will reach one in four and in some countries one in two. 6. As the tempo of ageing in developing countries is more rapid than in developed countries, developing countries will have less time than the developed countries to adapt to the consequences of population ageing. 7. The majority of the world's older persons (51 percent) live in urban areas. By 2025 this is expected to climb to 62 percent of older persons, although large differences exist between more and less developed regions. In developed regions, 74 percent of older persons are urban dwellers, while in less developed regions, which remain predominantly rural, 37 percent of older persons reside in urban areas. 8. Over the last half of the 20th century, 20 years were added to the average lifespan, bringing global life expectancy to its current level of 66 years. However large differences exist between countries. In the least developed regions, men reaching age 60 can expect only 14 more years of life and women, 16 more, while in the more developed regions, life expectancy at age 60 is 18 years for men and 22 years for women. 9. The impact of population ageing is increasingly evident in the oldage dependency ratio, the number of working age persons (age 15 - 64 years) per older person (65 years or older) that is used as an indicator of the 'dependency burden' on potential workers. Between 2000 and 2050, the old-age dependency ratio will double in more developed regions and triple in less developed regions. The potential socioeconomic impact on society that may result from an increasing old-age dependency ratio is an area of growing research and public debate. 2 Declining birthrates Driven by the nation's immigrants, the U.S. has the fourth-highest birthrate - after Turkey, Iceland and Mexico - among the 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED), a group of the richest countries. The U.S. is one of six OECD members whose birthrate rose in the last 25 years, and the only one of the six with a fertility level above the line needed to increase population. 3 The U.S. birthrate is estimated to have increased to 2.11 children per

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woman in the five-year period ending in 2005 from 1.79 in the five years to 1980, according to the United Nations. Japan's birthrate is estimated at 1.32 during that period. The European Union's rate was 1.46 in 2002. The U.K.'s fertility rate fell to about 1.7 children per woman today from as high as 2.9 children in the 1960s. 3 Falling birthrates aren't just affecting the wealthiest nations. China, the world's most-populous country, India and Brazil are experiencing a drop in fertility levels. China's fertility rate is 1.86 children per woman, down from about six per woman in 1966. By 2050, 30 percent of the population will be over 65, compared with 25.5 percent in the U.S., according to the UN. At current fertility rates, Europe's population is set to fall from 728 million in 2000 to 597 million in 2050, an 18 percent drop. 3 It is clear that the ageing of the global population will impact on all countries in different ways. The following section highlights the impact of the ageing population in Australia. In the spotlight - Australia Australia faces a pronounced ageing of its population over the next forty years. In Australia the current fertility rate of 1.2% (which is below replacement) is forecast to slip to an even lower rate of 0.85% by 2016. This trend is expected to deliver a pressing workforce shortage over the coming years, resulting in a sharp drop in new entrants joining the workforce. 4 During the decade 2020 - 2030 only 125,000 new entrants are expected to enter the Australian workforce. This forecast contrasts sharply with the current annual rate of 170,000 new entrants. As a result, there will be a larger proportion of older workers in the labour market relative to the supply of younger workers. In Australia in 30 years time there will be just two people of working age for every person 65 years of age and over. The proportion of the 'oldest old' will increase even more. In itself, population ageing should not be seen as a problem, but it will give rise to economic and fiscal impacts that pose significant policy challenges. More importantly it will result in an increasing shortage of skilled workers. 4

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People aged over 55 years have significantly lower labour force participation rates than younger people. As more people move into older age groups, overall participation rates are projected to drop from around 63.5 percent in 2003-04 to 56.3 per cent by 2044-45. Assuming the average labour productivity performance of the past 30 years, per capita GDP growth will slump to 1.25 per cent per year by the mid 2020s, half its rate in 2003-04. 4 Whilst population ageing is not a new phenomenon, it will begin to gather pace over the next two decades (figure 11) with far-reaching economic implications. It will slow Australia's workforce and economic growth. In every year between 2012 and 2028, the aged proportion of the Australian population is projected to increase by more than 0.35 percentage points - an increase around 4 times the long-term average. 4 Figure 11: Ageing is set to accelerate - Annual change in the proportion of people aged 65+ in the population: 1922-2051

Source: Productivity Commission 2005, Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia, Research Report, Canberra - copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission

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The ageing of our population has been occurring ever since people started to acquire influence over fertility and mortality. As the incidence of deaths in all age groups has declined and the average number of births per women has fallen, the age structure has shifted profoundly. At Federation (in 1901) , the old were scarce. Less than one in 25 of the population were aged 65 years or more. Now, they comprise one in every eight Australians. By 2044-45, almost one in four will be aged 65 years and over. They will comprise around 7 million Australians. The age distribution is being squeezed into a different shape by these demographic pressures. It has already shifted from a pyramid to its present beehive shape. Given current trends, the population age structure will continue its inversion and begin to resemble a coffin (figure 12). 4 Figure 12: From pyramid to coffin: Changing age structure of the Australian population 1925-2045

Source: Productivity Commission 2005, Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia, Research Report, Canberra - copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission The "pyramid to coffin" impact of the ageing population is not unique to Australia - it is also repeated on a global scale (see figure 13).

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Figure 13: Population pyramids: age and sex distribution, 2000 and 2050

Source: The United Nations Programme on Ageing, www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop.htm - reproduced with permission This 'coffin' effect will impact on a country's ability to sustain economic growth and ensure that the ageing population can be cared for adequately. Economic growth Population ageing will reduce labour supply growth - diminishing Australia's future (per capita) growth prospects (see figure 14). There are several factors at work here, but the most important is the impact of ageing on the labour force participation rate. This is the share of the population who are in the labour force (either in a job or actively looking for one). 4

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Figure 14: The 3 P's of economic growth: population, participation and productivity.

Source: Productivity Commission 2005, Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia, Research Report, Canberra - copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission As detailed in figure 14 the 3 Ps of economic growth; participation, population and productivity are all affected by a shrinking talent pool as a result of an ageing population and lower birth rates. This will make it increasingly important for organisations to develop a strong employer brand that attracts, engages, and retains talent at a higher rate than their competitors to ensure sustainability of the firm. Labour force participation The labour force growth rate is projected to slow to an average of 1.6 percent per year over the next ten years. This compares with 2.0 percent per year growth over the period since 1985. The reasons for this slowdown are the projected reductions in the rate of natural increase

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and level of immigration as well as changes in the age structure of the population. This means that there will be a reduction in the growth of the number of people of working age. The labour force participation rate is projected to continue to increase as quickly as over the past decade as a result of greater participation by middle-aged women. 5 As a consequence of these trends, the composition of the workforce will change. The long-term trends towards more part-time work, a middleageing of the workforce and an increased proportion of females will continue. 5 Migration Australian Bureau of Statistics figures on migration over the past 20 years are revealing. In 1983 47,020 Australians left for overseas for more than a year. By 2003 it was 145,377. The inward movement was even greater, with overseas visitors staying for more than 12 months up from 30,742 to 207,696. 6 In 2005 the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University had a positive take on all this people movement. In a detailed study of skilled migration, it found that Australia had a net gain of more than 36,000 skilled migrants in 2003-04, substantially up on previous years. It acknowledged a large outflow of Australian skilled workers, but argued that this was to be expected in an increasingly open, global economy. 6 Skill shortages From 2008 more Australians will be leaving the workforce than entering it. In Australia skills shortages are being experienced across the board, not just within the traditional problem areas of professional services such as nursing, accountancy, engineering, and information technology (see figure 15). In its simplest form, a labour shortage exists where there are not enough people to fill needed jobs. However statistics often reported in the media such as a forecast teacher shortages of 1 million in China in the next 6 years can be misleading. People may hold down two positions and improvements in technology may reduce the reliance on workers to fill positions that are created in the future.

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Figure 15: National Skills Shortage (NSS) List - Australia 2004 Professionals 2004 1. Child care coordinator 2. Child care worker 3. Civil engineer 4. Accountant 5. Registered nurses 6. Enrolled nurse 7. Dentist 8. Pharmacist (hospital/retail) 9. Occupational therapist 10. Physiotherapist 11. Speech pathologist 12. Podiatrist 13. Diagnostic radiographer 14. Radiation therapist 15. Nuclear medicne technologist 16. Sonographer Source: www.workplace.gov.au, accessed 2006 One third of Australia's current workforce will reach retirement age within the next 10 years. Employers will need to ensure their employer brand strategy includes ways to attract potential employers from the hidden job market, such as mature aged workers, disabled, and those who aren't actively seeking work but may look for part-time and/or casual work in the future. Currently only 49% of Australia's over 55's are employed. In the US and much of Europe it's between 56% and 70%. This presents an opportunity for employers who target this demographic. However they must ensure they develop their employer brand so that it attracts this target group. The statistics are simple - and dramatic. Australia's working age population usually grows by around 180,000 people every year. However, trends forecast that the working age population will grow by just 190,000 for the entire decade of the 2020s - a tenth of the current pace.

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Organisations who invest in their employer brand to attract talent in a declining talent pool and workforce with a changing age structure will be best placed to handle the challenges the ageing population will bring over the next 10 years as the baby boomer generation starts to exit the workplace.

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Section 1 The Environment for Employer Branding

Chapter 4 Building the Business Case

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This chapter will guide managers in preparing a business case for developing an employer brand program in their organisation and details a range of global research findings that will assist in this process. The major benefits of developing and implementing an employer brand strategy The three major benefits of employer branding identified in research conducted by organisations including Hewitt Associates (USA), The Conference Board (UK) and The Economist (UK) are generally cited as (1) shorter recruitment lead times and cost, (2) increased levels of employee engagement/commitment, and (3) retention of talent. Effective employer brand management doesn't replace anything you're doing well already. It just brings it all together to greater effect. Brand management has been successfully applied to building brand reputation of products and services and winning the loyalty of customers for over 50 years. As many companies are beginning to realise, the cohesiveness of brand management can equally be applied to attracting, engaging and retaining your most valued employees (from your top ‘strategic’ talent to your frontline 'brand ambassadors'). The financial benefits One of the most significant studies in the relationship between employee engagement and positive financial results has been International Survey Research's (ISR) 1 three-year global study (19992001) involving 360,000 employees from 41 countries across a range of industry sectors. The results demonstrate a strong correlation between levels of employee commitment to the organisation and changes in both operating margins and net profit margins. On average those companies with high levels of employee commitment increased their operating margins by 3.74% over the three-year period, compared to a decline of 2.01% among those with low commitment. Likewise, high commitment companies increased their profit margins by an average of 2.06% over the period compared with a 1.38% decline among lowcommitment companies (see figure 16). 1

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Building the Business Case

Figure 16: Impact of engagement on business performance

Source: ISR 2005 - reproduced with permission In Watson Wyatt's Work USA Today 2 study involving research with 12,750 workers across a range of different industry sectors, they demonstrated that the three-year return to shareholders was 36% higher in organisations with high-employee commitment compared with low commitment. A study conducted by the Frank Russell Company demonstrated that between 1998 and 2002 those organisations featured in the UK Sunday Times list of ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ delivered a compound annual return of 12.1% compared with a 5.8% overall decline in the FTSE All Share Index. 3 These studies demonstrate the financial benefits of developing your employer brand and send a clear message to senior managers that a

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long term orientation to the management of their human resources has financial benefits for the company and their shareholders. Probably the most extensive research undertaken around the world to ascertain the expected benefits of developing an employer brand was conducted by The Economist in 2003. In the study 72% of those surveyed said that higher staff retention was an expected benefit of the development of an employer brand whilst 68% said it would result in employees recommending the organisation as a place to work and 52% said it would lower recruitment costs (see figure 17). 4 Figure 17: Expected benefits of developing an employer brand

Source: The Economist Survey 2003 - reproduced with permission

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My research has also found expected and actual benefits of developing a strong employer brand that were commonly described in case studies and research included: 1. increased productivity & profitability 2. increased employee retention 3. higher level of employer attractiveness (see chapter 6) 4. increased level of staff engagement and commitment 5. improved employee relations 6. shorter recruitment time 7. lower recruitment costs 8. improved staff morale 9. minimised loss of talented employees 10. employees recommending organisation as a ‘preferred’ place to work 11. employees committed to organisational goals 12. maintenance of core competencies 13. ensured long-term competitiveness. A major employer brand study undertaken by The Conference Board 5 in 2001 examined the experiences and practices of 137 leading companies with annual revenues ranging from $10 million to $6.2 billion, and 35 220,400 employees. The study compared corporate and employer branding methods amongst 96 communications/market executives and 42 HR executives and provides benchmarks for successful implementation of programs to engage employees through their brand. Some of the key findings of the study included: 1. Funding for employer branding efforts has increased in the past two years, and further growth is expected over the next two years. 2. HR and the senior management team are key players in employer branding efforts. Senior management's involvement in branding (both corporate and employer) is greatest at the stage of strategy decisions while implementation relies heavily on individual business units.

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3. Corporate and employer brands are closely related. More than 90 percent of surveyed executives called the alignment between the two extremely close, moderately close, or more than moderately close. 4. Employer branding may be especially important for companies that face difficulties in establishing strong brand images-for example, because their products or services are sold to other companies and lose much of their product brand identity before reaching end users. 5. Measurement of branding effectiveness is lagging. Only about onefifth of surveyed executives said their organisations had metrics for the impact of branding efforts. Of those that did, about one-fifth linked the metrics to financial results. Top management becoming increasingly involved The growing focus on employer branding is confirmed by the high level of involvement of top executives in these efforts. In Universum Communication's 2005 employer branding global best practices report, 60% of companies surveyed indicated that management at head office level is involved in their employer branding efforts. In addition, in almost 60% of the companies the employer branding work is led from a strategic rather than operational level in HR or Communications departments. 6 Pitching the employer brand concept to senior management With the financial and other tangible benefits previous outlined, managers have an armoury of support for pitching the employer brand concept to senior management. I recommend managers build a well researched argument in the pitching document to demonstrate to senior managers the benefits of developing a strong employer brand that includes references to companies who have benefited from the operational and financial benefits detailed previously. Chapter 7 will provide you with a number of credible metrics that can be used to support your argument. One tip though - if you fail to engage the CEO or Managing Director on the concept then it is unlikely the employer brand will develop to the level that is necessary to build competitive

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advantage. Senior management's support for the employer brand program is critical for a number of reasons, not the least being to sign off on the funding source for the strategy. The following two case studies reprinted from the Universum 2005 report highlight the different approaches used by companies to develop their employer brand and can be used to contribute to building a business case for senior management.

(1) In the spotlight - The BASF Corporation The BASF Corporation - a manufacturer of chemicals, auxiliaries, plastics, fibres, pharmaceuticals, dyestuffs, paints and coatings, and agricultural products has no corporate brand but does have a strong employer brand, according to Tara Slattery, a staffing representative. The impetus for the employer brand came when HR and the staffing division looked into redesigning the company website. As a primarily business-to-business company with multiple product lines, BASF is limited in creating a strong corporate brand identity. Its slogan is, 'We make things better.' When the HR/staffing task force consulted with advertising professionals about the website, they suggested a redesign that would emphasise an employer brand and essentially focus on the theme, ‘We make things better-especially careers’. 6 When BASF surveyed its employees to determine how the company stacked up against competitors in the chemical industry-for example, Du Pont-employees gave BASF high marks for providing good opportunities and rewards for hard work. The company's career development program ranked very high. Slattery observed that the chemical industry's image as conservative and slow growing makes it potentially unattractive to the young college graduates BASF wants to recruit. 6 Taking these factors into account, BASF focused the employer brand campaign, in print and on the Web, on career opportunities. All materials emphasise that the company is employee-friendly, and that its

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employee development programs give individuals opportunities to take ownership of their careers. Since the company is in highly diverse segments of the chemical industry, there are many career paths to choose from. And despite the conservative image of the industry, employees of BASF work in an environment of advanced information technology and state-of-the-art engineering. 6

(2) In the spotlight - Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines is one of the world's top performing airlines and continues to buck the current trends of an industry that struggles to achieve stable performance. It has twice been cited as one of the top ten US companies to work for by Fortune magazine, is consistently ranked No. 1 for both customer satisfaction and on-time performance, and has one of the lowest staff turnover levels in the industry. The brand promise ‘symbol of freedom’ has been fully internalised by turning this into a promise to employees of ‘freedom begins with me’, underpinned by two key behaviors - empowerment and accountability. This passion and belief in focusing on the inside first is shared by all the leadership. As the VP President of Public Affairs said, ‘We put our people first even before our customers. When employees know they are valued and taken care of, then they take care of customers’. The commitment of staff at Southwest Airlines has been so strong that even when other airlines were laying off thousands of employees, Southwest staff have volunteered hours and worked unpaid shifts to help fuel the firm's profitability during tough economic times. 7 This feeling about Southwest permeates their culture; how employees relate to one another and how they relate to customers. If you've ever been a customer of Southwest then you'll probably know that the experience is unlike that of travelling with any other carrier. The staff are energised, upbeat, enthusiastic and are clearly having fun. Taking a bottom-up approach to developing a shared view of the vision, values and brand positioning, 'freedom begins with me' provided an innovative platform for the organisation to think differently about what needed to change internally. They took a 'whole systems approach'

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covering everything from people processes and organisational systems design, to performance management and reward. It was communicated through a ‘Bill of Rights’ for employees that set out eight basic freedoms and the way in which people could explore these. 7

This chapter has provided managers and employer brand practitioners with the elements to build a successful business case for senior management to support the development of the organisation's employer brand program. The following section 3 and chapters 5-8 will provide managers with the tools to build a leading employer brand.

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Section 2 Building a Leading Employer Brand

Chapter 5 Understanding the Brand Fundamentals Ron Tomlian Managing Director Marketing Counsel

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The history of brands Just over ten years ago, marketing scholars and practitioners spoke of the death of branding and its increasing irrelevance as a concept. Yet today, brands are everywhere and stronger than ever. They permeate our communications and have become part of our language (every ‘happy little Vegemite’ in Australia knows this!). Multinational companies are judged as much on the strength of their brands as on their balance sheet. Brands are now the darling of the management fraternity and books on branding are as prolific as the brands they try to codify. This boom or bust approach to branding should indicate a sense of danger - danger in either being too dismissive or too effusive about a technique or concept. It is necessary to get back to basics and 'sort out the wheat from the chaff.' So, in order to apply the concept of branding to the issue of employee attraction, engagement, and retention, managers must understand these fundamentals - what are brands, how can they help achieve company objectives and what do managers need to know about them to make them work for them? Brands - Where did they come from? To understand brands, it is useful to look at the origins of the concept. Not surprisingly, the word brand derives from the practice of Western cattle ranchers of the mid 1800s of applying a red-hot metal shape (a branding iron) to the rear end of their animals, leaving a distinctive burn mark. This provided a form of identification for cattle that would range across vast tracks of land. This provides the first clue to the brand concept-brands are a form of identification. Even in fairly modern textbooks on marketing, brands will still be described as, primarily, a form of identification. The shift to brand management began on 13th May, 1931, when Neil McElroy (1904-1972) from Procter and Gamble (P&G) was working on an advertising campaign for Camay soap. McElroy became frustrated

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with having to compete not only with soaps from Lever and Palmolive, but also with Ivory, P&G's own flagship product. In a now-famous internal memorandum he argued that more concentrated attention should be paid to Camay, and by extension to other P&G brands as well. In addition to having a person in charge of each brand, there should be a substantial team of people devoted to thinking about every aspect of marketing it. This dedicated group should attend to one brand and one alone. The new unit should include a brand assistant, several ‘check-up people’, and others with very specific tasks 1 - and so the art of modern day brand management was born. It is instructive to look at an earlier form of 'identification' to gain an insight into a more modern view of branding. Heraldic shields or family coats of arms derive from medieval times. While they were definitely a form of identification (you would want to know if the person you were about to dismember in battle was friend or foe) they developed beyond this. The symbols chosen for identification were intended to say something about the family in question - a crown implied loyalty to the king, lions meant bravery, books implied the family was scholarly and so on. There are two important implications here. Firstly, the family 'brand' tried to tell the observer about the values that the family held dear - it was designed to go beyond a mere form of identification. Secondly, by putting these values on display it provided an expectation of what one would get in dealing with this family. Any deviation from these emblazoned values would have direct implications for the reputation of that family - it would affect people's perception about the authenticity of the family 'brand'. These lessons are as relevant today as they were over 1000 years ago. Branding - What is it? Delving into the field of branding can be an intimidating experience. In the first place, it's hard to get a straight answer on what a brand is. As already discussed, even modern marketing textbooks describe brands as a name, term sign symbol or design, or combination of these intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and differentiate them from those of competitors.

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It should be clear from the discussion above that while brands do identify, they do more than just this. The clue in the above definition is the word differentiate - it is the jargonised ‘escape clause’ for this definition. To the uninitiated, this is simply a reiteration of the concept of identifying one group from another, but mention the word differentiation to a group of marketers and watch their eyes light up. The more popularised books on branding try to decode this jargon. Duane Knapp in his treatise 'The Brand Mindset' 2 talks about genuine brands and describes them as ‘the internalised sum of impressions, a distinctive impression in their (the consumer's) mind's eye, the perceived functional and emotional benefits’. This description moves well beyond identification and begins to place the brand as a construct of consumers, something formed from their impressions and perceptions (i.e. non-tangible). Scott Davis, in ‘Brand Asset Management’ makes the following comments to describe what a brand is: ‘in part, a brand is a set of promises. It implies trust, consistency and a defined set of expectations. The strongest brands in the world own a place in the consumer's mind and when they are mentioned, almost everyone thinks of the same things. A brand differentiates products and services that appear similar in features, attributes and possibly even benefits’. 3 Amongst marketing academics and as taught in MBA programs, brands are considered a subset of a broader subset of market-based assets. These are intangible assets that result from a firm’s operation in the marketplace and, through their enhancement of marketing performance of a firm, increase shareholder value. 4 There are other definitions that indicate where the author claims to have developed a new perspective. However, amongst all the hype, it is not hard to see a consistent picture of branding emerge from these concepts:

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1. brands exist in the mind of the customer/consumer - they are intangible (even though a customer gets their cues from very tangible symbols and actions) 2. they deliver meaning to people - at the functional and emotional level 3. they make a promise of consistency and a defined level of quality 4. they are an asset that must have resources devoted to their development and maintenance. In many ways, brands can be likened to a person's reputation. In his seminal text on corporate image/identity, Graeme Dowling did just that and coined the phrase ‘corporate reputation’ 5 This concept of corporate brand as a company's reputation will become especially important when the employer brand process is discussed in later chapters. Branding - What's in it for me? With the ever increasing quagmire of advertising that proliferates across the airwaves, our television and computer screens, our papers and magazines - indeed any available patch of anything that doesn't already have an advertisement on it - it's hard for most people to make sense of all the messages we receive. Coupled with ever-increasing choice and the modern malaise of 'time poverty', people crave (and need) shortcuts to help get through the day. (If you think this is a nonsense, simply go to the supermarket and compare the range available today for a 'commodity' like milk with the single-type, two-brand selection that confronted you twenty years ago). Brands provide these shortcuts. Once established in your mind, the sight of any familiar manifestation of a brand (a logo, a sound or song even a colour, like Cadbury's purple) will spark a string of associations that are programmed in to the consumer. You don't need to be told again about what these symbols mean - the brand provides the shorthand version. And it can deliver value at two levels. Functionally, a brand can deliver a promise of performance and a

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perceived level of quality. Universally, we all look for value in terms of a desired level of performance, the lowest price and good service associated with the purpose. 6 A brand that is perceived to deliver on these basics will at least be considered (assuming that the customer is aware of it). If this were all that was desired as consumers - functional performance, a good price and good service - it is clear that brands can still help. But in so many cases, customers want more. They often want products and services that deliver social and emotional value. Why would someone pay over three times as much for a shirt with a polo rider emblazoned on the breast pocket? Because that symbol (directly associated with the brand and its shortcut meanings of prestige, wealth and style) add value to the functional performance of the shirt. It says to everyone 'see, I am like this - I have style and can afford to wear clothes of this quality.' It has social value. Why would someone pay almost twice as much for an Armani suit off the rack over a tailored equivalent? One could argue for the material, the cut of the suit, the quality of the stitching, but there are few tailors who couldn't match all three. In this case, unless the wearer is flashing the label on the inside pocket at everyone he meets (behaviour hardly likely for an Armani customer) it is not the social value sought because the vast majority of people could not identify an Armani suit from a tailored equivalent. The value lies in the way the suit makes the person feel - a sense of achievement, successful, powerful - the emotional value. And only the brand can deliver this. The same is true of corporate brands. When meeting someone for the first time they may tell you their position before the name of their organisation. Others will simply say ‘I work for XYZ corporation’ as a way of associating themselves with the shortcut meanings associated with the brand of that company. This concept of functional and emotional benefits has clear implications for the employer brand. Try this simple exercise - When you next hand your business card to a

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person whom you are meeting for the first time, place your thumb over your company's logo and watch the expression on the face of the person as they look at the card. Then take your thumb off to reveal your company's logo - Does this cause a different reaction from the person? Now consider if the corporate logo you revealed when you took your thumb away was Microsoft, McDonalds or Coca Cola. Elements of the brand While an organisation may know what it wants for its brand, how it wants the brand to be regarded by its customers and other stakeholders, this aspiration may not (and seldom exactly does) match the reality. If the brand is represented by the image that exists in the customer's head then what is desired by the organisation (the ideal image that it tries to portray) is the identity it projects. Again, we can relate this back to the individual. Each person has an identity (how they see themself and a belief of how they come across to others) but does this necessarily match the image that others have of them (what they really are like)? Given this tension, how does one encapsulate all the information about a brand so that they know how to steer the image closer to their ideal identity? Over many years of research and struggling with these issues, people have developed various frameworks for developing brands - hence the profusion of books about branding. Some is quite rightly considered hype, but, like the definition of brands, there is some consistency amongst the schemes that offers insight into the elements of branding that need to be considered and managed. At the lowest level are the attributes of the brand, the adjectives that described the mental associations with it and the features of the products/services it covers. For instance, consumers may think of a specific service as 'fast', 'courteous' or 'professional'. Most people would use terms such as 'well engineered', 'prestige', 'exciting', 'fast' or

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'well-designed' to describe BMW. While these deliver functional value, they are easily copied by others and not particularly engaging to customers. Customers tend to be more interested in the benefits (functional and emotional) as discussed previously. This is the next level at which brands deliver meaning. The attributes associated with a brand need translation to this level (i.e. if this is the feature, make it clear what is in it for the consumer). Often, this is done through advertising, but in great companies they are engendered in every form of communication and interaction with the customer. Prospective employees are much more savvy these days and companies cannot rely on simply creating slick advertisements to attract the brightest. Brands can also deliver meaning about the values that it identifies with. (Note that this is different from the concept of value that was discussed above - always a problem with the English language!) These are not attributes or benefits but the core principles that it operates by. These are the values that the brand embodies and espouses - they could be different from those of the company that developed and maintains the brand. Hence, the irreverent, anti-establishment youth brands that value confrontation and 'attitude' have been developed by law-abiding, often multinational corporations. Increasingly, however, customers are seeking consistency between the values espoused by the brand and the organisation that uses them. Needless to say, in the case of the corporate brand, the values of the organisation and that of the brand should be one and the same. Indeed, any lack of consistency itself speaks to the values of the organisation. Scott Davis summed the brand elements up best with his concept of a Brand Pyramid. 3 (see figure 18)

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Figure 18: The Brand Pyramid

Source: Brand Asset Management 2002 The first two levels of the pyramid embody the elements of product competition, not those of brand competition. The top level of the pyramid illustrates the concept that powerful brands attract and hold customers with their particular promises of value that reflect the values of their target customers. This leads to the creation and reinforcement of brand loyalty. Who was that masked man? Once consumers know so much about a brand - how to describe it, the benefits it offers, its values - it is hard not to start thinking of them in the same way as we think about people we know. People have a tendency to personify a number of things in their lives - such as their pets and cars. In concert with the functional aspects of the brand is the brand persona or personality. When trying to uncover what people think of brands, it is not uncommon for market researchers to ask ‘If this brand was a person, what sort of person would it be?’ Usually, the subjects have no

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problems describing such a person (unless they are unfamiliar with the brand). This personification tendency is used to advantage by marketers who understand that individuals are drawn to personalities that they find attractive (and often who they see themselves like, at least ideally). They will try to craft, through communication and product/service delivery, a personality that matches that of their target audience. A quick way to achieve this is to 'borrow' the personality of someone who the target audience already knows and identifies with. Hence celebrity endorsement, or celebrities becoming the 'face of' the brand, is used to achieve immediate personification. A good example of this is the use of tennis sensation, Australia's Pat Rafter by Bonds to promote their range of men's underwear. While this can and does work for consumer product brands, it becomes more difficult for service brands and corporate brands. This is because the clues that people use to decipher or reinforce the brand personality are gathered from each and every interaction with the organisation. This means that the culture, policies and values of the organisation and its effect on the behaviour of the people who interact with customers and other stakeholders who support these people - all has an impact on their perceptions of the brand. Position, Position, Position Like the real estate mantra of 'location, location, location', branding has its own mantra - 'position, position, position'. Corporate brands are developed to differentiate themselves positively from rivals - to position their product as attractive and superior in the minds of the target consumer. All the 'stuff' associated with branding that has already been discussed comes into its own in this exercise, because the attributes, benefits, values and persona all combine to help provide a unique position in the mind of the target customer in a way that a simple product/service cannot.

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A critical concept here is 'target.' To be different, companies will appeal to some and not others. While most people wear shoes, not everyone identifies with irreverence for the establishment and 'attitude.' A shoe manufacturer can make their shoes more appealing to the youth market not only in the styling of the shoes, but in the brand that surrounds their product. But, by design, this will not appeal to an elderly consumer who seeks dependability and identifies with the mainstream. Skeechers are not Grosbys (even if they were made in the same factory). Taking care of business It is clear that there is a lot to the concept of branding. To make it work, its application in organisations has to be consciously and continuously managed. The aspirations of the brand (identity) has to be managed in the context of what the brand currently delivers and what place it occupies in the mind of customers. To achieve this, the brand has to continually reinforce what it is and what its stands for. This means managing all the ways that people get information about the brand from all touchpoints - from the billboard advertisement, to the product/service itself, to the way that the telephone is answered. All manifestations of the brand have to be considered and actively managed to provide a consistent, reinforcing view of the brand. By necessity (and probably most importantly), this includes all interactions that a customer has with the organisation. Research has shown that these interactions, more than any other cue, are what shapes the customer's view of a brand. This is easy to say, but the role of brand management is harder to achieve, especially as those given this task rarely have operational authority to make it happen. The problem is magnified in service organisations (which now constitutes the majority of companies), where the tension between the existing culture (the way we do things around here) and the culture necessary to deliver on the brand promise (the way we should do things around here) are at odds.

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Armed with the fundamentals of branding presented in this chapter, managers should now begin to see how branding can help with the challenges of employee recruitment, engagement and retention. The remainder of this book is devoted to providing a practical application of employer branding and how it can make a difference to the long term sustainability of an organisation.

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Section 2 Building a leading Employer Brand Chapter 6 Employer Attractiveness

Professor Mike Ewing B.Com (Natal), B.Com (Hons)* M.Com*, D.Com (Pretoria) Head of Research Department of Marketing Monash University

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This chapter draws together and synthesises research that I have been involved with since early 2000. To date, this work has culminated in three conference presentations, an article in the Saturday Age (Melbourne newspaper) and two lead articles in the International Journal of Advertising - IJA (vol. 21, no. 1, 2002 and vol. 24, no. 2, 2005). I draw heavily on both refereed journal articles in this chapter. I would like to acknowledge the stellar contributions of my wonderful co-authors: Professor Pierre Berthon (Bentley College, Waltham, MA, USA), Professor Leyland Pitt (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada), Dr. Nigel de Bussy, (Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia) and Ms. Li Lian Hah, (MPH, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). In this chapter, 'we' refers to conclusions drawn by my colleagues, while 'I' signals a personal opinion. Advertising's role in creating strong employer brands Advertising is a potentially important tool in support of an organisation's efforts to identify, acquire and retain skilled employees. It is increasingly being used to build and sustain employment propositions that are compelling and different. 1 However, this trend signals a departure from more traditional views on the role and scope of advertising. Indeed, for most of its existence, advertising has focused on attracting customers. More recently, enlightened organisations have recognised the need to expand their communications efforts to incorporate all stakeholders, not only end-users. The marketing literature has also begun to address stakeholder theory, as well as advertising's indirect and internal audiences, but more as a secondary consideration or by-product of consumer advertising. However, this is about to change. I anticipate seeing more and more organisations using advertising to create 'employer brands'. In response to this anticipated trend, our 2002 IJA article uses a metaphor-driven pattern-coding approach to analyse and discuss a number of exemplary cases that illustrate how certain (knowledge-based) firms are currently using (primarily print) advertising to create employer brands. We then categorise these approaches into a basic typology and consider the managerial implications of these approaches.

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Advertising's internal audiences Marketing scholars to date have commented only on the impact of advertising on (current) service employees, with little attention given to the impact of a firm's advertisements on potential employees. For example, a number of writers advise that service employees can be an important audience for advertisements because they are responsible for delivering on advertising's promises. 2 In summary, the marketing literature on the effects of advertising on employees suggests that advertising can have positive effects on employee morale and organisational commitment by communicating that the organisation values employees, clarifying workers' roles in the organisation, and promising customers only what employees realistically can deliver. 3 The empirical research of these authors suggests that employees evaluate their organisation's advertising on the dimensions of accuracy, value congruence and effectiveness. A possible reason for the dearth of scholarly marketing research on recruitment advertising might be attributed to the fact that while the marketing literature concentrated on customers and brand equity, the literature in other business disciplines such as management and strategy gave attention to the global construct of corporate image. Indeed, the effects of concepts such as corporate image and corporate reputation and their effects on decisions to take employment have received considerable attention in the management literature. Firms such as BP, Shell, Chevron, Boeing and DuPont, have for some time now, been using mass media techniques to reach the wider community - not necessarily to sell, but to educate, inform, remind and communicate. More recently, new entrants to the technology sector have used advertising to announce their arrival and generate brand awareness. Agilent Technologies (a Hewlett-Packard spin-off), Aventis, Infineon Technologies and Lucent Technologies all provide good examples. In the area of professional services, the former Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) re-defined the role of advertising in one of the most traditional and conservative marketing arenas. Following a succession of highly effective television, print and outdoor campaigns, the management consulting practice was rewarded with a 60% increase

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in brand awareness and leadership in its industry. One implication of this proposition is that in the future employees may well come to be viewed as no longer a secondary audience, but a primary one. At the time of writing, this prediction was borne out by the launch of a new campaign for DaimlerChrysler in the international business print media, which clearly targets potential employees as the primary audience (see figure 19). The advertisement shows a number of DaimlerChrysler vehicles positioning them not as consumer products but as company cars - a potential benefit for prospective employees. The advertisement's headline, 'Join the company with the most exciting choice of company cars', leaves no room for doubt as to its objectives. Figure 19: DaimlerChrysler advertisement in The Economist

Source: The Economist

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Towards a typology of employer advertising approaches Given the recent recognition of employer branding as a legitimate construct, there is limited prior research on employer advertising. In new research domains, observation and classification are common features of initial endeavours. 4 Thus, using a pattern coding approach of qualitative research, we sought overriding concepts to classify employment advertising strategies. To understand how firms distinguish themselves to employees, we reviewed marketing and management research literature, surfed corporate web sites and examined print advertisements in major business periodicals, such as The Economist, Time, Fortune, Newsweek and the like. After evaluating these sources, we used metaphors to label and group print advertisements into categories. The categories are not mutually exclusive, just as the underlying metaphors are not distinct categories. Using the Young & Rubicam (Y&R) Brand Asset Valuator™ dimensions 5 and my colleague Pierre Berthon's notion of branding as serving a reduction function 6 , we identified the following three categories:

1. TRANSNATIONAL, Inc: Status & Mobility (Global network - big & successful) We turn over $ X billion, have offices in Y countries and employ Z people. In this instance, the organisation is essentially promising the potential employee stability and mobility (within the organisation). Using the branding as reduction notion, advertising reduces the potential employee's search costs, while promising what Y&R would call 'esteem'. The employment proposition here is - we're big, we're stable, we're multinational and we're a respected and admired employer - why look any further? Examples include many of the banks and financial service providers, eg Allianz, Bayerische Landesbank, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, UBS Warburg, HSBC, Perpetual, Pictet, West LB, UBS Warburg, State Street, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Zurich, Credit Suisse First Boston.

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2. MISSION TO MARS Excitement (New experiences) What we do is exciting - join us and be ahead of the herd Here the organisation/industry is fairly new and possibly not that well known. As a result, many potential employees may not yet know the major players in the industry, and even exactly what it is that firms in the industry do. The branding challenge here is to create awareness (or what Y&R call familiarity), and reduce any potential psychological risks 11 whereby potential employees might be hesitant to work for an organisation that they or their peers may not have heard of. Examples include the new technology spin offs and start ups, such as Aventis, Novartis, Alstrom, Agilent Technologies, Aspira (from Motorola), Lucent Technologies, Infineon Technologies, Intelsat, Linde, Nokia, SK, United Technologies, Viatel, Headstrong, Hyundai Electronics and management and technology consultants, Booz Allen & Hamilton.

3. THE 'LOCAL' (pub) Identification (Source similarity) See our (highly talented) employees - if you fit the profile (or aspire to do so), join up. Our third category uses the tried-and-tested advertising technique of source similarity. Here the employer uses current employees in an attempt to lure potential employees. Immediately, this ploy reduces perceived risk by offering a highly relevant 7 employment proposition, ‘These are the kinds of people who succeed in our organisation - if you're of the same ilk, join us and succeed too’. Essentially, the employer brand in this case reduces the risk of making a bad decision, attempting to convince the target employee that they will not go wrong if the seek employment here. Examples in this category include JP Morgan, IBM and Goldman Sachs. The fourth Y&R Brand equity driver is differentiation, but we would argue that this is a generic when it comes to employer branding. In

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other words, regardless of the employer proposition/employer brandtype, all advertising should attempt to differentiate the brand from direct and indirect competitors. Indeed, we would suggest that employer branding is the key to differentiated recruitment and sustainable human resources management. Implications for management Managers are going to have to develop a better understanding of how the organisation's communication efforts impact severally and jointly on all its stakeholders. It is unlikely that branding strategies, attempts to build and enhance corporate image, and employer branding initiatives are seen by stakeholders as unique and separate messages. More probably, customers are impacted upon by employer branding efforts ('they want to employ the best people, therefore their products and services will probably be great'), and employees by branding efforts ('I would love to work for a firm that makes an exciting product like that'). While there have been calls for more integrated marketing communication efforts for some time, the increased overall branding complexity created by employer branding means that managers will now have to heed them, rather than merely acknowledge their importance. Our example ads attest to the possibility of confusion and problems in interpretation by target audiences. While some are obviously ads intended to create an 'employer brand', others are less direct in their message and may be susceptible to misinterpretation, or might even miss the mark entirely. Almost certainly management must be aware of this and anticipate the consequences. Introducing the notion of employer attractiveness Over the past two decades, the concept of internal marketing has become an important area within its own right, while at the same time, it has continued to evolve and expand to incorporate themes such as internal advertising and more recently, internal branding. Our second major study 8 continued along a related line of inquiry into employer branding, and focused on a closely related concept - 'employer attractiveness'. This concept has been broadly discussed in the areas of vocational behavior 8 , management 9 applied psychology 10,11

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communication 12 and marketing 13 . It has also become an increasingly 'hot topic' in the popular business press and 'Best Employer' status is something that more and more organisations are striving for, as attention is drawn to this mantle in both the contemporary electronic and print media. We define 'employer attractiveness' as the envisioned benefits that a potential employee sees in working for a specific organisation. The construct may be thought of as an antecedent of the more general concept of employer brand equity. In other words, the more attractive an employer is perceived to be by potential employees, the stronger that particular organisation's employer brand equity. But how does one operationalise and measure employer attractiveness? This is precisely what our second major study set out to achieve. In the interests of sanity, I have saved the reader from pages and pages of statistics in support of the reliability, validity and psychometric robustness of our approach. Masochists are free to consult the article themselves 10 - but be warned, the methodology is capable of boring birds out of trees! In summary, we followed well accepted guidelines for scale development, inductively developed a 32-question employer attractiveness measure ('EmpAt' - to be discussed in more detail shortly) and administered it to a convenience sample of >600 university students. The underlying dimensions of employer attractiveness Following rigorous statistical analysis (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression), we arrived at a five-factor solution. In other words, through a process of data reduction (factor analysis), we distilled and grouped the 32 items to five underlying dimensions to capture the employer attractiveness construct (see figure 20).

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Figure 20: A model of employer attractiveness

Source: Professor Mike Ewing 2006 - reproduced with permission These five dimensions consist of: 1. 'Interest value' assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer who provides an exciting work environment, novel work practices, and who makes use of its employee's creativity to produce high quality, innovative products and services. 2. 'Social value' assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer who provides a working environment which is fun, happy, provides good collegial relationships and a team atmosphere. 3. 'Economic value' assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer who provides above average salary,

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compensation package, job security and promotional opportunities. 4. 'Development value' assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer who provides recognition, self-worth, and confidence, coupled with a career enhancing experience and a springboard to future employment. 5. Finally, 'Application value' assesses the extent to which an individual is attracted to an employer who provides an opportunity for the employee to apply what they have learned and to teach others, in an environment that is both customer oriented and humanitarian. Applications for business Organisations are increasingly competing to attract highly skilled personnel in various professional areas. 14 There is a possibility that in future the competition for the best employees will be as fierce as the competition for customers. Companies who can attract the best minds will have a distinct edge in the marketplace. 15 Thus, just as marketing is seen as being too important to be left only to marketers, so too human resources is seen to be too important to be left solely to the HR function. 16 17 It is perhaps time that organisations dissolved traditional departmental boundaries 18 and fully utilised the synergy that can be created through the integration of business functions. As companies seek to both attract new employees and retain existing staff, employment advertising and employer branding will grow in importance. This can only be done effectively once organisations understand the factors contributing towards 'employer attractiveness'. Only when organisations work towards integrating these factors into the employer brand can they hope to successfully compete globally in attracting new employees. The present study identifies the dimensions of employer attractiveness, which in turn are likely to contribute to employer brand value. For practicing managers, EmpAt can be applied in various contexts and situations. For example, it might be used as a checklist among current employees - to track changes in their perceptions towards the firm longitudinally. Or, it could be administered to various 'target audiences' of potential employees (e.g. students, graduates, professions, etc). For a more general overview, it could be linked to the organisation's

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homepage - thereby facilitating self-selected, web-based responses from potential employees and other interested stakeholders. Finally, it might find use as part of an 'employer brand template' used by both marketing/advertising and HR in formulating and executing recruitment strategy. EmpAt also provides exciting opportunities for academic researchers from a wide variety of disciplines (e.g. advertising, marketing, management, organisational behaviour, human resources, organisational psychology, economics and finance - to name but a few). The scale provides a foundation to further identify and refine antecedents and consequences of employer brand equity. Future research directions into studying employer attractiveness In today's global economy, organisations are increasingly attempting to recruit the best talent from all over the world. Thus, they need to understand the impact of different cultures and nationalities on the perceptions of potential employees on their employer brand. An allied avenue for future inquiry is that of country-of-origin employer brands. So called 'brain-drains' are seriously effecting many countries around the world, particularly in the antipodes (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). For example, Australia is experiencing a mass exodus of mainly young, professional or graduate workers of about 120,000 p.a. (from a population of 5% of the Australian population works overseas, compared with 20% of New Zealanders and only 2% of Americans. Another direction which researchers might consider is how the so-called 'employer brand' effects post-employment dissonance. For product purchases, the brand is used to assure consumers that they have made the right product or service choice to increase consumer satisfaction and decrease post-purchase dissonance. Similarly, there is a need to determine whether the employer brand can increase job choice satisfaction and decrease post-employment dissonance once an employee begins his/her job.

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Section 3 The Employer Branding Process

Chapter 7 Employer Brand Metrics

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There are several metrics that can be applied to measure the success of your employer brand efforts. This chapter presents a range of metrics that are being used by organisations to measure and evaluate their employer brand program. My research discovered that employer engagement is one of the most common metrics that firms are using to measure the impact of their employer brand efforts. It is therefore appropriate to begin the discussion on employer brand metrics on this topic. Employee engagement Employee engagement can be defined as the degree to which employees perform work over and above what would normally be required for their role. It is the level of discretionary effort that employees give when they are committed, satisfied and motivated in their role. In order to improve employee engagement, an organisation must understand where it is currently. It must also understand the components of engagement - the factors that influence it - in order to know what to change. Among employees in ten of the largest world economies, Australia has the third highest rate of engagement across its workforce, according to a major study by ISR (a global employee-research and consulting firm) of nearly 160,000 employees across 10 nations. The study included hundreds of different companies across a broad spectrum of industries in Australia and nine other large economies: Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, UK and the US. The highest rates of engagement are found in the U.S. and Brazil, in which, on average, 75 percent of responses to survey questions about engagement are favourable. Rates in Australia (and Canada) are 70 percent, placing it third in the survey, compared with rates of 72 percent in the Netherlands, and 59 percent in France, the lowestranked country in the study (see figure 21) 1

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In the spotlight - Australia 1 The ISR survey also documented key differences among the countries in what dimensions of engagement matter most and what specific issues most influence engagement. Among the findings: 1. Australian employees are most likely to connect to their companies through an intellectual bond - i.e. to believe in the goals to which their organisation aspires and to accept the values it articulates. 2. The most important workplace issue affecting employee engagement in Australia is the availability of opportunities for personal development and growth. 3. On one behavioural aspect of engagement, Australian employees are the fourth most likely to express a desire to leave their current employer (behind Singapore, France and the UK). Figure 21: The ISR employee engagement index - variations by country

Source: ISR 2005 - reproduced with permission

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Using ISR's database of millions of employee survey responses from around the world, and applying the latest research into this topic, ISR has developed a three-component model of engagement 1 (see figure 22). All three components are vital to understanding both what level of engagement the organisation has achieved, and why. The components are: 1. Cognitive ('Think'): Cognitive commitment occurs when employees agree with the organisation's goals and values and decide to support them. In other words, they ‘buy in’ to the organisation. Stronger buy-in will improve overall employee engagement. 1 2. Affective ('Feel'): As a consequence of buying in, truly engaged employees feel a sense of belonging and attachment; they develop a sense of pride in their association with the organisation. This component of engagement is closest to what has traditionally been described as a sense of loyalty. 1 3. Behavioural ('Act'): There is a third dimension of engagement that is critical, and that is employees' willingness to act in ways that are consistent with their beliefs and feelings. There are two facets to behavioural engagement. First, employees’ desire to stay with the organisation; they are unlikely to actively consider other options. The second facet is a willingness to put in extra effort, to go above and beyond their normal job responsibilities in order to help the organisation succeed. 1 Strong employee engagement results from a combination of all three of these components. Measuring all three is necessary to understand both what the current level of engagement is, and to develop appropriate improvement initiatives. 1

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Figure 22: ISR Engagement Model

Source: ISR 2005 - reproduced with permission Employee research conducted by Towers Perrin research suggests that there's as much as a 5:1 ratio between improvement in the degree of employee engagement and improvement in operating results. 2 Towers Perrin's, 'Our Workplace Experience Study 2003' explored people's emotional connection to their jobs and the impact this had on performance. Engagement from the employees’ perspective fell into three distinct categories and within each category, there were a number of specific factors that influenced their emotion about work - either positively or negatively. 2 These were defined as: 1. Myself - their sense of confidence, competence and control (self, development, career, future). 2. My job - what they do, how they contribute and how they're recognised and rewarded (challenge, assessment, results, workload). 3. My workplace - the people they work with and for, the company, and the work culture and atmosphere (work place, energy, interest). 2

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Disturbingly, the study showed that today's current work experience is largely negative, driven by a combination of difficult issues. And the gap between the real and ideal experience is enormous, with workload, recognition, contribution and rewards cited as the worse factors. Human capital measures The need for companies to invest in their 'human capital' to achieve sustainable competitive advantage is supported by a growing body of research evidence. ISR's own research has consistently shown that companies who have talented and well-motivated workforces outperform those who are lacking in this regard. There is also growing pressure on organisations, not least in the UK following the recent government-sponsored Kingsmill Report on human capital reporting, to develop reliable and relevant metrics of the value of human capital and its affect on business performance. 1 The need for companies to invest in their 'human capital' to achieve sustainable competitive advantage is supported by a growing body of research evidence. To understand the extent to which measurement and management of human capital is happening in organisations, ISR conducted an Internet survey of senior executives, managers and HR professionals. The sample of 100 respondents included a broad mix of industry sectors and geographies across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. The key points to emerge from this research are outlined below. 1. 91% have some measures related to human capital. 2. 58% include human capital measures in their key performance Indicators or business performance scorecard. 3. 46% actively assess the value of their human capital and its impact on business performance. 1 These results show that a large proportion of companies are building human capital measures into how they run their business, and some have also attempted to frame this in terms of financial value or impact.

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What measures of human capital are companies using? Many different human capital measures are in use by companies, including head count (56%), employee surveys (47%), productivity (44%) and training hours (40%). A wide range of additional measures are also in use, relating to topics such as leadership, cultural alignment, and workforce profile (see figure 23). The findings suggest that a mixture of 'hard' and 'soft' measures are being used, but there is considerable variability across organisations. The findings regarding head count illustrate this. Just over half of the respondents regard head count as a measure of human capital. It is unclear whether the remainder dismiss head count as an appropriate measure or simply lack a reliable way to measure it. In either case the results indicate widely differing approaches between organisations. This study does not resolve whether this variation is due to the appropriateness of the metrics to evaluate progress against business strategy or due to organisations simply choosing what they see as the easiest or most convenient aspects of human capital to measure. 1 Figure 23: Human capital measures

Source: ISR 2005 - reproduced with permission

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Interestingly, a significant proportion of those running employee opinion surveys appear to be missing an opportunity to use the results in their human capital measurement for business performance. The survey found that whilst 77% of respondents conduct an employee opinion survey, only 47% are using the findings as part of their Human Capital KPIs or balanced business scorecard. 1 The challenges are to find ways of reliably assessing human capital, aligning these metrics to business strategy, understanding the impact of human capital on business performance and embedding this into how the company is run. It is only through this route that the mantra 'people are our greatest asset' will become a living, operational reality and deliver the promised benefits. 1 The top 25 levers of engagement In an employee engagement survey conducted by the Corporate Leadership Council in 2004 it identified that the top 25 drivers of engagement point to the importance of employees' connection to the organisation. The most important among the 25 highest-impact drivers of engagement are: 1. a connection between an employees' job and organisational strategy 2. employee understanding of how important their job is to organisational success 3. understanding how to complete work projects, and 4. cultural traits - predominantly, good internal communication, a reputation of integrity, and a culture of innovation (see figure 24). 3

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Figure 24: The top 25 levers of engagement - Top 25 most effective levers of effort O. Organisational Culture and Performance Traits D. Day-to-Day Work Characteristic M. Manager Characteristics

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Connection between work and organisational strategy Importance of job to organisational success Understanding of how to complete work projects Internal communication Demonstrates strong commitment to diversity Demonstrates honesty and integrity Reputation of integrity Adapts to changing circumstances Clearly articulates organisational goals Possesses job skills Sets realistic performance expectations Puts the right people in the right roles at the right time Helps find solutions to problems Breaks down projects into manageable components Accepts responsibility for successes and failures Encourages and manages innovation Accurately evaluates employee potential Respects employees as individuals Demonstrates passion to succeed Cares about employees Has a good reputation within the organisation Innovation Is open to new ideas Defends direct reports Analytical thinking

Impact 32.8

Category D

30.3 29.8

D D

29.2 28.5

O M

27.9 27.6 27.6 27.6 27.2 27.1 26.9

M O M M M M M

26.8 26.7

M M

26.6

M

26.5 26.3 26.1 26.0 26.0 26.0

M M M M M M

26.0 25.9 25.8 25.7

O M M M

Source: Corporate Leadership Council 2004 Employee Engagement Survey - reproduced with permission

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The value of employee research in tracking your employer brand efforts The following section details a case study of a technology organisation which used employee research and developed a program to drive talent engagement and retention. In the spotlight - Technology Organisation an Illustrative HDA case study 4 A rapidly changing technology company had delayed its commercial launch in the UK given software development delays. The business's investors were keen to keep the organisation fully engaged, within a highly constrained budget: 1. developing its world-first technology at high speed for an accelerated launch within the next four months; 2. retaining key technology skills and expertise within the business; 3. developing global partnerships; 4. ensuring that its intellectual property was protected; 5. ensuring that key quality processes were introduced; 6. ensuring that a new CEO was hired within the next three months. Given these objectives, the company demanded a lot from its people (For example, the London office was often almost fully staffed two or three hours after the close of 'normal business hours' for at least the first year after start up, as a 'normal' day's work could not fit into a typical eight-hour day. It was also the norm to 'find' Palo Alto colleagues online, completing their previous day's work at 10 or 11 a.m. each morning). 4 Being a lean venture capital funded company, the company also had very little to offer people as other than a future stake in the company (via stock options), and via actively seeking opportunities to leverage careers by encouraging people to get involved in areas of the business

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that they would not typically get involved in within more established businesses. Notwithstanding the fact that, for the most part, people in new or newly restructured organisations are often required to spend much of their time working well within their capabilities, ensuring that the basics are done within the constraints of the situation, without the typical levels of support available within established companies. 4 An internal, holistic survey was conducted on all staff across the organisation, both in the UK and the USA. The survey measured the following predictors of team satisfaction: 1. Process. Are the right processes in place to support the business? 2. Role challenge. are roles challenging and motivating? 3. Values. Are company values clear, and are they clearly subscribed to by management? 4. Work-life balance. Are workloads full but not excessive? 5. Information. Do senior managers provide the business with an appropriate level of information? 6. Stake/leverage/reward/recognition. Do people have significant longterm stakes in the business, and are rewards, recognition and career leverage opportunities with the organisation competitive? 7. Management. Are performance objectives clear, and is performance regularly reviewed and fairly managed for ongoing personal improvement? 8. Work environment. Is the work environment supportive and empowering? 9. Product. Do solutions, products and services continue to excite and challenge? 4

Detailed and headline feedback results were then systematically used over the next six months as a key driver for: 1. facilitated objective-setting; 2. management meeting actions; 3. management interventions;

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4. process adjustments; and 5. company meeting agendas. 4 The process was repeated after six months, and again six months later, with focus on continuous improvement in all measures, and the facilitation of change where operational and managerial weaknesses were identified. As expected, improvements in certain measures, impacted negatively on others. 4 During this 18-month period the company successfully launched its technology in the UK and in Germany, and licensed its technology in Japan, whilst extending its cash reserves for four months longer than budgeted. During the period, the company experienced only one resignation (in the USA), and was considered to be very stable, despite its various financial constraints, the marketability of the talent within the organisation, and significant differences of opinion across the organisation about future directions of the business. The management team agreed that managing within a clearly defined framework for measuring the team's temperature, and for informing management team actions (followed by concrete - and clearly communicated responses to areas of weakness) was a valuable approach to setting the agenda for managing the key people component of the business within a highly constrained environment, specifically: 1. key skills and talent retention; 2. employee engagement and motivation; and 3. development of quality culture. Attendance was never an issue in this organisation, with a small number of exceptions. The value of assessment and feedback in talent engagement and retention Once a solid company-wide feedback base is developed, linked to a consistent and focused communication process, skills, knowledge and behavioural assessment at an individual level can be sensibly carried out in a way that links to the overall engagement objectives of the business to the individual. 4

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Often, organisations implement assessment tools linked to their performance management process, or as part of an independent leadership development/retention initiative. Very often, I come across organisations which have multiple initiatives in this area, focused on company-wide 360-degree assessment and feedback measures, high potential assessment and development centres, senior talent assessment measures, and so on. Often the objectives of each of these initiatives are disconnected, and difficult to calibrate against the firm's broader commercial goals - all too often these initiatives live in the pet-project world of the HR or L&D team, with an unclear line of sight back to broader employee motivation, engagement and retention objectives which mitigate organisational risk and which address commercial opportunities. 4 Individual assessment is best viewed (and closely managed) broadly and holistically - with a clear view of the link between analysis, assessment, and development to employee motivation, engagement and key skills retention (see figure 25). Important questions for organisations to ask beforehand to ensure the effectiveness of any assessment and feedback initiatives in driving talent engagement and retention include: 1. How will the organisation's strategy and external business drivers affect future talent requirements? 2. Who will lead the changing business in three, five and seven years' time? 3. How do our values, beliefs, culture and line managers' attitudes affect the talent pipeline speed and quality? 4. Which is easier - internal promotion or external hiring? 4 Having first asked these broad organisational questions, and taken the view that individual assessment and feedback are necessarily part of a process that is rooted in clearly recognised and agreed business drivers; then the various assessment methods - 360-degress feedback, competency-based interviews, psychometric ability tests, panel reviews, online self-assessment, assessment/development centers and so on -

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are likely to generate feedback and developmental outcomes which truly support the business. 4 Figure 25: The talent management process

Source: Glen Clayton (HDA) 2006 - reproduced with permission

The metrics detailed in this chapter provide managers with meaningful and robust measurement choices for their employer brand program. The metrics used will depend on the employer brand objectives of the firm. Once identified the metrics become a valuable evaluation tool that can be used to assess the performance of the company's employer brand program using a tool such as the Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM presented in chapter 9.

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Section 3 The Employer Branding Process

Chapter 8 Employer Brand Communication & Actions

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This chapter will inform readers of the importance of aligning the communications program with objectives of the employer brand program. Building an effective employer brand begins at the heart of an organisation by defining the firm's employer value proposition. The important role of communications must not be underestimated in persuading current and potential employees that the organisation is a 'great place to work.' Companies are spending increasing amounts of funds on recruitment advertising, company websites and external advertising campaigns with the aim of creating and maintaining an image in the minds of their target audience that the company is a more attractive place to work than their competitors.' However all the advertising in the world will not help companies that fail to deliver on the employment promise. The psychological contract that is formed between the employer and employee at the commencement of the employment is continually evaluated by the employee against the actual employment offerings they experience during their tenure with the firm. Companies that promote strong leadership only to be found to deliver dysfunctional leadership at the coal face are soon exposed, and the contract with the employee is broken. Getting the right message across In a survey of more than 8000 Australian employers and 2500 employees published in The Hudson Report 1 in 2005 respondents were canvassed for their views surrounding the key issues of employer branding. Interestingly the survey found that whilst 74 percent of employers said that current and prospective employees were clear about what actually made their company a great workplace (see figure 26), 40 percent of prospective employees said they were not clear (see figure 27).

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Figure 26: Are current and prospective employees clear about what makes the organisation a great place to work?

Source: Hudson - reproduced with permission Figure 27: Are job seekers clear about what makes their current organisation stand out as a great place to work?

Source: Hudson - reproduced with permission However the survey found that 81 percent of employers believed there was consistency between what was promised and what was actually delivered to employees (see figure 28).

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Figure 28: Is the actual employment experience consistent with what is promised to current and prospective employees?

Source: Hudson 2005 - reproduced with permission However the survey also found that 62 percent of employees (once job seekers) surveyed said their current employer had not delivered the employment experience it had promised (see figure 29). Figure 29: Do job seekers believe that their current organisation has delivered the employment experience that was promised?

Source: Hudson 2005 - reproduced with permission

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Accordingly, these results raise the possibility that many organisations currently operate under a delusion or misguided impression. They may think their employer brand is working for them, when in truth it is missing the mark and possibility even working against them. Employer brand communication methods There are several communication methods companies are using to promote their employer brand efforts to their existing and potential employees. A study by the Conference Board 1 which included response from communications/marketing and HR executives (mainly North American) from companies ranging in size from 35-22,400 employees and revenues of $10-$70 billion found that the top 5 most used tactics for communicating the employer brand were (see figure 30): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

outside print and broadcast media internal print media internet campaigns in-house meetings intranet campaigns.

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Figure 30 What are the most used and most effective tactics for communicating the employer brand?

Source: The Conference Board 2001 - reproduced with permission

There is no universally accepted process for communicating your employer brand. It will come down to your firm's unique branding needs and that of your target market(s). It is unlikely that all firms will choose the same mix.

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However it is likely the employer brand communication plan will include a combination of: Web based 1. Company intranet Site 2. E-marketing campaigns 3. Promotions & events 4. Banner advertising. Recruitment advertising 1. Internet 2. Newspaper 3. Newsletter 4. Radio 5. Direct mail 6. Cinema / theatre 7. Television 8. Outdoor / mall 9. Transit 10. Video production. Event marketing 1. Career / job fair 2. Telemarketing 3. Open house 4. Trade show / conference 5. Special events. Employee communications 1. Referral program 2. Reward and recognition program 3. Induction resources 4. Brochures, flyers, posters 5. Company intranet 6. Multimedia presentation.

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University relations 1. Image advertising 2. Brochures & binders 3. On-campus promotions 4. Sponsorships 5. E-marketing. Conveying a brand message across cultures A recurring theme in the interviews conducted for The Conference Board study is the need-mentioned especially by big, diversified companies-to convey unified, coherent brand messages in ways that are appropriate to different sites and cultures. In an interview for Universum Communication's employer brand global best practices report, Melissa Reinke, of GE describes how the company met the challenge in a particular instance-the launch of a new company initiative dealing with issues of integrity, a key brand component. Ms Reinke said, 'We created a communications toolkit for use by our HR folks and our communicators. It can be used at the corporate level and customised at the unit level. The kit includes training materials, facilitators' notes, videos, posters, wallet-size cards, sample e-mails they can use in their businesses, and talking points that managers can use if they get questions from employees. This allows a multi-channel approach.' 2 ‘We launched the initiative with an all-employee e-mail from our CEO. On the local level we worked with the businesses. Each business could do its own communications plan. We gave them all the marketing tools that they needed to promote everything locally before we did the corporate launch. The range of support materials enables each business to give one-on-one training or group employee training’, Reinke said. 2 GE's approach is likely to become a common approach for companies due to the increasing level of multiculturalism around the around and in corporations.

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Importance of differentiation A major challenge for companies in communicating their employer brand efforts is the need to differentiate as a result of increased competition. Given the trend of increased focus on employer branding in organisations, the need for differentiating your approach will grow continuously. 3 Unilever uses marketing and advertising agencies to develop communication materials globally. Local communication depends on the scale of the operation. A recruitment agency is used in some countries, especially where the level of interest in job vacancies is overwhelming. Finding people that share the Unilever values plays a key part the recruitment process. The selection process is therefore based on finding both the right competencies and the right values in candidates. What Unilever looks for is closely related to their vision-adding vitality to life. Unilever looks for people that share that vision. Once the right people have been hired, Unilever offers them growth opportunities as a way to retain them. Based on the statistics about why people leave, it is not usually a question of money. It is about having a rewarding job and being given the chance to develop. The company is very aware that the behaviour of leadership within the company needs to be correct and that people in management have enough time for their staff. 3 Web technology According to the Universum Communications report 3 the corporate website is the single most important channel of external communication for companies. In Universum's worldwide student surveys, students typically rank the website as their most important source of information about companies. Another popular source of information with students (after internships) is 'acquaintances employed by the company'. Students view current employees as ambassadors for the company and as important sources of personal information about the organisation. This once again points out how important internal communication is for an employer branding strategy

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to be successful-companies that do not prioritise their internal efforts are making a mistake. Web technology is playing an increasingly important role in recruitment at BP. The application process has become more streamlined and coherent since the company started implementing a leading edge online recruitment solution. 3 BP used to rely on fragmented local websites, but now they market themselves with a consistent employer brand and are able to present job and application details via the web. To achieve further efficiency, in many countries the company is moving towards only accepting applications online. BP is making use of screening questions to ensure that only the applicants who meet the minimum requirements of the job continue in the application process. This supports their core value of being meritocratic. A powerful feature of BP's recruiting solution is the global database of active and passive job seekers. Applicants can register their interest in joining BP and express job preferences. The big advantage for job seekers is the e-mail alerts they receive when suitable opportunities come up at BP. The web gives BP access to talented individuals from across the globe, but recruiting still has its challenges for BP. Although they have a global approach to attracting and selecting new recruits, they have to do this in a local context and ensure they consistently bring the best people into the company. Technical and professional competencies and trained interviewers and assessors are helping BP achieve its goal of recruiting the most talented individuals into the company. 3 At Deloitte their website started out as a global site with global activities. It was changed dramatically after it became clear that it did not sufficiently support local recruiting content. The site now looks local everywhere in the world, while still reinforcing Deloitte's global recruitment strategy. 3 At Shell their website caters both to new graduates and experienced professionals. Management at Shell understood early on the

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importance of an effective web presence as a means of communicating with potential employees. The site has previously won first place in a Financial Times' survey of career websites. 3 In a Personnel Today (UK) survey of over 1800 readers responsible for recruitment, respondents claimed that the fastest growing medium over the next two years will be their company's own websites. Seventy-six percent plan to use their company websites more for recruitment purposes. Local and national newspapers will be the losers, with 23% and 37% (respectively) of respondents planning to use them less for job ads. One respondent summed up the general mood when he said he ‘intended to get his company's website working efficiently to attract candidates without agency or advertising fees attached’. 4 HR departments are increasingly finding that the return on investment from their recruitment spending is being measured. That investment will be channelled into a number of areas, but principally it will go to employee retention schemes, followed by developing in-house recruitment websites and improving employer branding programs (see figure 31) 4 . Figure 31: Area you will be investing in over the next two years

Source: Personnel Today 2003 - reproduced with permission

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Recruitment advertising The following case study demonstrates the value of creative recruitment advertising in communicating the employer brand to external stakeholders including prospective employees. In the Spotlight - Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) Employee referral programs The cost of staff turnover has been calculated at around 2.5 times an exiting person's salary. This has led to an increasing trend in organisations to develop employee referral programs (ERP's) under the assumption that engaged and satisfied staff are more likely to refer their organisation as a 'great place to work' to their family, friends and colleagues. Existing employees become part of the screening process in an ERP by introducing endorsed candidates to the organisation leading to decreased recruitment costs, reduced recruitment lead times whilst contributing to a positive company culture. Prior to 2005 the role of the existing ERP in the overall recruitment strategy at CCA was unclear and limited geographically to NSW. The program had low visibility, its processes were very manual and communication to candidates and referring employees was slow and lacking in detail. This led to a small volume and poor quality of referrals. There were few repeat referrals and a low level of confidence in employees referring top talent to CCA. Overall, the ERP delivered less than 5% of total external hires. The aim of the campaign was to develop an ERP that delivered significantly increased speed to hire leading to increased revenue and volume opportunities for the company. CCA also found that employees hired through ERP's had higher retention rates than those hired through other sources of talent and sourcing. It also found that ERP's were 70% cheaper than recruitment advertising. In 2005 Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) engaged leading Australian agency, Advertising Energy to reinvigorate the branding of the existing ERP as their current HR needs could not rely solely on recruitment advertising.

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Action CCA's reviewed their existing ERP and identified gaps and areas that needed attention. Advertising Energy were engaged to review the branding and creative execution of CCA's communication program, resulting in the National launch of 'Who's on your talent radar' program in 2005. The target audience for the campaign was employee family, friends, and employee's network of associates. The campaign proposition was, 'I love my job so much I want my family and friends to work here.' This was clearly captured in the creative used for the campaign (see figure 32). The launch activities included extensive training to local HR and recruitment teams. A 'Lotus notes' based database was developed to simplify the referral process and to improve tracking ability. Results The results were exceptional with an increase in referral volumes of 400% in the first 6 months of the campaign. The quality of referrals increased to over a 60% success rate (success defined as hired or talent pooled for future vacancy). Total hires from the ERP increased to 15% and are targeted at 25% for 2006.

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Figure 32: Coca-Cola Amatil advertisement Rotate 90`

Source: Adenergy 2006

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Integrated communications On average, companies indicate that they use four channels of communication for internal information and six for external-another indication that external communication is prioritised at the expense of internal. When discussing communication channels, one notable difference between European companies and those based in the US can be found. American companies use an average of seven channels when communicating externally while European companies use about five. To some extent, the reason for that may be that the US companies are typically larger, but probably more important is that competition is fiercer in the US. 3 The following section provides an example of a holistic approach to 'living the employer brand' based on the firm-employee relationship cycle. The strategic employer brand in action - A holistic approach to living the employer brand (this section is reprinted with permission from Bernard Hodes Group) 6 The employer brand's magic lies in the relationship it fosters between the firm and its employees. This relationship starts before a person is even employed and is built over a series of stages, resembling the 'marriage' relationship that people go through. A marriage can be understood as a series of bond-building experiences. These experiences, in most cases, serve to strengthen and preserve the relationship between couples. Similarly, companies have the ability to create bonding experiences for employees. These bonding experiences strengthen the employee's commitment and feelings toward the firm. The marriage metaphor helps explain the firm employee relationship stages more completely, and provides firms with a valuable guide on how to create an effective 'marriage' with their employees. The six relationship stages in this metaphor can be classified as: First contact; the dating game; proposal; marriage; maintaining the passion; and anniversary (see figure 33). A brief discussion of each stage follows.

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Figure 33: The Firm-Employee Relationship Cycle

Source: Bernard Hodes Group 2006 - reproduced with permission First Contact In the past, graduating students and established business professionals sought employment from a handful of 'blue-chip' employers such as AT&T, General Motors, Xerox and Arthur Andersen. For these companies, hiring the best and brightest - and grooming them for lifelong careers - was a fait accompli. In short, attracting desirable candidates was a non-issue. But the rules, as we know, have changed. Success no longer belongs to a cadre of large, stable and well-known companies. Firms leave and enter the list of successful companies frequently and forcefully. Large companies lay people off in droves, and startups grow by leaps and bounds. The marketplace of products, brands and employers has crowded. And the 'best and brightest' no longer flock, but flow between companies, industries, technologies and opportunities that meet their frequently changing needs and expectations. Considering the numerous employment choices available to today's highly mobile workforce, the adage 'there's no second chance to make a first impression' is particularly applicable. Firms must capture

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attention in the crowded and competitive employment marketplace, and simultaneously generate prospect interest. The prospective candidates who get away are often lost forever. They simply have too many options to choose from. The importance of competitive positioning cannot be overstated. Many companies today are able to provide empirical evidence of business success and can afford to pay people well. To stand out, an individual firm must deliver a unique and focused message. And to capture the continued interest of a prospective candidate, the firm's choice of message and delivery must be memorable. Firms can use advertising campaigns, public relations, brochures and word-of-mouth to promote their brands. But the crowded nature of the employment marketplace means that a firm must do more than simply put the brand in front of people to be successful at first contact. Firstly, it must constantly innovate in the way it delivers its message, and not just rely on traditional channels. Secondly it must have a message for passive job seekers, not just for active ones. To the extent that the firm reaches out successfully to this vast group of people and plants seeds for future relations, it will gain a long-term advantage. The bottom line: successful first contact is more a function of the brand's message than of the brand's ubiquity. The dating game After successful first contact, the prospective candidate and firm begin the dating game - a period during which both parties explore the potential for an employment relationship. The prospect, at this point, seeks deeper information about the company and its opportunities. Since their interest and time are valuable (and are in demand by other firms), they want to conduct this due diligence as efficiently thoroughly and quickly - as possible. If they conclude that the fit is not right for them they will self-select themselves out of the relationship building process. If, on the other hand, they find they have continued interest in the firm, they will seek to pursue the relationship-building process further.

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The firm's interests are similar. To the extent that the prospect is able to rule themself in or out of the relationship-building process, the firm will save time and will be able to allocate its recruitment resources toward the right candidates. This is an opportunity that every firm should seek to exploit for one simple reason: good candidates are scarce and can be gobbled up very quickly by a competing firm. The firm should do everything, therefore, to enable its prospective candidates to gather helpful information quickly and easily. A possible outcome of the prospect's research process is that they retain interest in the firm even while finding no suitable, or exciting, job opportunities immediately available. In this case, the firm should use its applicant tracking / hiring management system just as someone might use a 'little black book' - i.e., to keep tabs on prospects. Those already screened for specific skills or experience (qualified prospects) should be kept on the hook by direct contact or through third party recruiters until both the firm and the prospect are ready to pursue serious discussions about an opportunity. The employer brand plays a key role in maintaining or developing the prospect's interest during this potentially long pre-interview period. To the extent that the brand is memorable and unique - and to the extent that the firm actively manages the fragile relationship it started with the prospect - the firm will be able to recapture candidates over the long run that it otherwise would have lost to competitors. Once the firm has a bona fide opportunity that is of interest to the prospect, both parties evaluate the match through the interviewing process. The prospect officially becomes a candidate. If the interviews go well, the firm should use its employer brand to sweep the candidate off their feet. One way the interviewer accomplishes this is by explaining the employment proposition in detail and by introducing the prospect to other employees who provide evidence of its veracity. To the extent that the firm applies other unique and exciting ways of solidifying the candidate's interest, the firm will maximise its chances of taking the relationship further.

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Since a good candidate is likely to have other employment options available, this part of the dating game is both necessary and important. Obviously, the candidate could lose interest in the firm if what they see and hear does not accurately reflect the brand image. And losing a candidate at this point means the firm has wasted a good amount of its time and resources. Thus, it makes good business sense for the company to not only 'design' an effective brand, but to ensure that it lives it out and consistently applies it. Proposal The proposal is one of the most cherished experiences in a marriage relationship. Happily married couples look back to that occasion as a symbol of the enthusiasm and excitement they share for being with one another. Indeed, it is not only an important step in a couple's relationship, but it is a source of inspiration and encouragement during times to come. 'Popping the question' serves an equivalent (if not as passionate) role in solidifying the relationship between the firm and employee. The job offer is a chance to wow the prospective employee - not just with a higher salary, but with a better opportunity in life. And its delivery should reflect this new opportunity: unique, exciting and unforgettable. By so doing, the job offer represents the beginning of a new and terrific experience, and becomes a potential source of motivation and encouragement for the employee in the future. If the firm's employer brand promotes a high quality employment experience, then the firm's job proposals should be high quality. Unfortunately, this tends not be the case in reality. Regardless of their efforts at developing any sort of employer brand, most companies pay little attention to the way they present candidates their job offers. Not only are spelling mistakes and other type-oriented errors common, but most offers are made in standard, plain vanilla fashion. These represent more than poor form; they represent missed opportunities.

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There has never been a good excuse for poor follow through or mistakes in the offer process. Given the benefits of a strong firmemployee relationship, there is also no reasonable business case for making a less than memorable offer. The process itself need not be complicated or costly. Just as with a marriage proposal, a little creativity and attention to detail are all that are necessary. The CEO of a small firm might personally call the candidate to invite him to join the team. A hiring manager at a larger company could make the job offer in person, while showing the candidate to his new office. Even an overthe-weekend phone call from the human resources person could demonstrate the firm's excitement at bringing a candidate on-board. In short, the job offer is a simple yet potentially strong foundation to the firm-employee relationship. Marriage Once the job offer is accepted, the firm must welcome, orient and integrate the new employee. This should include effective preonboarding communication between the offer and the first day of employment. Unless its brand message amounts to 'sink or swim-you're on your own', the firm should take advantage of this opportunity to create bonding experiences, thereby deepening the firm-employee relationship. As with the job offer, an effective 'honeymoon' period should not be difficult to provide. From the moment the employee walks in on the first day, the employee should be provided with the basic tools and provisions: desk, phone, computer, network connections - anything that they need to do their work effectively. As simple an assignment as this may seem, it is rarely carried out flawlessly. What this amounts to is a subtle message that the firm 'does not care'. It stunts the firm employee relationship and plants a seed of guardedness that can grow over time, contributing to moral hazard and other company costs. The firm should go beyond the basics, however, and do all that it can to create bonding experiences during the employee's first couple of

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weeks. Firm-specific training, introductions to other team members, and a tour of the work site are just a few easy steps that can deepen the firm-employee relationship. The same issues discussed in the proposal stage apply here. Firms should take this stage seriously, as it can have long-term effects-both positive and negative. In general, the more quickly and completely a new employee is empowered and made to feel part of the firm, the more positive an impact the employee will have during their career there. The opposite is true as well. If an employee is not paid attention to, and does not develop a strong sense of belonging when they join the firm, they are less likely to stay motivated and committed over time. Indeed, this person's company will experience more problems in work quality, employee turnover and moral hazard than it otherwise should. Employees who genuinely feel part of the team are the ones most excited about being on it. So for each additional employee who feels this way, the firm receives two major rewards in return: first, a more loyal and committed workforce; second, a workforce that thinks and acts more like ambassadors. As a result, the company will reap more and better employee referrals-an added weapon in its war for talent. It is clear, then, that firms paying attention to this stage of the firmemployee relationship can reap significant, long-term benefits. Maintaining the passion A firm's hires will typically follow a statistically 'normal' distribution of cruisers, losers and stars: some will turn out to be ineffectual, others natural superstars, while the majority will fall somewhere in between. The effectiveness of the employer brand will help determine the marginal commitment received from this vast middle group. If the brand promotes (and delivers) exciting opportunities, challenges and learning, then it will deepen the firm-employee relationship. If the brand is weak, a higher proportion of employees will lose sight of the 'big picture', disengage from the company's mission, and ultimately breed turnover and company costs.

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The previous two relationship stages are easy for the firm to overlook; this one, on the other hand, is just plain difficult to do. Maintaining an employee's passion does not occur over a short or finite period of time. Rather, it is the fulfilment of the brand's promise over the entire course of an employee's career. Indeed, it is the firm living out its employer brand. Making it more difficult still, there is no one formula that can be systematically applied to every employee. Instead, each employee has their own set of circumstances and career needs that requires a tailored response from the firm. Still, the upside to maintaining the passion is significant. This stage in the firm-employee relationship gives companies the best opportunity to distinguish their employer brands. The firm that is able to consistently deliver a quality employment experience to its people will find itself with a terrific competitive advantage. Characteristic of having a strong employer brand, the firm's attraction and retention costs will go down; hire-quality and employee productivity will increase; and company costs will diminish. Anniversary Wedding anniversaries are times at which people remember their vows and renew their commitments. Similarly, firms must continuously measure and assess their effectiveness at following through with the commitments embedded in their employer brands. Couples do not use the anniversary to rethink whether or not they belong together. Rather, they use it to reflect on the actions they take to make their relationships work. Continuing this metaphor, a firm should not use the anniversary stage to re-evaluate its employer brand. Instead, the firm should focus its attention inward-to assess how well it is doing at creating and living out its employer brand. The firm should ask itself: How well is the employer brand being utilised? How can we communicate it better? Whom is it reaching and

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whom is it not? What channels can we use to promote it more effectively? Are people getting the right messages or are they getting something different? More specifically, the firm should look at its effectiveness at each and every one of the firm-employee relationship stages, from first contact to maintaining the passion. The firm can use surveys, focus groups and other types of studies to get answers to these questions. The implication is that over time, the firms most successful at implementing their employer brands - and therefore, most able to gain the advantages of strategic employer branding - are the ones that continuously seek to learn and improve. This chapter has detailed the range of methods being adopted by firms to communicate their employer brand to existing and prospective employers. It is a critical phase of the employer brand process and must be executed effectively to assist in building a perception in the mind of prospective employees that the company is a 'great place to work. Likewise it should then support the firm's efforts in delivering on the employer brand promise. The following chapter brings together the best of international employer brand research and practice and presents an innovative strategic framework to guide managers' employer brand efforts and provide a meaningful and robust method to evaluate their employer brand program. The framework encourages companies of all sizes to consider both internal and external factors impacting on the firm's employer brand.

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Section 3 The Employer Branding Process

Chapter 9 Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM

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It is clear from the preceding chapters that there is commonly accepted solution when it comes to choosing the best employer brand strategy for the organisation. In this chapter I present an innovative Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM - a strategic framework that will guide organisations and their leaders through the development of their employer brand programs. The chapter concludes with an easy-tofollow 8 step process to develop an employer brand.

Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM Armed with the knowledge of the best in employer brand research and practice from around the world over the past 10 years I have developed the ‘Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM’ - a strategic framework (see figure 34) which can be used to guide the employer brand program that will lead to higher levels of engagement at all levels of the firm and result in the attraction, engagement and retention of talented employees. Successful implementation of the framework will ensure that the promise to customers that is articulated by the company's corporate brand is matched by the promise delivered by your employer brand. As detailed in preceding chapters employer branding is a long term orientation to the management of people. With this in mind, the framework will provide firms with a robust method to audit, create, manage and evaluate their employer brand progams.

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Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM

Figure 34: Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM

Source: Brett Minchington 2006, Rotate 90`

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The Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM (EBEF) provides a robust strategic framework for managing employer brand efforts. At the centre of the framework is the employer value proposition (EVP). All organisations have an EVP - it just needs to be discovered. The EVP can be identified using a number of primary research methods such as focus groups or employee surveys conducted across the organisation. Employer value proposition An EVP consists of a set of associations and offerings that characterise an employer and differentiates it from competitors. Defining the employer value proposition In the autumn of 2002 American Express undertook a global corporate culture review. Through focus groups and an online survey, employees from around the world shared their views about American Express. Overall, the results of the culture review indicated that while the company's core values remain relevant today, American Express also needed to place a greater focus on fostering an organisation that is driven by a strong will to win and where individuals hold themselves personally accountable for the company's success. As an outcome of the culture review, the company made significant changes in many of its processes, including performance management, leadership development, employee survey and external communications. 1 In developing the employer brand at GlaxoSmithKline they arrived at a brand that focuses on quality of life. The core message is about working together to make life better - a message that appeals to every audience. When the tsunami devastated the area around Thailand in December 2004, GSK asked itself what it could do to make a difference. It decided to donate products worth millions of dollars. The company felt it was simply the right thing to do. The employer brand that GSK has arrived at is based on integrity and truth. It does not say that GSK is the best company in the world, but it emphasises good values. It also shows that those good values are integral to the way the company operates and to its aspirations for the future. GSK's focus on patient care runs through everything GSK does, from the products it makes to the way it

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treats people. Care is a philosophy that works as an effective retention strategy. 1 Through my research I found that Microsoft was one of the best examples of how a company communicates a different EVP to its target groups. Though each EVP reflects the underlying 'realise your potential' proposition, Microsoft tailor how this is expressed to each target group through their corporate website: Human resources EVP: Fulfilment is the catalyst for achievement 'People are Microsoft's greatest asset. Human Resources ensures that a diverse range of candidates is considered for opportunities. We believe that hiring exceptional, diverse talent gives Microsoft unlimited potential. The result is enhanced product development and employee performance, as well as a connection with communities everywhere.’ It's an important mission - bringing the right people in and taking good care of them. It plays a critical role in helping Microsoft generate technology that positively affects the lives of millions of people around the world. This mission is also your opportunity, as a Microsoft Human Resources professional, to discover just how far your abilities, ideas, and skills can advance your career. In Human Resources at Microsoft, your big ideas matter - and we want to see them take you far'. 2 Finance EVP: Wanted visionaries: 'Our financial experts are not only smart with numbers, but visionaries as well, pushing those numbers forward to drive our various business divisions. Our Finance operations encompass a diverse range of skills and opportunities on a global basis. We need experts in accounting, finance, investments, venture integration, taxes, audits, investor relations, and treasury functions. For members of our finance team, the responsibilities are enormous and so are the rewards, both personally and professionally. 2 Once managers have clearly identified the employer value proposition (be patient as this may take time) they are ready to move onto the next stage - defining their employer brand identity.

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Employer Brand Identity The employer brand identity is made up of two components - the Employer Brand Employee Platform TM (EBEP) (see figure 35) and the Employer Brand Strategic Platform TM (EBSP) Figure 35: Employer Brand Employee Platform TM

Source: Brett Minchington 2006 Employer Brand Employee Platform TM The Employer Brand Employee Platform TM consists of employer brand elements that are closest to the employee and impact on the ability of the company to attract-engage-retain employees with the 'right talent/cultural' for their organisation. These include: Recruitment & induction From the moment a prospective employee comes into contact with the company, whether that is through a recruitment advertisement in the local paper or via a job board on the firm's website, the candidate is assessing the company's employer brand. Consider what the external employer brand efforts say about the company? The firm-employee relationship cycle previously detailed in chapter 8 demonstrates the value of focusing employer brand efforts from the beginning of the employment cycle.

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Where many companies fall short on the delivery of their employer brand promise is at the induction stage. One of my fondest memories is of my first day on the job as CEO of a state sporting association. I was welcomed by a surprise breakfast prepared by staff - and I was wondering why I was required to start work at 7.30am on my first day! This was in stark contrast to the first day in another senior management role. I was due to meet with my General Manager at the start of my first day. Rather than the usual meet and greet, I was informed by the GM that she had resigned that morning and would be leaving the next day. At this stage I knew that everything that had been promised at the job offer stage would vanish with the exit of the General Manager. Over the next 12 weeks I was subjected to the rotation of three acting GMs, each one in a 'holding pattern', at a time when I had been recruited to undertaken a significant change project. You guessed it - I didn't last long and quickly exited the organisation. These two memorable events (one for the right reason and the other for the wrong reason!) remind me of the importance the induction period has on the employee's perception of the organisation as a 'great place to work'. Compensation and benefits I have consistently found in my research that compensation and benefits are not the main reasons why employees leave organisations and join those with an ability to pay higher benefits. Whilst compensation is an important part of why people go to work - it is not the only reason. Though it pays to regularly research industry salaries to establish benchmarks, a strong employer brand can make up for any shortfall in compensation and benefits compared to industry standards. The reason lies in the value that an employee places on the total compensation package and the importance of the items of the package, e.g. flexibility of working hours. Career development Research has shown that Generation Ys (born between 1980 and 1994) are attracted to organisations who offer career development opportunities that complement their existing skills. Some organisations

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try a 'hit and miss' approach and expect to achieve everything in a 1-2 day workshop. Organisations such as Adelaide Bank in Australia provide career development opportunities at all levels on a continual basis so that learning and development is integrated into the company's lifelong learning culture. I recently completed my MBA at a University that promotes 7 graduate qualities that underpin the curriculum across all courses. One of the graduate qualities is 'to prepare for lifelong learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice'. From my experience, graduates would be lucky if they find an organisation to work for that shares this vision and assists them to further develop their body of knowledge through their employment experience. From my experience too many organisations do not see the value of learning and development in contributing to the success of the company. A lot more work needs to be done in the higher education sector to build workplace competencies such as effective communication skills, problem solving skills, and oral presentation skills to build a more capable workforce to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world of business. Leaders need to be encouraged to develop individual personal career plans with their employees. These career development plans should be hot wired into the performance development process for the employee and should be reviewed regularly and aligned with objectives of the organisation and those of the employees. Goldman Sachs brands itself as the place where employees can build a multifaceted career over a number of years. The company has a robust internal mobility program for those who want to take part in opportunities in areas others than the one they started in. In an interview for Universum Communication's 2005 employer brand global best practices report, Edith Hunt (Co Chief Operating Office of Human Capital Management) said, ‘We want people to understand that working for Goldman Sachs is about more than money-it's about building a long term career. As the pace of change escalates in the industry and the complexity of financial products continues to increase, the pressure on

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the firms to keep up grows. Goldman Sachs plans to respond by continuing to recruit the top talent and develop training program that keep employees abreast of the changes. When people do leave the firm, it's generally because they are offered broader responsibilities somewhere else. It's the flip side of having such a deep talent pool. People sometimes are offered opportunities at other firms a couple of years earlier than at Goldman Sachs’. 1 A clearly articulated and accessible career development program provides an opportunity for the firm to retain talent that they have invested in over the employee's tenure with the firm. It also ensures competencies are retained within the firm assisting to build competitive advantage. Employee research Leaders should be encouraged to seek formal and informal feedback from their staff through employee feedback surveys that measure either (or a combination of) employer attractiveness, employee engagement, employee satisfaction or employee commitment. This should be undertaken on at least an annual basis and the employer brand strategy aligned accordingly. The benefit of employee research in developing a strong employer brand has been detailed extensively throughout preceding chapters. Organisations that guess the aspirations of their employees or develop strategies that attempt to force employees to falsely 'buy in' to 'the way we want it to be' do so at their peril. A mix of both qualitative and qualitative research is important if you want to know what employees perceive about your company's employer brand. The survey results should identify areas that require corrective action to ensure that employer brand is aligned with corporate objectives. The first step in developing the employer value proposition at Microsoft was surveying 7,300 employees. The respondents rated 40 elements characterising the Microsoft employer value proposition. The survey gave management a good measurement for the current situation. The survey also asked the participants to select the five most important elements and it helped to identify the critical factors for management

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to take into account. These cornerstones of aspiration related not only to recruiting, but also to their training and leadership development efforts. 1 Reward and recognition Excellence in performance should be recognised through the use of rewards that are creative, flexible, and meaningful. When administered and communicated effectively, reward and recognition are an important part of a total compensation program for employees, and they encourage discretionary effort. Managers are encouraged to design and develop defined rewards programs that encourage a culture of continuous improvement in the organisation. Below are some guiding principles to design an employee recognition and rewards program for the organisation: 1. rewards should be given for significant outstanding performance that advances team/organisational goals, and should be tied to a specific accomplishment such as the winning of a major tender, 2. rewards are most effective when they are meaningful to the individual, 3. care should be taken in communication and distribution of rewards so that they are viewed as performance excellence, not as entitlements, 4. rewards may be designed to reflect the unique nature of the team's work culture and organisational structure, 5. rewards should not be substituted for a competitive salary plan. For example, rewards should not be used as a long-term alternative to permanent salary adjustments when these adjustments are appropriate for consistently high performance, significant changes in responsibility, increased value of a position, or internal pay equity, 6. rewards should not be used as adjustments to base salary, supplemental compensation, or variable pay programs (such as commission).

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Communication systems Informal networks (sometimes referred to as 'grapevines') in organisations are renowned as a great source of company information. Companies that fail to communicate effectively with their employees may feed the 'grapevine' to the point where it becomes the most credible source of company information. Whilst some employees would argue that this is not a bad thing, it is important that what the company would like to say about its employee brand is communicated in a manner that is consistent with their corporate brand messages. Chapter 8 provides a wealth of communication mediums that can be used to communicate your employer brand strategy to your existing and prospective employees. It would pay to also undertake an audit of the corporate website and company intranet to determine if these important communication tools are contributing to the strength of the company's employer brand. Work environment It is surprising to hear of the value that employees place on the physical environment that they work in. Having personally worked in both old style and modern workplaces I would agree that a comfortable work environment impacts on attitude and productivity in the workplace. A leading postal authority in Australia found itself in hot water a few years ago when one of their policies prevented employees from having photo frames and other personal items at their workstation. The incident resulted in major press headlines and after extensive media and public scrutiny the organisation changed their position and realised (the hard way!), the value that employees place on their workplace environment. Vodafone designed their new headquarters campus in Newbury with two of its core values 'Passion for our people', and 'Passion for the world around us', very much in mind. 5 Employer Brand Strategic Platform TM On completion of the assessment of the Employer Brand Employee Platform TM elements, it is time to consider the performance of the firm against the elements of the Employer Brand Strategic Platform (see figure 36).

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Figure 36: Employer Brand Strategic Platform TM

Source: Brett Minchington 2006 The Employer Brand Strategic Platform TM elements include: Mission, Vision & Values The organisation's mission, vision, and values are the heart and soul of the organisation. They must be relevant, contemporary and meaningful to employees at all levels. They should be communicated in a clear and concise manner so that they are understood by all employees. The mission, vision and value statements should take into account the strategic intent and social, economic and environmental goals of the organisation. Try this simple test - ask a small sample of employees in your team to articulate the mission, vision, and values of your organisation. If they cannot provide the correct answers then it may be time to revisit these propositions! Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Business and society are interdependent. The wellbeing of one depends

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on the wellbeing of the other. Companies engaged in corporate social responsibility are reporting benefits to their reputation and their bottom line. CSR is good for society and good for business. 3 The collapse of Enron catapulted the issues of ethics and social responsibility of business to the top of the corporate agenda. Before the scandal, CSR had been a slow burning issue being championed by many but practised by few. Now it is the heart of many an anxious debate in boardrooms around the world. Corporate governance, the role of nonexecutive directors, the probity of auditing conventions and the ethical role of employees are all under closer scrutiny than ever before. There is an accumulation of evidence which shows that an organisation's reputation in the field of business ethics and CSR can tangibly affect it's attractiveness as an employer. 4 A company should define CSR for their particular business, understand the drivers and motivators for their CSR commitment, develop or enhance overarching CSR policies, and set relevant CSR goals, priorities and key performance indicators. I encourage leaders to ensure that CSR objectives are communicated through the corporate website. A visit to www.bodyshop.com 5 will demonstrate how leading firms committed to socially responsible work practices are communicating this to their internal and external audiences. This makes it easier to attract employees with similar values who are more likely to stay with an employer who lives and breathes their socially responsible values. Leadership The value that effective leadership in your organisation delivers to the employer brand cannot be underestimated. Research results consistently show that employees value good leadership. Employees value empowerment, consultation, and partnership. Bank SA's Managing Director, Rob Chapman leads by example and the benefits are obvious with significant increases in employee engagement and the Bank's financial results in the first three years of his tenure. Leaders should have their leadership capabilities evaluated using a credible 360degree measurement tool on a regular basis (e.g. part of annual performance review). It is important that employees have the opportunity to provide feedback to leaders as it should be seen as a two

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way process, not the 'my way - or the highway', scenario of the past. Good leadership builds great leadership by starting with recruiting the right 'leadership fit' that is aligned with the goals of the organisation. Corporate reputation and culture The ranking of the company in best employer to work for lists such as 'Hewitt's Best Employers List', 'The Sunday Times: 100 Best Companies to Work For', 'The Financial Times: Best Workplaces' (in the UK and EU), and Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For'- will assist in projecting a positive image to existing and prospective employees. High rankings give employees a sense of pride in working for an employer perceived as ‘an employer of choice’, and it helps to spread the word about the company's employment practices. Protecting the corporate reputation of the company is critical to organisational sustainability, and this does not mean the implementation of a slick public relations campaign to cover up bad practices. A sustainable reputation is built on effective people management policies and practices nurtured over a long period. Consider the impact on employees as a result of the extortion threat on Mars Bars in Australia in 2005. The company took quick action to recall all bars across Australia even though they were not legally required to do so. The swift action resulted in creating a perception in the minds of existing and prospective employees that Mars is a responsible employer and this resulted in consumers coming back in droves after the product appeared back on the shelf. In Jim Collin's research for his popular leadership book, 'From good to great', he found that organisations which make the leap from good to great are able to do so because of their focus on building a strong culture around their organisation, within which their employees can excel. These companies researched and built their own unique culture and filled it with highly disciplined people who were prepared to take disciplined action. They shook off bureaucracies, as 'bureaucratic cultures' only arose to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline in employees. Jim Collins found that when the right people are in place in your organisation, there is no need for bureaucracy! The importance of traditions cannot be overlooked in building a strong

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culture especially in the early days of employment. This is evident in the selection of the new Hewlett Packard CEO in 2005. HP Director Patricia Dunn was quoted as saying that HP chose Mark Curd as the new CEO after an extensive search due to his understanding of the role of culture in a company's success. This appeared to be a good choice in leadership style as HP has a culture that has been tested over the past five years following its megamerger with Compaq. Critics had questioned the leadership style of the previous CEO to support the culture and traditions at HP which had been developed over many years. The culture was deeply entrenced in the workforce 3 and commonly referred to as 'The HP Way'. People management policies and practices The focus on people management policies and practices has shifted from policy development to the implementation phase. Ask most employees and they will say that they have a work-life balance policy in their organisation. Ask the same person, 'How many people actually use the policy' and the answer may surprise! I attended a seminar on work-life balance in 2005 where an international recruitment firm presented the results of their research into work-life balance. Two guest speakers presented the role of work-life balance policies in their organisations. The first speaker gained instant credibility by articulating the firm's policy and by providing examples of how they were successful in implementing the policy. The second guest speaker, a CEO of a major law firm, mentioned that whilst the firm had a work-life balance policy only one person in their workforce of 200 was using it! Other policies and practices that should be considered in the development of the employer brand strategy are talent management, recruitment and induction, performance management, workplace bullying and reward and recognition. Performance management In its simplest form, the aim of any performance management process should be to improve the effectiveness of individuals and the company as a whole. Organisations should seek to achieve this outcome by

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establishing (in consultation with employees), performance objectives, assessment and professional development processes, in which employees have clear goals and are supported in achieving them. From my experience most employees fear the annual performance appraisal and become defensive at the first mention of the performance management process. I have had first hand experience of sophisticated IT performance management systems and in the end the most effective system has been where the performance management process is embedded in the culture of the organisation and becomes part of everyday language. I suggest beginning at the frontline of the organisation and involving employees in the design of a performance management process that is relevant to all parties and meets individual and organisational objectives rather than relying on a 'one size fits all' approach such as an off-the-shelf product. Innovation Innovation is the transformation of new ideas into sustainable valueadded outcomes. Evidence suggests that being more ‘innovation capable’ results in improved performance. The market forces impacting on organisations such as the ageing population and skills shortages means that firms need to become more innovative in the systems and processes if they are to continue to meet customer needs. Innovation is about finding new ways of doing business to build competitive advantage. The other important element in innovation is the need to foster an environment of entrepreneurship to allow the new ideas to be commercialised. Firms that encourage and nurture innovation will be more attractive to prospective employees than their competitors and it will also assist to retain existing staff. The Corporate brand All the elements of your brand-the name, logo, tagline, and design combine to form a message about what it is like to work at your company. The messages become synonymous with your company in the mind of existing and prospective employees. The message articulated by your corporate brand should align closely with those communicated by your employer brand. Through the course of my research for this book I

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came across an excellent example of how a company was using its corporate website to appeal to prospective employers. When I spoke to the head of human resources requesting to use a screen dump as an example of 'best practice' recruitment marketing, I was informed that the company was going through significant change and it wasn't a good time to use the company as an example of best practice for employer branding. I wonder how much money was put into the redesign of the website and how much is being invested on the employees that reside behind the corporate brand. This is a good example of how simply jazzing up your communication collateral alone will not contribute to building a strong employer brand. Market forces I highly recommend a PESTEL analysis be undertaken during the process of developing your employer brand program. The PESTEL analysis considers the following uncontrollable market forces and how they may impact on your employer brand. - Political - e.g. tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs, political stability - Economical - e.g. economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rate - Social - e.g. ageing population, health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes, emphasis on safety - Technological - e.g. R&D activity, automation, technology incentives, rate of technological change - Environmental - e.g. legislation, corporate social responsibility - Legal - e.g. trademarks, licensing, compliance, disclosure, industrial relations As detailed earlier in chapter 3 the ageing population will challenge organisations in the recruitment of talented and skilled employees in a shrinking talent pool. The outcome of the PESTEL analysis may lead the company to consider exploring the hidden job market (e.g. mature aged workers, single mothers, and disabled) to fill skill shortages as part of their employer brand strategy.

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Customers The most successful brands are built on an intimate knowledge of their customers. In much the same way, successful employer brands are build on an intimate knowledge of employees. The attitudes and actions of employees impact on the promise delivered to customers. Research shows that engaged and satisfied employees deliver higher levels of service to customers and the expression of customer satisfaction has a motivational effect on employees, inspiring them to voluntarily give even more of themselves for the purpose of increasing customer satisfaction. This has been referred to as the flashpoint effect. 7 Customers may be future employees and can make recommendations to others about their customer experiences. I recall the time I cancelled a wireless broadband subscription due to poor signal reception. Within the 'cooling off' period I was allowed to return the wireless broadband card for a refund from a major Australian telecommunications firm but was advised by a (rude!) employee that I had not returned the card within the store's refund timeframe. At the time the Director of the store was on the premises and the staff member excused herself and arranged for him to handle my query. The Director then preceded to recite the refund terms in a rude tone and also went to the effort of downloading a copy of the company's refund terms. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise when I noticed that the refund terms detailed that the card must be returned within 10 days of the cancellation of the service, not from the date of purchase. On explaining this to the Director he rang the company's helpline and proceeded to argue with the operator that his franchised store could overwrite the company's refund policy on hardware items if the hardware wasn't returned within 10 days of its purchase. In the end the Director agreed to refund the purchase price but not without the following parting comment, ‘I’m only doing this because the store is closing and I don't have any more time to discuss this with you’. Is that a store I would recommend anyone to work for!

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Prospective employees Earlier in chapter 6, Ewing et al (2005) defined 'employer attractiveness' as the envisioned benefits that a potential employee sees in working for a specific organisation. The construct may be thought of as an antecedent of the more general concept of employer brand equity. In other words, the more attractive an employer is perceived to be by potential employees, the stronger that particular organisation's employer brand equity. 9 The attitudes that individuals hold about employers are informed by their 'affective responses' to situations, people or things. Attitudes are affected by their own employment experiences of those of their family, friends, and colleagues. If the employment experience with an employer in a particular industry is a negative one (e.g. call centre), then that may impact on the attractiveness of the industry as a future employment prospect for the employee. As previously detailed in chapter 8 employee referral programs are becoming increasingly common in organisations serious about recruiting employees with values similar to the company's. Employees who are engaged in their work are more likely to refer the organisation as a place to work to their family, friends, and colleagues. This not only saves on recruitment costs, it also assists to attract a workforce whose employee values are more aligned with those of the organisation. Research shows that Generation Ys use the internet as a primary source of information about prospective employers. It is their experience at this employer brand touchpoint that may be the difference in the ability to attract this individual as a prospective employee. Stakeholders As part of employer brand research efforts it is recommended that a survey of a sample of company stakeholders be undertaken to determine how they perceive your employer brand. Consider how stakeholders perceive the company's work practices. How do they rate the service delivered by the employees? Chances are that if the service

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level is poor, the employee is likely to be disengaged in their work. I recall the excellent customer service provided by a Generation Y employee at a local supermarket I used to visit. The employee had a gift for engaging and uplifting customers during every transaction. The employee also appeared to know the name of the sales representatives who visited the store. The employee became the face of the store and the impact her attitude had on employees was evident in their dealings with customers. I actually found it an uplifting experience to visit the store and those who have visited the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle (world renowned for proving a first class customer experience, see www.pikeplacefish.com) 8 will understand what I mean! In the development of the employer brand strategy I recommend that stakeholders are included in the development of the employer brand vision and that a good relationship with stakeholders is leverage to foster improved employee work practices. Evaluating your employer brand program Universum Communication's employer branding global best practices report conducted in 2005 found companies typically evaluate and measure employer branding activities once a year. The most popular measurements are employee satisfaction and employee turnover (see figure 37). Considering the low priority many companies put on internal communication this is remarkable. Internal measures are often used to evaluate the employer brand, but employer branding objectives are seldom internal. 1

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Figure 37: What do companies measure and how often?

Source: Universum Communications 2005 - reproduced with permission In summary, the Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM provides a strategic tool to guide employer brand efforts and acts as a platform from which all employer brand actions flow from. My research found there are a number of approaches adopted by firms to develop their employer brand program. I found the following 8 step method a good summary for managers empowered to develop their employer brand. The process was developed by Ryan Estis (NAS Recruitment Communications) from Minneapolis, USA. 10 The 8 step process provides an informative overview and summary of the employer brand process for organisations in the early stages of developing their program and prior to undertaking an audit using the Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM . 8 Steps to developing an employer brand 9 Step 1 - Understand your business objectives What is leadership's vision for the future direction of your

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organisation? What is the commitment to growth, new markets, and business development? To the extent that it is possible, you need to engage frontline level leadership in supporting the employer branding initiative and encourage dialogue to help close any knowledge gaps with respect to near- and long-term organisational objectives. The more top-down buy-in you can achieve at the onset of your employer brand development, the more likely you are to succeed. Step 2 - Identify your talent needs Determine the talent needed to accomplish key business objectives in the future. Engage in workforce planning to clearly define the strategy necessary to align the needs for talent acquisition with the future direction of the business. Determine which skills are most critical to support the evolution of your organisation, and assess where gaps exist among the present workforce. You'll need to have a firm grasp of these key steps, and you'll need to present a talent acquisition plan, in real numbers, based on current trends with respect to openings, attrition, growth/transition projections, the percentage of the workforce nearing toward retirement, and new critical skills required by the organisation. A well-organised talent acquisition plan is essential for achieving consensus buy-in and the appropriate financial support. Step 3 - Determine the employer brand attributes Determine those key attributes that define the employment experience with the organisation. Take into consideration the things that shape your organisation, like mission, vision and values. Consider the role of the brand as a promise to candidates about the employment experience you offer, and make certain that the messaging is indeed accurate. At this stage in the process, it's often useful to conduct employee population focus groups to best ascertain what attributes are legitimate and resonate most powerfully with your contributing talent. There are tools available to obtain feedback online, or you can hold moderated roundtable sessions to encourage open dialogue around the employment experience among quality performers. Both are very useful in developing an accurate understanding of the employment experience. As a benchmark, encourage the participation of leadership in a related

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survey mechanism. Additional interviews with leadership around the employment offering will help you develop a gap analysis, which will allow you to determine whether the leadership perception of the quality of the employment experience is consistent with reality. Creating the awareness and working toward bridging any existing gaps are truly important steps in the effort to brand your organisation as a true employer of choice. Step 4 - Look for synergy with the corporate brand Many organisations have made great efforts to perpetuate an image of the product or service offerings that define their brand. It is important to consider how to best incorporate this messaging into the context of recruitment communications. The role of marketing and corporate communications is often essential in the employer brand development process, to the point where we now see hybrid HR/marketing roles emerging within leading organisations (with job titles like ‘employer brand manager’ or ‘employer marketing manager’). Regardless of whether the hybrid role exists at your organisation, you need to be certain to interface with a liaison from marketing or corporate communications as part of the process, in order to understand your current brand positioning and how to best leverage the existing concepts to fit the purposes of talent engagement. Consistency in all external communications can be achieved by working cooperatively with marketing, and the advantage is that much of the heavy lifting will often have already been accomplished. Step 5 - Develop a communications plan This outlines the talent engagement strategy and defines important considerations like budget, timing, markets, media, and project priority. Do some competitive intelligence gathering to benchmark your organisation against leading firms and industry best practices. Based on your own internal due diligence, determine what high impact areas need to be addressed first. Is the candidate interface on your website compelling? Does your firm have enough name recognition in the local marketplace? What percentage of hires are generated through internal referrals? What is your commitment to attracting diverse candidates? What is the perception among leading candidates about your firm as a

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potential employer? Make a case for the appropriate investment allocation and, through planning, shape your efforts and timeline toward process improvement. Step 6 - Develop the messaging and creative content A strong employer brand is synthesised through a theme designed to resonate with the target hiring demographic. The strongest themes introduce the organisation and allow for the opportunity to develop messaging that will engage the right candidates. Extend the messaging to focus on what you offer that is unique, different, or better in the context of your career opportunities. Strive to achieve consistency in communication through all external channels and consider focus group testing (internally and externally) prior to execution to ensure the message is on-target and the brand achieves the desired impact. The ongoing interface with your marketing liaison will ensure synergy with corporate communications while achieving the ultimate objective of presenting your employment experience in the most compelling way. Achieve consensus buy-in on the theme and its accompanying visuals. Step 7 - Establish metrics The adage that you cannot improve what you don't measure certainly applies here. At the onset, metrics based on desired outcomes should be established. Determinations based on your own unique challenges will guide your objectives, and it's likely that you are already measuring efforts to favourably impact cost, quality, and speed. A well-developed employer branding strategy will contribute to gains in each important area and deliver improved quality lead generation as the marketplace grows increasingly more competitive. Employer branding is as much an internal process as it is an external one. That's why it's important to carry the ‘brand’ experience beyond engagement, through on-boarding, and ultimately into support of your retention initiatives. To determine if you are living the ‘brand’ as an employer, solicit feedback from recent hires and those employees whose contributions you want to replicate. Equally important is obtaining feedback from those desired candidates who turned down an offer of employment and developing improvements to address those issues.

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Step 8 - Execute and evaluate Once you are ready for marketplace execution, you need to develop a platform of internal communications with a target launch date for the new employer brand. Give employees multiple touch points with the new brand by leveraging technology and appropriate internal communication channels. Unveil the new theme, visuals, and supporting strategy to engage new talent. This will create the necessary awareness and support among key employee stakeholders, who can leverage the new brand strategy to further perpetuate the right image around your organisation as an employer of choice. Engaged employees, who are resolved to share in the challenge of attracting more likeminded talent to an organisation where they believe one can exceed one's own potential, are the pinnacle achievement of any employer brand.

This chapter detailed the Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM that can be used by firms to assess, develop, manage and evaluate their employer brand programs. The quality of the outputs will be reliant in the quality of the inputs. Employer brand champions should be identified throughout the organisation and empowered with the role of championing employer brand efforts and maintaining focus on planned activities. They should also foster an environment that encourages innovation and creativity in employees that results in activities that continuously add value to the firm’s employer brand.

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Section 3 The Employer Branding Process Chapter 10 The Future for Employer Branding

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Having explored the rise in employer branding throughout the world it is clear that the future for employer branding looks extremely positive. Its future is being driven by a number of factors (see box below) which will have an increasing impact on firms over the coming years. I have previously mentioned that the employer brand process is a long term orientation to the management of people at work and those who use it as a quick fix solution do so at their peril! The sooner the process is initiated the sooner the benefits will flow. Companies who have invested in their employer brand programs such as those detailed in the following case studies of this book are beginning to realise the financial and operational benefits that the employer brand approach will bring.

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As detailed in chapter 1 The Economist survey in 2005 survey of 1,889 Personnel Today readers in the UK with responsibility for recruitment, 80% said that in the future employer branding will become more important. This is supported by the results of other global research undertaken with global brands and detailed throughout this book. Employer branding contributes to building competitive advantage by bringing together the capabilities of the HR, marketing and internal communication divisions to develop a sustainable employer value proposition that will attract, engage and retain talent.

In closing this three year journey which has culminated in the writing of this book I now begin another journey of contributing as both an employer brand researcher and practitioner to work with organisations from around the world to develop their employer brand programs that contribute to ensuring a larger number of employees of current and future generations can proudly say that their company is a 'GREAT PLACE TO WORK'.

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Section 4 Employer Brand Case Studies Thomas Cook

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Developing an employer brand at Thomas Cook Attracting a diverse and flexible workforce to meet future business challenges Thomas Cook UK & Ireland is one of the UK's largest travel companies, employing around 11,000 staff. Its principal operations include 616 high street shops selling travel and foreign exchange, 121 separate bureaux de change, seven Thomas Cook travel warehouses, four call centers, Thomas Cook TV and thomascook.com. Thomas Cook UK & Ireland is owned by German-based Thomas Cook AG, Europe's second largest leisure group. In 2004 Thomas Cook realised it had to look beyond its industry to widen the selection pool of people it needed. Here, Colin Dalby explains how it changed its approach to recruitment and began developing an employer brand for short and long term business successes. Thomas cook is one of the leading brand names in travel and attracts a large pool of candidates seeking a career in the industry and the chance to work for a well respected organisation. However, recognising the key people issues facing many organisations - low unemployment levels and an ageing workforce - the company recognised it could benefit by widening its search for new talent. A new approach would enable us to locate candidates with sales ability or potential outside the travel industry, whilst continuing with our quest for retail travel experience. To do this we needed to change the perception that retail travel experience was the only prerequisite to join the company. The key capabilities of a successful travel consultant centre around sales and service - travel is just the product on sale. The potential to sell and having the right personal attributes to thrive in a sales environment are key. Our aim was to move to front of mind for prospective employees as an employer of choice and start embracing activity to help us recruit a truly diverse workforce. Taking a fresh approach to recruitment We hadn't changed our recruitment and selection methods for a number of

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years and relied heavily on expensive standard press advertising, which didn't attract applications from candidates outside the industry. Although the holiday 'look and feel' of our recruitment adverts was vibrant, it mainly promoted the Thomas Cook holiday brands. We had a strong product offering already and there was no need to endorse this via our recruitment materials. Feedback from exit surveys and focus groups among new employees also told us that they had underestimated how much selling and focus on targets was involved. They also didn't fully comprehend the extent of demand from customers and how much there was to learn. Our recruitment process and materials needed to move away from a 'holiday' focus to a more realistic portrayal of roles in the travel industry. Looking to reap the benefits Improving retention of new employees by getting the right people in the first place, using more local low-cost recruitment activity and placing greater focus on online recruitment would all provide clear cost benefits. Our recruitment advertising spend annually was UK£0.5m and we also estimated that a one percent reduction in turnover could save UK£200,000, in the main by no loss of revenue of a person leaving. Our ratio of full-time to part-time employees was 70:30, limiting our ability to match resources against customer flow. Our trading pattern, both weekly and annually, indicated clear trends to suggest a push to recruiting more seasonal and flexible workers. Greater flexibility in the workforce would enable headcount to flex up and down and therefore lower payroll costs. We also recognised a mis-match in our customer and employee profiles, particularly in terms of age (see Figure 38, right).

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Figure 38: Customer vs. employee profile at Thomas Cook

Source: Melcrum Publishing 2005 - reproduced with permission Our overall strategy was to make Thomas Cook an employer of choice ensuring: 1. we recruited and embraced a diverse and flexible workforce; 2. our employee profile was closer aligned to our customer profile; and 3. our workforce would give us a competitive edge that could not be copied. Building an employer brand It became clear that building a strong employer brand was essential to attract new applicants to the organisation and help current employees understand the employee experience and package. Getting our employer brand right would ensure that new employees would become ambassadors for the organisation and have a major impact on how the public viewed us. Our new company values, PROUD, launched in 2003 (see figure 39), would provide the framework for all employees to work to.

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PROUD stands for: Figure 39: Thomas Cook Values (PROUD)

Source: Melcrum Publishing 2005 - reproduced with permission Developing new concepts In 2003 we set up a recruitment team specifically to review our processes and develop new methods to build an employer brand and a stronger corporate identity for prospective employees. We worked with a creative marketing communications agency to help drive our strategy. They developed two concepts: the strapline 'Great people make our world go round', which would underpin our Thomas Cook globe logo and 'You'll Go Far', which would become the focal point for all recruitment activity and internal communication. These concepts embody what Thomas Cook as an employer in the travel industry is all about. People are at the centre of everything we do selling the holiday, being there for the customer on the flight and providing support in overseas resorts. 'The You'll Go Far' concept was not just about recruitment. It's a holistic approach which includes people development, communication and retention. It's about shifting internal perceptions as part of a long-term effort.

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Recruitment under You'll Go Far was geared around attracting people that: 1. reflected our customer profile; 2. were flexible in their working patterns to maximise sales opportunities; 3. were self-motivated, ambitious and committed to giving the highest standards of customer service; 4. have lots of energy and a passion for travel; 5. have the ability to sell Impact on campaigns The launch of our employer brand was timed to coincide with one of the largest recruitment campaigns we'd ever conducted. We needed to recruit 1,000 people across our retail stores and sales centers during the peak holiday booking period in January and February 2004. We also had to address the fact that a recruitment freeze earlier in the year had resulted in cutbacks to our resource levels in preceding months. To kickstart the campaign we placed 30 press adverts, advertisements across 20 radio stations, on our own Web site and in stores. This was reinforced by PR support that resulted in a number of press articles that raised awareness of the people we were looking to attract. The campaign attracted high caliber candidates, noticeably an increased number of people who were returning to work, particularly mothers. Twenty recruitment roadshow events were run across the UK, culminating in 258 job offers being made across the retail network. During a three-month period we also made 600 offers outside these campaigns, almost a third higher than previous year's intake. A robust selection process The campaign included new adverts with the You'll Go Far logo and visuals using our own employees. This illustrated the people-centric culture we wanted to display, moving away from the holiday theme used previously. We wanted to make our adverts more creative to sell the Thomas Cook employer experience and target the audience we wanted to apply. We met with Age Positive, the UK government campaign focusing on eradicating ageism from UK employment.

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Thomas Cook was recognised as an employer champion in the cause. We demonstrated that we were encouraging all ages to apply and were actively looking to recruit mature applicants to begin matching our customer profile. We communicated all the details to our workforce through videos and Head Office updates. A key example of recruitment success was in our Direct business, made up of four call centers across the UK. It's one of our most rapidly growing businesses and earlier in 2004 implemented a recruitment campaign that brought in nearly 300 employees over a three-month period to resource for forecasted sales volumes. We introduced a new robust selection process to ensure candidates had the right personal attributes in regards to the PROUD capabilities as well as strong sales ability. We trained all assessors and utilised a PC-based assessment tool. As a result we've seen improved sales, improved call conversion rates and reduction in data entry errors in comparison to the performance of the 2003 intake of new joiners. Creating a diverse workforce Diversity would allow us to create a workforce that was both flexible and more closely matched to our customer profile (see Figure 40, below). Figure 40: Thomas Cook's employer brand strategy

Source: Melcrum Publishing 2005 - reproduced with permission

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Our customers were telling us they wanted to deal with confident, professional and enthusiastic people. They saw real benefits to staff with first hand experience of the resorts and destinations they were travelling to and they wanted to be served by people who had a real passion for travel. We recognised that moving forward it was people who had life skills and potential to thrive in a sales environment that we needed to attract. We needed to look at the mature workforce, returning mothers and - with a female to male ratio in the sales force of 89:11 - attracting more male employees. Diversity wasn't just about the age and gender profile, we also wanted to target workers from other industries. Getting the diversity piece right would pay real dividends to achieving our business goals. Our aim was to make inroads into matching our employee profile to our customer profile, and subsequently to increase levels of customer service and product knowledge. We aim to grow the number of flexible workers through key time, term time and seasonal working - which would best match our trading hours and meet employee needs. The overall goal was to employ 50 percent of our people working core hours, with the other 50 percent working flexible hours to allow headcount to flex up or down with seasonal trends. Focus on retention In addition to attracting and selecting the best people for Thomas Cook, it was equally important to get retention right. Thomas Cook is currently reviewing its strategies in this area and considering a number of approaches. Pay has always been one of the major factors driving employee turnover in the industry. Retail travel is regarded as a low pay industry and will probably remain so due to the low profit margins of the business. Our aim is to promote the other positive factors of working in the industry. After all, travel is about selling dreams and should be recognised as one of the most exciting products to sell to consumers. Driving sales is also linked to rewarding employees through sales incentives and we are communicating, internally and externally, our sales incentives, travel discounts,

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education and flexible benefits, all of which help build an attractive and competitive package. However, we do emphasise to prospective employees that they will work in a sales environment - it's not all glamour and travel in these roles, as those looking to pursue a career in travel sometimes perceive. Succession planning We've focused on succession planning by providing clear career pathways and development opportunities. For many years Thomas Cook has run a successful Modern Apprentice scheme and in 2004 aims to attract 400 people. Trainees gain work experience for an 18-month period while completing qualifications in travel and tourism. This provides a foundation for Thomas Cook to optimise internal talent and fill future vacancies. This year we've also recruited 12 graduates to our UK Graduate Management scheme. The scheme is geared to fast-tracking individuals to future senior management roles in the organisation. For employees wishing to progress their careers we now have in place clear, structured career progression plans, enabling individuals to gain new skills and take on new opportunities. Training and development In 2003 we introduced an initiative where all new employees take part in a Thomas Cook PROUD culture day. The aim is to ensure that from the first day of their induction employees understand what Thomas Cook is all about - our history, strategy and values. Training at Thomas Cook also includes a blended approach to development, provided through a combination of courses and self study. Through our SAP HR information system, employees can view and book training courses online and once attended, the system builds a profile for each employee on their acquired skills and knowledge. Getting buyin from line managers Creating an employer brand and making your company an employer of choice cannot be achieved alone by the central HR function. All employees should champion the cause, particularly line managers. To encourage this we provide training and tools to help drive our strategy right through the business. Recruiting the right people to work hours

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that match the business needs can be effectively managed at local level because managers have the best knowledge of their local community and workforce demographics. We've started to encourage managers to use local tactics and share their successes and best practice with colleagues. Successful initiatives include networking in their retail area, communicating resource plans with their team and visiting local schools and colleges to raise the profile of careers at Thomas Cook. Because customers tell us they like to be served by people who have experience of resorts and destinations we may also approach welltravelled customers to inform them of job opportunities. In addition, we've redesigned our recruitment training program for line managers. This isn't just about interview techniques. It's designed to get the basics right - spending more time with candidates at the interview stage and keeping reserves 'warm' with effective communication that creates a local database to select from the next time a vacancy arises. The simple message to managers is that we need to get the right people at the right time for the right cost. It's also about ensuring that unsuccessful candidates have a good experience and aren't put off returning to Thomas Cook in future as customers. Store managers have also received comprehensive new recruitment guides that give them tools to make them a successful recruiter - providing guidelines on the selection process, the methods they can use and local tactics to employ at minimal cost.

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Successes to date Overall, the move to a flexible workforce is making headway. Our ratio of part-time to full-time employees is now 35:65, whereas six months ago it was 30:70. The aim to encourage more males is seeing results, particularly in the sales centers. We're also finding a greater number of mature applicants applying for roles. We see these trends continuing as we maintain our focus on these aims, push forward on retention plans and start to build a holistic diversity strategy. We are on a journey but there is still a long way to go - we have completed some quick fixes, and although we're well on the way to change, we still have plenty to do. But, with great people we're confident we'll go far.

Key Points Thomas Cook needed to expand its recruitment pool beyond those with travel industry experience. 1. The company needed a more flexible workforce, and also one that reflected its customer profile in terms of age. 2. The 'You'll go Far' campaign focused on employee development and internal communication as well as a new approach to recruitment. 3. The campaign resulted in high-calibre applicants and, in call centres, improved performance. 4. Thomas Cook is taking a holistic approach to retention, highlighting factors other than pay that make it an attractive place to work. 5. The company has also trained and provided resources for line managers on recruitment.

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Section 4 Employer Brand Case Studies Bank SA

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The following case study involved a personal interview with BankSA's Managing Director, Mr Rob Chapman in Dcember 2005. The importance of senior leadership support in developing your employer brand. Rob Chapman joined BankSA as Managing Director in July 2002 after an extensive career in the financial services industry. Mr Chapman was previously the Adelaide-based Regional General Manager for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's operations in South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia. Prior to this, he held a number of senior roles with Colonial State Bank and Prudential Corporation Australia. Mr Chapman is President of Business SA, a Trustee of CEDA and President of CEDA SA, a Board Member of the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation and serves on a number of fundraising committees. The organisation BankSA, a division of St.George Bank Limited, is the largest financial institution in South Australia and is the State's main provider of housing, personal finance and rural banking services. The Bank also plays a key role in the community as a sponsor of major State events such as BankSA Crime Stoppers and more recently the Adelaide Fringe Festival and through the BankSA & Staff Charitable Fund which makes donations to approximately 100 South Australian and Northern Territory-based charities each year. BankSA has been a part of the fabric of South Australia since 1848. With a full range of lending and investment products, merchant card services and EFTPOS, import and export finance services and leasing, BankSA caters to the financial requirements of South Australian businesses across all sectors.

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BankSA provides a wide range of funds management, life and general insurance services and superannuation and investment services. It has a successful track record of innovative practices and was the first South Australian bank to provide transaction banking services to its customers over the Internet. BankSA has the largest network of branches and ATMs in South Australia - more than 120 branches located in metropolitan and rural South Australia as well as branches in the Northern Territory. Business structure BankSA is made up of five different business units: -

Metropolitan Banking Rural Banking Commercial Banking Strategy & Marketing Risk Management

BankSA differentiates its employment offering by its strong connection with customers and local community. ‘More than 90 percent of the Bank's staff interact directly with their customers ensuring they have strong relationships and are in touch with their needs’, Mr Chapman said. ‘There are only three layers of management between the customer and the Bank's Managing Director, eliminating bureaucracy and allowing changes to be easily made for the benefit of the customer and business’. BankSA's local autonomy allows it to tailor business plans and make local decisions to meet the needs of the community.

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Role of the Managing Director Rob Chapman prefers to lead by example, particularly in the area of customer service. He not only makes phone calls to customer to determine if the Bank is delivering on its promise, he also has his own customer commitment plans to improve customer service, just as he asks of the staff. Mr Chapman believes in a very open and honest leadership style and makes himself available and approachable to staff regardless of their role in the organisation. He likes to establish this relationship from the start and spends an hour welcoming new staff as part of the Bank's induction program for all new employees. Prior to Mr Chapman's arrival at BankSA in 2002, the induction program was conducted over one week. Realising the benefits of a committed and engaged workforce Mr Chapman increased the induction period from 1 to 4 weeks and has made a point of attending the first and last day of the program to ensure he is accessible to all new staff and that they have the opportunity to ask him questions right at the start of their employment experience at the Bank. Mr Chapman does not believe in ivory tower managers and this is evident by his own friendly and engaging leadership style and welcoming office ambience that includes a comfortable couch that encourages open and relaxed discussions. Employer brand To ensure that the Bank's employer brand is closely aligned with its corporate brand, staff have an input into the strategic direction of the Bank. ‘It is important that the General Manager of Human Resources is a member of the BankSA Executive’, Mr Chapman said.

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‘If we are serious about our people management strategies, then we have to lead from the front and involve our senior HR personnel in decisions which ultimately will affect people at all levels of the bank’, Mr Chapman said. Asked how staff would describe the organisation they work for, Mr Chapman replied: ‘they would say they are working for an organisation that is an important part of the local community and a South Australian leader’. It is this ethos that resonates through all levels of employees at BankSA and comes through in their relationships with customers in the branch network. BankSA has developed a different employer value proposition for the different generations working at BankSA. For the ‘Baby Boomer’ cohorts it is security, competitive remuneration and valuing the experience and loyalty of many long-term staff through programs such as the Long Service Awards. For Generation X and increasingly for Generation Y, the employer value propositions are competitive remuneration, career opportunity and diversity, substantial investment in training such as our online training and graduate program, and ‘My Benefits’ - a program providing staff discounts, benefits and assistance in all aspects of their life - finances, careers, family, lifestyle, workplace. For all employees, the Bank's support of the community and company values are also important. Those values spell out the acronym - ‘ExCITE’ which stands for excellence, customer focus, integrity, teamwork and valuing each other (see figure 41).

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Figure 41: St George (Bank SA) Values

Source: St George Bank Limited - reproduced with permission Mr Chapman describes BankSA's employer brand promise as ‘market leader’ which stretches far beyond credibility as a financial institution to employment opportunities, working conditions, training, job security, employee benefits, charitable and community involvement. To ensure employees at all levels are aware of performance and profitability issues, Mr Chapman personally sends regular emails to all employees updating them on the Bank's performance progress. In addition, he also works closely with the Regional Managers and Key Branch Managers who share information on business targets with their team. Mr Chapman encourages them to involve their whole team in the creation of action plans to foster a sense of ownership and ensure that everyone has a strong awareness of targets and the importance of their role to the overall business.

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To ensure employee feedback reaches back to the senior levels of leadership at the Bank there are several formal opportunities for employees to provide feedback including half yearly reviews, the annual independent and anonymous employee engagement survey conducted by Gallup and, at a branch level, there are also weekly team meetings. The Bank also conducts surveys and asks for feedback from employees regarding new training programs and projects as the need arises. Mr Chapman makes a point of regularly talking to employees at all levels to gain their feedback. This helps him keep ‘his finger on the pulse’ and meet the changing aspirations of employees at all levels. Mr Chapman ensures that the Bank delivers on its value proposition by ensuring the Bank's values are hard-wired to the Bank's employees. Living and delivering on the Bank's values is part of the half yearly performance employee review process. ‘The values are also part of everything we do at BankSA such as the Star Awards, which recognises excellence in internal or external customer service. Everyone is encouraged to recognise the value of their colleague's work by nominating them for awards. BankSA undertakes an anonymous annual engagement survey of all employees and the results show that the Bank's employer brand strategy is working - staff engagement has increased by 32% in the past three years’, Mr Chapman said. People management is a fundamental part of the Bank's core business strategy - engaged people + great customer experience = superior financial results. ‘We are delivering on each component of this strategy and it is resulting in record profit. In the last financial year 2004/2005 our staff engagement increased by 11 percent and our customer satisfaction rose by 11 per cent leading to a 14.5% increase in our profit before tax’, Mr Chapman said.

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The Bank is serious about measuring the success of it's employer brand efforts and uses some of the metrics detailed in table 1 to measure their employer brand efforts - employee turnover, employee absenteeism, employee overall satisfaction, employee engagement and employee turnover costs The following table summaries the performance of the Bank against these measures over the past 3 years:

Effective people management practices at BankSA have resulted in significant financial gains made by the Bank - a $189m before tax profit for the year ended 2005 up from $120m before tax profit year ended 2002, the year before Mr Chapman commenced as Managing Director. Mr Chapman's commitment to the employer brand concept demonstrates what can be achieved when there is Managing Director / CEO support for developing and implementing employer brand strategies.

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Section 4 Employer Brand Case Studies The Compass Group

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Compass Group Compass Group is three years into an organisational change strategy designed to create a unified culture to 'glue' together what was and still is a highly decentralised global business, enabling it to grow organically. While the business has faced significant challenges in the last 12 months, the real value in this culture change has been the continuity it has provided and platform it has created for future growth. Following the launch of a new vision and set of core values, the Group developed and implemented a new employer brand grounded in employee research, championed by senior managers and aligned to a clear strategic priority - to attract, develop and retain 'great people'. Compass Group is the world's largest food service company, providing food, vending and related services on its clients' premises in over 90 countries and employing some 400,000 staff worldwide. It has been on a massive growth journey since 1987, at which time it operated solely in the UK and had only around 20,000 employees. Through multiple acquisitions, the company has expanded rapidly and seen sales increase from £200 million to £12 billion. Business context Having created this global platform through acquisitions, Compass Group's strategy changed in 2002 to one of driving organic growth, with the emphasis on 'leveraging' the scale and reach of the business to deliver better value. To facilitate this transition, the executive board recognised the need to set a common direction and sustainable course for what had become, in effect, a new organisation - one made up of the individual cultures and histories of the 167 acquired companies that had joined Compass Group in the previous 15 years. The objective was to create a common language and culture, a 'glue' to bind the various parts of the business together that would help to establish a shared way of thinking and behaving.

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To further this aim, Compass Group embarked on an organisational change strategy, under the banner 'Our journey from good to great'. This set out to: 1. make explicit the fundamental principles and values underpinning the company's success 2. communicate with and engage all employees, especially those in front-line teams, so that they work towards clear company goals 3. strengthen the employment offer and improve recruitment and retention 4. build the company's reputation with all key stakeholders 5. continue to improve service delivery to clients and customers, helping to drive increased loyalty and differentiating Compass Group from its competitors. Establishing a vision and values The first stage of this strategy was the development of a new vision and set of values. From the outset, Compass Group recognised a fundamental link between the quality of its people and service and its results - for clients, customers and shareholders. The vision statement Following extensive consultation, communication and piloting with employees across the Group, a vision and core set of values were identified that would be simply understood and meaningful to all. The vision was distilled into the statement: 'great people, great service, great results', which was presented in a way that gives equal weight to all three elements. Core values Aligned to this are five core values, which identify the common behaviours that characterise how Compass Group employees go about their work. They are: 1. have a 'can do' attitude 2. embrace diversity 3. share success

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4. have a passion for quality 5. win through teamwork. The new vision and values were signed off at an executive-level strategy meeting in January 2002 and launched at the firm's global senior management conference later that year. With this foundation in place and having stated that 'great people' were integral to the company's vision, Compass Group moved into the second and key phase of its change program - to build and launch a new employer brand. Developing the employer brand To achieve its strategic goal of being recognised as a preferred employer, Compass Group set out to create a powerful employer brand that would set it apart from other employers and enable it to attract, develop and retain employees. Guiding principles The Group set itself some guiding principles to clarify what it wanted from an employer brand. Ideally, the brand would: 1. deliver value to existing staff while being compelling to potential recruits 2. be firmly aligned to the vision and values 3. be credible and meaningful, deliverable and measurable, simple and clear to communicate 4. be unique to compass group, a clear differentiator 5. establish a platform for building the company's reputation as a preferred employer, both internally and externally. Throughout the project, another key challenge was how to create consistency while retaining the individuality of local business units and while continuing to value the organisation's rich diversity of cultures. In the words of Tim Small, the director of group internal communications and brand management, Compass Group is 'a house of brands rather than a branded house.' So, in addition to fulfilling the

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above requirements, the brand also had to be 'glocal' - simultaneously a strong global identity for Compass Group and one that overlaid harmoniously with the many existing, local brand identities. Validating the business case Compass Group quickly established the commercial benefits of developing an employer brand. Principally, the company envisaged benefiting from a reduced cost of employee turnover. At even a conservative estimate, just a one percent reduction in annual turnover would mean a direct saving of £16 million. In addition, the company expected a strong employer brand to improve sales, service delivery and productivity, through its positive impact on the motivation of employees. In terms of the bottom line, there was a clear and tangible case for brand development. Managing the project In such a large organisation, teamwork was always going to be central to the successful development and implementation of the employer brand. A small, versatile core team was set up, directly supported by sponsors and linked with operational teams around the world (see figure 42). The core team itself was led by two senior members of the Group's International HR Forum - the director of leadership & development, Tracy Robbins, and the executive vice-president of HR in the Americas, Chris Ashcroft. The rest of the team was selected against criteria of: proven skills and credibility in driving through major strategic projects; multi-national representation; a strong affinity with people; and specialist skills and experience in areas such as communication, culture change, recruitment and resourcing. The International HR Forum was crucial for communicating to, and gaining feedback from, individual HR teams around the business.

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Figure 42: Compass Group's cross-functional employer branding team

Source: IDS 205 - reproduced with permission The Group's executive board and, principally, the CEO, were the sponsors. In addition, a number of 'key operators' - opinion-formers across the business - were selected to give feedback and input on each stage of the development. Brand management expertise was provided throughout by the marketing team responsible for managing the Group's consumer brands, while other internal specialists (from functions such as PR and internal communications) also provided input. In addition, two specialist branding consultancies - Hewitt Associates and Bernard Hodes Group - were appointed following a tendering process to work on aspects of the new employer brand. Defining the brand promise Following a period of initial research that involved identifying best practice within the business (eg in France, where some employer branding work had already been undertaken) and analysing how other companies had successfully implemented an employer brand, the core team set about identifying a brand promise unique to Compass Group. This was done primarily through extensive employee research.

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Employee research Employee research was focused around identifying what staff believed to be unique about working for the Group and what sort of brand promises resonated with them. As Tim Small explains: ‘Research has been crucial to everything we have done - the emphasis has been on talking to our people because they are the ones who know best what it means to work at Compass Group’. An initial e-mail survey was used as a 'toe in the water', this was enhanced by feedback from the global employee survey and followed up with focus groups of representative front-line staff in 20 countries. One of the key findings was that a majority of employees identified with the scale and size of the organisation, associating this with strength and also the ability to offer its staff more opportunities than other employers. This insight formed the basis of Compass Group's employer brand promise, encapsulated in the strap-line: 'great people real opportunities'. Fleshing out the promise With 'opportunities' identified as the key driver of employee loyalty, further research was then undertaken (in focus groups and workshops) to pinpoint what kind of opportunities staff expected from their experience of working at Compass Group.

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Clarifying standards This helped the project team to pinpoint eight clear standards for delivering the brand promise. The 'real opportunities' that Compass Group committed to delivering are the opportunities to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

have a great start (i.e. induction) have a work-life balance learn & grow be recognised be in the know share great ideas make a positive impact share rewards.

These were to form the basis of future initiatives to support the brand, as well as providing a framework for measuring delivery of the brand promise across the organisation. Creating a visual identity The next step was to develop a coherent visual identity for the brand. Focus group feedback clearly indicated that this should feature Compass Group staff living the company values - it was thought that this would bring authenticity to the brand and provide public recognition to individuals. In the event, three creative treatments were designed, all of which feature real employees from across the business who are role models and who, in one way or another, have benefited from 'real opportunities'. With strap-lines such as 'being great comes naturally' and 'different tastes, different dreams, different cultures same values', the emphasis of the posters (used both internally and for recruitment purposes) is on celebrating the diversity of employees and on communicating - through direct eye contact with the camera - a sincere relationship between the individual and target audiences. In addition to the poster campaigns, an 'identity block' was developed which brings together the Compass Group logo with those of its subsector brands, along with the promise line 'great people real opportunities' (see figure 43). This emphasises that Compass Group is a

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family of brands, showing potential recruits how joining one part of the business means belonging to the wider family. The development of common visual standards and an online image library of Compass Group people has been a crucial part of brand delivery, giving operating companies the flexibility to personalise their recruitment advertising while remaining consistent with the overall brand identity. Figure 43: The identity block and the employer brand promise

Source: IDS 2005 - reproduced with permission Implementing the brand At the hub of the implementation work was the core team, who managed the launch and communication program that spearheaded the rollout of the brand across the business. In addition, brand 'champions' were appointed in each division to help co-ordinate the implementation. The champions attended a workshop in the preliminary phase for a thorough briefing on the brand implementation process. Alignment workshops Through workshop programs involving HR and business teams, each business had to identify how well it was delivering the eight opportunities and then put in place an action plan to bridge any performance gaps. In some cases, alignment was led by board members, as in the case of the UK & Ireland and the Americas, where the divisional CEOs led the workshops in person.

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Internal communications Each business launched the brand internally with support from the centre. (The box below sets out some general guidelines that informed the communications strategy).

Initially, a 'brand centre' micro-site was set up on the Group's global intranet, Mercury, as a one-stop shop on anything related to the brand. This included all implementation and communication tools, creative guidelines and best practice case studies. In addition, a comprehensive and innovative communications toolkit was developed to support implementation. This included a briefing pack for managers, a standard presentation pack and a launch video for communicating the employer brand to the management community. This 15-minute film was presented by the CEO and included case study profiles of Compass Group employees from around the world. Using these tools, the brand was cascaded down to front-line teams, where unit managers held specific briefing sessions on the new employment brand. The primary message of communications reinforced the idea that, at Compass Group, opportunities are available and accessible to all and that every employee is encouraged to take full advantage of them.

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HR support for the brand Attracting, developing and retaining 'great people' is recognised by the Compass Group board as a key strategic challenge. HR has therefore had a continuous role in developing and delivering the employer brand, particularly around the eight 'opportunities'. Compass Group has been careful to back up its brand promises with tangible initiatives that demonstrate its commitment and help to bring the values to life. 'Ultimately, brand experience is about day-to-day delivery', says Tim Small, ‘If you don't get that right you end up with a bankrupted brand that loses all credibility’. Two examples of initiatives that directly support the brand are the new staff suggestion scheme, '100 Great Ideas', and a recognition scheme called 'Be A Star'. These provide opportunities for all staff to 'be recognised' and 'share great ideas' and are clearly linked to other brand promises, such as 'making a positive impact'. Every year, a booklet is produced detailing each of the 100 great ideas. This is distributed across the business so that ideas can be shared, copied, improved and passed on. Surveying employees How well the company 'lives the brand' is measured through its global employee satisfaction survey, which is conducted every 18 months. It is an opportunity for staff to give their opinion about how Compass Group is delivering on the brand and progressing on its 'journey from good to great', which helps to pinpoint areas of improvement both at a strategic and an individual unit level. Survey results and other research feeds directly into continuous improvement efforts, with each unit manager receiving a breakdown of the areas that have been highlighted as below par. These are specifics based on team feedback - the team is then involved in discussing with the manager what the collective action plan is for achieving improvement aims. The purpose is to engage employees by showing them that their feedback translates directly into actionable goals.

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Reaping the benefits As a result of the launch of the vision and values, followed by the implementation of its new employer brand, Compass Group has achieved a clear and unified global identity and a greatly enhanced profile in the labour market. The most significant commercial benefits have been tangible improvements in recruitment and retention, most notably in the Group's two largest divisions (UK & Ireland and the Americas). Achievements include: 1. a 20-fold increase in people visiting the UK e-recruitment website 2. internal promotions are up by ten percent in the UK and by 22.5 per cent in the Americas 3. labour turnover in the Americas has reduced by two percent, saving $6 million 4. a £300,000 saving on media and advertising spend in the UK, due to the consistency of branded recruitment materials. In terms of brand delivery, the most recent global employee satisfaction survey shows that 70 percent of staff believe they 'have a great start', 66 percent report satisfaction with their work-life balance and 61 percent believe that they have the opportunity to 'make a positive impact'. Overall, the company has seen a four percent increase in the key drivers of loyalty; two out of three people state they are proud to work for Compass Group and in terms of advocacy, 60 percent would recommend it as a place to work. External recognition of the Group's innovative work on branding has been quick to follow. The Group has won a number of awards for its people programs. Most notably - and most satisfactorily, given that the ranking is based primarily on employee opinion - Compass Group was recently placed 7th in the Sunday Times '10 Best Big Companies to Work For' list.

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Section 5 Employer Brand Excellence Sorecard TM Worksheets

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Notes

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Reference lists

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Preface 1. Barrow, S., Mosley, R. (2005) 'The Employer Brand ® - Bringing the best to brand management to people at work’, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, London. 2. Thorne, K. (2005) 'One stop guide to employer branding', Personnel Today Management Resources.

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Chapter 1 1. 'Employer branding is key in fight for talent' (17 May 2005), Personnel Today, http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/05/17/29929/ Employer+branding+is+key+in+fight+for+talent.htm 2. 'Employer branding spawns competitive edge of the future', (2005) Universum Communications (2005) 3. 'Engaging employees through your brand' - reprinted with permission of The Conference Board (www.conference-board.org), a not-for-profit business research organisation with offices in New York, Brussels, and Hong Kong 4. 'The employer branding survey', (2003), The Economist 5. Hall, M. (2005), 'The Compass Group case study', IDS employer brand report, London 6. 'Employer branding: global best practices report 2005', Universum Communications 7. Reprinted with permission from Work USA 2002, 'Weathering the storm: A study of employee attitudes and opinions' © 2006 Watson Wyatt Worldwide. For more information, visit www.watsonwyatt.com 8. Hays Recruitment (2005), 'What employees want: our most popular employers', http://www.hays.com.au/news/newsdesc.aspx?id=149

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Chapter 2 1. Hamel, G. and Prahalad, CK (1990) 'The core competence of the organisation', in Harvard Business Review, May-June 2. Hubbard, G. (2000) 'Strategic management: thinking analysis and action', Prentice Hall, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales 3. Porter M. (1986) 'What is strategy', in Harvard Business Review, Vol 74(6) 4. Porter, M. (1985) 'Competitive advantage', The Free Press, New York

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Chapter 3 1. The United Nations programme on ageing, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop1.htm, accessed 2006 2. The United Nations programme on ageing, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/agewpop.htm, accessed 2006 3. www.bloomberg.com, U.S. births, immigration boost social security system (Update1), http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea& &sid=a1LSvOsp9iUE, accessed 2006 4. Productivity Commission 2005, ‘Economic implications of an ageing Australia’, research report, Canberra 5. Australia's Workforce 2005: Jobs for the future, http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/publications/2005sum.htm 6. Hywood, G., Migration, like finance, needs to be deregulated, http://www.theage.com.au/news/Opinion/Migration-like-finance-needs-to-bederegulated/2005/02/09/1107890270533.html, February 10, 2005 7. www.workplace.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/ A821DE6D-8708-4E63-BADC6FBB107A1A83/0/NSSTradesupdateDecember2004V2.pdf

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Chapter 4 1. Reprinted with permission from International Survey Research LLC, 303 East Ohio Street Suite 2100, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA 2. Reprinted with permission from 'Work USA 2002 - Weathering the storm: A study of employee attitudes and opinions', a research paper prepared by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. For information, visit www.watsonwyatt.com 3. Barrow, S.,and Mosely, R (2005) 'The Employer Brand © : Bringing the best of brand management to people at work', John Wiley and Sons Ltd, London 4. The Economist (2003), 'The employer branding survey'. 5. 'Engaging employees through your brand' - reprinted with permission of The Conference Board (www.conference-board.org), a not-for-profit business research organisation with offices in New York, Brussels, and Hong Kong 6. 'Employer branding: global best practices report 2005', Universum Communications 7. Rogers, F., Towers Perrin, 'Originally published in Strategic HR Review', Volume 2 Issue 6, Sept/Oct 2003. For more information see www.melcrum.com/link/shrr

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Chapter 5 1. P&G: 'Changing the face of consumer marketing (2/5/2000), Harvard Business School - Working Knowledge', http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=1476&t=bizhistory&noseek=one 2. Knapp, DE (2000), 'The brand mindset', McGraw Hill, New York 3. Davis S (2002), ‘Brand asset management - Driving profitable growth through your Brands', Josey Bass, a Wiley Imprint, San Francisco 4. Sharp, B (1995), 'Brand equity and market-based assets of professional services firms', Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 13 (1), pp3-13. 5. Dowling, G (1994), 'Corporate reputations - strategies for developing the corporate brand', Longman, Melbourne 6. Widing et al (2003) 'Customer behaviour: consumer behaviour and beyond', Thomson, Melbourne

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Chapter 6 1. Sherry, A. (2000), 'Put some branding iron into your image', Business Review Weekly, 22(28), p. 66 2. Wolfinbarger, M.E. Gilly, M.C (1991), 'A conceptual model of the impact of advertising on service employees:, Psychology and Marketing’, 8 (Fall), 215-237 3. Gilly, M.C., and Wolfinbarger, M (1998), 'Advertising's internal audience', Journal of Marketing, 62 (1), pp. 69-88. 4. Watson, R.T., Akselsen, S. & Pitt, L.F (1998), 'Attractors: building mountains in the flat landscape of the World Wide Web', California Management Review, 40 (20), 36-56. 5. Agres, S.J. & Dubitsky, T.M (1996), 'Changing needs for brands', Journal of Advertising Research (January/February), 21-30. 6. Berthon, P., Hulbert, J. & Pitt, L (1999), 'Brand management prognotications:’, Sloan Management Review (Winter), 53-65. 7. Berthon, P., Ewing, M.T. & Hah, L.L (2005), 'Capitavating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding’, International Journal of Advertising, 24, 2, pp 151-172 8. Soutar, G. N., & Clarke, A (1983). 'Examining business students' career preferences: a perceptual space approach', Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 23 (1), 11-21. 9. Gatewood, R.D., Gowan, M.A. and Lautenschlager, G.J., (1993), 'Corporate image, recruitment image and initial job choice decisions', Academy of Management Journal, 36(2), pp. 414-427. 10. Jurgensen, C.E., (1978) 'Job preferences (What Makes a Job Good or Bad?)', Journal of Applied Psychology, 63(3), pp. 267-276.

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Chapter 6 (cont) 11. Collins, C.J. and Stevens, C.K (2002), 'The relationship between early recruitment-related activities and the application decisions of new labor-market entrants: A brand equity approach to recruitment', Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 6, 1121-1133. 12. Bergstrom, A., Blumenthal, D. and Crothers, S (2002), 'Why internal branding matters: The Case of Saab', Journal of Communication Management, 5(2/3), pp. 133-142 13. Ambler, T. (2000), 'Marketing and the bottom line', Pearson Education Ltd, UK 14. Mahroum, S (2000), 'Highly skilled globetrotters: Mapping the international migration of human capital', R&D Management, 30(1), pp. 23-31. 15. Harari, O (1998), 'Attracting the best minds’, Management Review, 87(4), pp. 23-26. 16. Ambler T. and Barrow, S (1996), 'The employer brand', Journal of Brand Management, 4, 3, 185-206 17. Ritson, M (2002), 'Marketing and HR collaborate to harness employer brand power', Marketing, 24 18. Hoffman, L (1999), 'Redefining the 'public' in PR', MC Technology Marketing Intelligence, 19 (1), pp. 62-66.

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Chapter 7 1. Reprinted with permission from International Survey Research LLC, 303 East Ohio Street Suite 2100, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA 2. Rogers, F., Towers Perrin, 'Originally published in Strategic HR Review, Volume 2 Issue 6, Sept/Oct 2003. For more information see www.melcrum.com/link/shrr' 3. Corporate Leadership Council, ‘2004 Employee engagement survey’ 4. Clayton Glen (2006), ‘Key Skills retention and motivation: the war for talent still rages and retention is the high ground’, vol. 38 No 1, pp37-45, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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Chapter 8 1. The Hudson Report, 'Employment and HR trends, Australia' | April June 2005, Part Two | HR Insights | Understanding Your Employment Brand 2. 'Engaging employees through your brand' - reprinted with permission of The Conference Board (www.conference-board.org), a not-for-profit business research organisation with offices in New York, Brussels, and Hong Kong 3. 'Employer branding: Global best practices report 2005', Universum Communications 4. 'Employer branding is key in fight for talent' (17 May 2005), Personnel Today, http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/05/17/ 29929/Employer+branding+is+key+in+fight+for+talent.htm 5. www.adenergy.com.au, 2006 6. Copyright 2006, Bernard Hodes Group. Reprinted with permission from Bernard Hodes Group, 220 East 42 nd Street, New York, NY 10017, www.hodes.com

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Chapter 9 1. 'Employer Branding: Global best practices report 2005', Universum Communications 2. www.microsoft.com (2006) 3. Barrow, S., Mosley, R (2005) The Employer Brand - Bringing the best to brand management to people at work’, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, London 4. www.theworkfoundation.com/pdf/ethical_intro.pdf (2006) 5. www.thebodyworkshop.com (2006) 6. 'Hurd signs on as new HP chief', (2005) http://news.com.com/Hurd+signs+on+as+new+HP+chief/2100-1014_35645638.html 7. Thorne K (2005), 'One stop guide to employer branding', Personnel today management resources 8. http://www.pikeplacefish.com/, 2006 9. Berthon, P., Ewing, M.T. & Hah, L.L (2005), 'Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding’, International Journal of Advertising, 24,2, pp151-172 10. Estis, R. 'Employment Brand Architecture - 8 steps to becoming an employer of choice' (2005), article originally appeared on the Electronic Recruiting Exchange., www.erexchange.com

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Case Studies Thomas Cook 1. © Melcrum Publishing. Originally published in Strategic HR Review Vol 3 Issue 5 July/August 2004. For more information e-mail [email protected] or visit www.melcrum.com BankSA 1. Brett Minchington's interview with Rob Chapman (Managing Director of Bank SA) on 21st December 2005. The Compass Group 1. Michael Hall, Employer Brand, Income Data Survey (IDS), 2005

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Index

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Acquisitions 26, 190

Brand ambassadors 68

Adelaide Bank 146

Brand Asset Valuator 93

Advertising 28, 73, 78, 81, 84, 90-1, 94,

Brand awareness 92

97-8, 116, 123, 125, 131, 166,

Brand equity 91, 96,194

171, 200

Brand loyalty 85

Africa 106

Brand Mindset, the 80

Ageing global population 22, 56

Brand Pyramid 84, 85

Agilent Technologies 91, 94

Brazil 59, 102

Air NZ 39

Cadburys 81

Allianz, 95

Canada 102

Alstrom, 94

Canale, Steve 40, 41

American Express 39-40, 142

Career development 73, 141, 144-47, 203

Americas 193, 197, 200

CEDA 182

Anderson Consulting 91

Chevron 91

ANZ 38, 39

China 59, 64, 166

Application value 98

Clayton, Glen 114

Arthur Andersen 130

Coca-Cola 83

Ashcroft, Chris 193

Coca-Cola Amatil 126-28

Asia 106

Cognitive 104

Asia Pacific 30, 70, 106

Collins, C.J. 219

AT&T 132

Collins, Jim 152

Australia 59, 65, 78, 86, 99, 102-3,

Commerzbank, 93

116, 146, 152, 157

Commonwealth Bank 182

Aventis 91, 94

Communication systems 141, 144-45, 149

Baby Boomer 42, 56, 66, 185

Company intranet Site 121

Bank NZ 39

Compass Group 31, 36, 190-200

Bank SA 32, 151, 182-188

Compensation and benefits 46, 47, 141,

Bankruptcies 26 Banner advertising 121 Barrow, Simon 17-19, 22, 212 216, 219 BASF 73, 74

144-45 Competitive advantage 28, 40, 46-50, 136, 147, 154, 167 Conference Board, The 29, 34-35, 68, 71, 119-120, 122, 194

Bayerische Landesbank, 93

Consumer brands 26

Behavioural 103, 104

Core competence 47

Bernard Hodes Group 129-30, 194

Corporate brand 19, 28-29, 40, 73, 81-82,

Berthon Professor Pierre 90, 94

84, 86,140, 149, 155, 161, 184,

Boeing 91

132, 154

Booz Allen & Hamilton 94 BP 91, 124

Corporate Leadership Council, The 108

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Corporate reputation and culture 141, 150, 152

Employer Brand Identity 143-44 Employer Brand Strategic platform TM 144,

Corporate Social Responsibility 141, 150-51, 155

149, 150 Employer Value Proposition 42, 116, 142,

Crédit Agricole, 93

143, 147, 167, 185

Credit Suisse First Boston 93

Estis, Ryan 159

Customer satisfaction 74, 156, 187

Europe 59, 65, 106

Daimler Chrysler 92

Ewing, Professor Mike 97,132, 157

Dalby, Colin 170

External environment 26, 47

Davis, Scott 80, 84

Flashpoint Effect 156

De Bussy, Dr. Nigel 90

Ford 49

Development value 98

Fortune 74, 93, 152

Differentiation 49, 80, 94, 123

Fortune Magazine 74

Direct mail 121

France 102-103, 194

Diversity 39-41, 175-176, 179,

GE 40-41, 122

185, 191-192, 196

General Motors 130

Dowling, G. 81, 217

Generation X 185

Du-Pont 73, 91

Generation Y 145, 157-58, 185

Economic growth 60, 62-63, 155

Generation Z 56

Economist, The 29-33, 68, 70, 92,

Germany 102, 112

93, 167

GlaxoSmithKline 142

E-Marketing 122

GMH 49

E-Marketing campaigns 121

Goldman Sachs 94, 146-47

Emergent Self Organisation 46, 51

Goodman Steven Dr 43, 45

EmpAt 96, 98-99

Government 38-39, 42-43

Employee absenteeism 188

Hah, Li Lian 90, 218

Employee communications 121

Hamel, Gary 47

Employee engagement 32, 68, 102-105,

Hays 38

108, 112, 147, 151, 188, 187 Employee research 38, 105, 110, 141, 144, 147, 190, 194, 195, 203

Head count 107 Heterogeneous 48 Hewitt Associates 68, 194

Employee surveys 107, 142,

Hong Kong 102

Employee turnover 158, 176, 188, 193

HSBC 93

Employer attractiveness 71, 89-99

Hubbard, G 47, 51

Employer Brand Employee Platform TM

Hudson 116, 117, 118

144, 149 Employer Brand Excellence Framework TM 21, 139-149, 163

Hudson Report, the 116 Human Capital Measures 106, 109 Hunt, Edith 146 Hyundai 94

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IBM 39 ,94

Pat Rafter 86

Iceland 58

People In Business 17-19, 22

IDS 194, 197

People management policies and practices

Image advertising 122 India 59

141, 150, 152-53 Performance management 75, 113, 141-42,

Innovation 21, 26, 108, 141, 150, 154-55, 163

150, 153-54 Perpetual, Pictet, 93

Intangible Assets 47

Personnel Today 27-28, 167

Intelsat, 94

Pfizer 32

Interest value 97

Pitt Professor Leyland 90

Internal communication 21, 163, 192,

Porter, Michael 46, 48-49

194, 198

Prahalad 47

Ireland 170, 197, 200

Price Waterhouse Coopers 39

ISR 68, 69, 102-107

Procter and Gamble 78

Japan 59, 112

Prospective employees 29, 84, 92, 112,

JP Morgan 94

117, 118, 126, 141, 149, 152, 154,

L.L.Bean 29

157, 170, 173, 177

Leadership 141, 150-51 Linde 94 London 110 Market Forces 154-55

Recruitment advertising 56, 91, 116, 121, 126, 171, 197 Recruitment and induction 132, 141, 144, 202

McDonalds 83

Referral program 126, 157

McElroy, Neil 78

Reinke, Melissa 122

Mergers 26

Restructuring 37

Mexico 58

Reward and recognition 121, 141, 144,

Microsoft 39, 83, 143, 147

148, 153

Middle East 106

Reward and recognition program 121

Mission 32, 50, 53, 141, 150

Robbins,Tracy 193

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter 93

Russell, Frank Company 69

Motorola 94

Shareholder value 80

Nanotechnology 51

Shell 91, 124

NAS Recruitment Communication 159

Singapore 102-103

National Bank 39

Skills shortage 29, 64, 154

Netherlands, The 102

Slattery, Tara 73

New Zealand 38-39, 99

Small, Tim 192, 195, 199

Nokia 94

South Africa 99

Novartis 94

Southwest Airlines 29, 74

OCED 58

St George Bank 182, 186

Optus 39

Strategic Thinking 46

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Telecom NZ 38-39 Telstra 38-39 The Financial Times 152 The Sunday Times 152, 200 Thomas Cook 169-179 Towers Perrin 105 Turkey 58 UBS 93 UK 27, 30, 68-69, 102-103, 106, 110-112, 125, 152, 167, 170, 175, 177, 190, 197, 200 Unilever 123 United Nations 59 United Technologies, 94 Universum Communications 32-33, 35-36, 39, 72-73, 122-123, 146, 158-159 US 30, 36-37, 58- 59, 102 Value Proposition 20, 29, 187 Viatel 94 Virgin 39 Vodafone 38-39, 149 Watson Wyatt 36, 38, 69 Westpac 38-39 Williams Elaine 32 Work environment 97, 111, 141, 144, 149, 154 Work-Life Balance 111, 153, 196, 200 Xerox 130 Zurich 93

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