Employer Branding:

Where We Are,
Where Were Headed
Human Resources Institute
of New Zealand
Wellington
16 September 05

WHERE
WE ARE

What Is Employer Branding?

Lets start with what it is NOT
Employer Branding is NOT advertising
Advertising may or may not be a component
of employer branding

Employer Branding is NOT a corporate mission

statement, nor a tag line, nor a slogan
All of these must reflect the employer brand,
but they are not the brand itself

Employer Branding is NOT something you create

It is something you discover or reveal; the employer
brand already exists you just have to find it

WHERE
WE ARE

Employer Branding Is About Relationships

The relationship between an employer
and employees
Current
Past
Potential

The relationship between employees and

Each other
Customers
Stakeholders
Investors / analysts
Suppliers / vendors
Community leaders

WHERE
WE ARE

LOGO
ADVERTISING
COLLATERAL
WEB PORTAL
SIGNAGE & ENVIRONMENT
BRAND VISION
RECRUITMENT & RETENTION
QUALITY ASSURANCE
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

CUSTOMER RELATIONS
BUSINESS PROCESSES

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

WHERE
WE ARE

Why Is Employer Branding Important?

Determines ability to deliver on corporate brand
Affects ability to attract, retain talent
Better known / regarded employers have an easier
time attracting top talent
Better known / regarded employers keep talent
Reduces cost-per-hire, time-to-fill, turnover

WHERE
WE ARE

Nations Are
Brands

10. New Zealand

WHERE
WE ARE

U.S. Workforce Trends

Source: U.S. Dept. of Defense

WHERE
WE ARE

New Zealand Workforce Trends

Working age population growth fell to its lowest
point since 2001 1.3% in June 2005
Net inflow of permanent / long-term migrants fell
to 8,600 p.a. in June 2005, far below the three
year average of 32,400 p.a. Preliminary figures
for July show a net outflow, the first since 2001
New Zealands jobless rate of 3.7% is the lowest
among the 27 nations in the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development

WHERE
WE ARE

Net Permanent / Long-Term Migration

10 June 2005

WHERE
WE ARE

Unemployment Rate Historically Low

12 August 2005

WHERE
WE ARE

Labour Shortage Means Wage Inflation

09 August 2005

WHERE
WE ARE

Changing Psychographics
The Emerging Worker
began with Gen X (1964 77); bled up into
Baby Boomers, down to Millennials
mistrusts employers no loyalty
job security = marketability
willing to wait for a good fit
versus taking any job to get income

brand-oriented due to media overexposure

2,500 25,000 commercial messages DAILY
human brain has re-wired itself
to recognize brands
brands used as guideposts in media jungle

WHERE
WE ARE

We live in a world today

that is one giant commercial, and
the customer by and large does not
believe the message anyway. I would
submit that there is a lack of trust
about public institutions...
More than ever before,
people want to have a relationship
with a company, and a company is
represented by its people.
Howard Schultz
Chairman and CEO
Starbucks Coffee Co.
March, 2000

WHERE
WE ARE

What Relationship Exists Between

Corporate Brand and Employer Brand?

Millward-Brown 2001 BRANDZ Survey

35,600 people surveyed in 16 countries
Survey examined 18 indices of brand
1,317 brands
McDonalds
Nokia
Wal*Mart

Bank of America
Nordstrom
Mercedes-Benz

Employers with strong brands are seen as

good places to work
Employers with weak or unfamiliar brands must use
recruitment communications to build the brand

WHERE
WE ARE

The Brand Pyramid

Source: Walshe, Peter and Natalie Purdie, I like your company gi us a job!: Evaluating the Assets
of Your Company (London: Millward Brown, March, 2002)

WHERE
WE ARE

Impact of Brand on
Employer Preference

Source: Ibid.

WHERE
WE ARE

Generalized Impact of Brand

on Employer Preference

Source: Ibid.

WHERE
WE ARE

Likelihood of Voluntary Turnover

70
60
50
40

HR Pros
Employees

30
20
10
0
Extremely Somewhat Somewhat Extremely
Likely
Likely
Unlikely
Unlikely

Source: Collison, Jessica and Mary Elizabeth Burke, Job Recovery Survey
(Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management, Sept. 2003)

WHERE
WE ARE

Reasons People
Will Leave

Better comp / bene 63%

Career dev 35%
New experience 32%
Job security fears 21%
Career change 21%
Poor management 20%
Boredom 18%
Values 18%
Move 16%
Burnout 15%

Unappreciated 14%
Work / Life Issues 12%
Discrimination 8%
Hvy workload 7%
Start own business 6%
Conflict w/ supv 6%
Return to school 5%
Viability of org 4%
Other 13%

Source: Collison

WHERE
WE ARE

The Economist Global

Employment Brand Survey

Panel of readers who agreed to complete series of

surveys on behalf of The Economists advertising clients

Only panel members with specific job titles

(c suite or heads of department) sampled

Questionnaires distributed by e-mail 24th April 2003

to 1,745 panel members

937 completed questionnaires returned

by 21st May - 54% response rate

WHERE
WE ARE

Profile of respondents
Chairman/
Pres/CEO
11%

MD/Vice Pres.
15%

Mgr/Dept Head
33%

Retail/Dist.
4%

Director/Gen
Mgr/Co. Officer
19%

UK
42%
Asia-Pacific
16%

Owner/Partner
22%

Financial
17%

Manufacturing
16%

Mgmt Cons.
12%
Transport
3%

USA
29%

HR = main
part of job
function
4%

Continental
Europe
13%

HR = part of
job function
53%

Mktg, media &

other bus.
15%

Other
7%
IT/Telecoms
16%

Professions
Government8%
2%

HR not part
of job
43%

Base: all respondents (933)

The Economist, May 2003

WHERE
WE ARE

Employer branding is too much of an important issue

to be left solely to a HR dept
Agree?

HR is main part of
my job function

HR is part of my
job function

HR not part of my
job function

Agree strongly

20%

59%

18%

44%

44%

38%

Agree

51%

Disagree

3%

10% 2%

10%1%

Disagree strongly
Base: all respondents (933)
The Economist, May 2003

WHERE
WE ARE

Responsibility for Day-to-day

Management of Employer Brand
Nobody specific

21%
15%

CEO/MD
Board/Snr Mgmt

8%

Partners/Owners

7%

Middle mgmt 4%
HR & bus. heads

8%

HR dept/head
Marketing dept

11%
5%

PR/Corp Com dept 3%

Other
No answer

5%
13%
Base: all respondents (933)
The Economist, May 2003

WHERE
WE ARE

Anticipated Cost of Full-scale

Employer Brand Development

USA

Cont. Europe

Asia-Pacific

UK

$164,000

$160,000

$151,000

$140,000

Base: all respondents (933)

The Economist, May 2003
US Dollars

WHERE
WE ARE

Expected benefits of
development of employer brand
51%
UK
29%
32%
USA

Continental
Europe

Asia-Pacific

76%
71%
55%

56%
70%
71%
58%
34%
29%
50%
70%
61%
58%
39%
43%
54%
74%
72%
67%
38%
36%

Reduced recruitment costs

Higher staff retention

Employees recommending org as

place to work
Employees committed to
organisational goals
Enhanced general marketing
communications
Increased profitability

Base: all respondents (933)

The Economist, May 2003

Photo Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

Where Were Headed

Employment Branding
Using the Web

Relationship Marketing
Alumni Marketing
Chat / Forums / Blogs
Job Agent | Profiling

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Employment Branding Using the Web

vs. Traditional Web Recruiting

Your site is the destination

All media, promotions, PR, etc., point to your site
Goal: create and nurture a relationship with visitors

You own the audience

People who want to work for your organization,
vs. people who simply want a job
You can sustain interest even when the prospect
isnt actively looking
Relationship marketing newsletters, job alerts, referral
bonus offers, etc.
Alumni marketing boomerang employees, networking
Forums / chats build communities to which people feel
kinship

craiglist

Craigslist - auckland

oodle

Oodle results

google

Google results

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Configuring Your Employment Web Site
to Be More Visible to Search Engines
Content tailored to appear to search engine
spiders that crawl the Web
Establish greater number of inbound links
from other Web sites
Notify search engines of your existence
(e.g., DMOZ)
Provide fresh content, a site map, and judicious
use of keywords people will use to search

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Marketing Your Web Site Using Search Engines
Paid search results
Pay-per-click (PPC)
Fee-based
Auction-based

Research into How People Search

What words they use
Which search engine(s) they use

Simply hired

Simply hired results

indeed

Indeed results

rss

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

Syndicating Web Site Content
Content is fed automatically to subscribers
Underlying technology of blogs
Job seekers can subscribe to their job,
receive updates every time a new opening posts

XML Based
eXtensible Mark-up Language, successor
to HTML
Disputes about standard
0.7, 1.0, 2.0 versions in release independently

NB: The New York Times Bought 30% of

indeed.com for US$3.5M

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Blogs
Web Logs Published by Individuals
(online journals)
Phrase originated 1999; adopted by OED in 2003

Social Impact Widespread

Kryptonite bicycle lock recall
Politics: Trent Lott, Dan Rather
Employment: Microsoft gay partners policy

Blog Sites Popular

Blogger, Xanga, GreatestJournal

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Blog Implications for Employer Branding

Your Employees May Rat You Out!
You must walk the talk of your employment
brand lest your employees reveal hypocrisy

You May Not Be Able to Stop Blogs

Employees can blog without your knowledge or
assistance
U.S. employers have fired employees who wrote
negative blogs; result: negative P.R.

Encouraging Blogs Is Strategically Smart

Shows organization has nothing to hide
More credible than paid advertising, P.R.

Google blog

Microsoft blog

Peer-to-Peer Networks
Same Technology as Napster, LinkedIn
People join a community and agree to share
Content
Music
Contacts

Jobster Allows Employers to Network to

Top Talent Through Existing Employees

jobster

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

How Do You Start Building

and Maintaining Your Employer Brand?
Start with the Status Quo
What is the reputation of the
organization as an employer?
How well known is your organization?
Whats working? What isnt?
What helps your employees deliver your brand
to your customers? What gets in their way?
Are your compensation and benefits programs
aligned with your brand?

What do people outside of your organization

think of you as an employer?

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Establish a Goal
What do you want your organization
to be as an employer?

High performance?
High touch?
Resume Star?
Learning organization?

What are the gaps between where

you want to be and where you are?
What specific steps do you need to take
to get from where you are to where you
want to be?

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

Plan Your Communications

Dont say anything until
you have something to say
Plan your internal communications
one year in advance
Important communications 9x
Routine communications 3x

Recruitment communications
Be authentic
Be relevant
Be different

WHERE
WERE
HEADED

The Big Question

How Much Will It Cost?
The Economist - $164,000 avg. (US)
For every employer that spends $300,000
theres one that spends $25,000

How Strong Is Your Corporate Brand?

If your organization is well-known and
well-respected, leverage that brand equity
If your organization is not well-known or
has image problems, you will have to spend more

Thank You!
Questions
D. Mark Hornung
Sr VP Strategy and Branding
Bernard HODES Group
mhornung@pa.hodes.com