How to LauncH a SucceSSfuL July 2014 empLoyer Brand · 2018-09-24 · brand to recruit skilled...

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4How to LauncH a SucceSSfuL empLoyer Brand:

Building on the Practices of Top Employer Brands

About this Report: Background and Methodology

In February 2014, Hudson RPO, in connection with HRO Today magazine, commissioned a unique, interview-based survey examining how top employers leverage their employment brands for recruiting and employee engagement purposes. The survey formed the basis of this primary market research report, which addresses such key practices as the definition of an employer brand and its importance, ownership, management, promotion and future uses.

As part of this study, we conducted one-on-one interviews with key executives at major corporations considered top talent recruitment and engagement brands in various “Best Places to Work” and Glassdoor reviews. Fielding for the study was conducted online in April 2014. Survey invitations were sent to readers of HRO Today magazine and e-newsletters, and 324 usable survey responses were received. The findings were incorporated into a quantitative report upon which this paper is based.

Throughout this report, respondents are divided between “Top Employer Brands” and “Other Brands.” Respondents were asked to rate their respective brands on a Likert Scale of 1-5, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent. Top Employer Brands are considered to be those rated 4 or 5, whereas Other Brands are those rated between 1 and 3. In total, there were 148 Top Brands and 176 Other Brands.

Introduction

Ten years ago, few human resource executives gave much consideration to the employer brand. Today, as markets become more sophisticated and high quality talent is more difficult to find, HR leaders now realize they can’t simply rely on a strong consumer brand to recruit skilled individuals. Organizations must seek out the human capital that will set their companies apart, speak specifically to the career desires of these target candidates and then effectively tell the story of what it’s like to work for their organizations.

Forward-thinking organizations understand the need to leverage all possible means to attract and retain top talent. Services like Glassdoor have illuminated the power of the employer brand and its attractiveness to potential employees. Nearly eight in 10 employers cite employer brand as important or very important. It is pivotal for organizations to build a business strategy around the employer brand to land superior candidates. According to the US Department of Labor, the average cost of a bad hiring decision can equal 30% of that individual’s first-year potential earnings [Wall Street Journal, 2003]. Most organizations spend less than 10 hours with a job candidate before extending an offer of employment. Yet, they will end up spending more waking hours with this person at work than they do with their own families at home.

An employer brand can be the first opportunity to allow potential applicants who don’t fit your organization’s culture to opt out. With a clearly identified employer brand, you’ll ensure that candidates have a solid cultural fit with the organization, encouraging greater productivity, increased levels of engagement, higher rates of retention and superior bottom-line results.

We wish you the best in transforming your employer brand into an invaluable asset for the organization.

Welcome to Hudson RPO and HRO Today magazine’s employer brand report. The aim of this report is to provide you with a foundation for implementing an employer brand program for your organization. We hope to arm you with supporting data and practical advice to win the necessary support required for success.

Kimberley Hubble Global RPO Leader Hudson Global, Inc.

Elliot Clark Chairman & CEO SharedXpertise Media, LLC

Table of Contents

About this Report: Background and Methodology ________________________2

Introduction ________________________________________________________3

What is “Employer Brand” exactly? _____________________________________5

creating a powerful employer Brand

Phase 1: Get Leadership Buy-in _______________________________________6

Phase 2: Determine Stakeholders and Their Roles ______________________ 10

Phase 3: Define the Strategy & Investment _____________________________12

Phase 4: Develop the Employee Value Proposition _______________________14

Phase 5: Communicate the Message - Leverage the Right Channels _________16

Phase 6: Create Employee Brand Ambassadors _______________________ 18

Phase 7: Measure Return on Investment ______________________________ 20

Survey Respondent Demographics __________________________________ 23

what is “employer Brand” exactly?

An employer brand is defined as the perception of the organization as a great place to work by both current and potential employees. In short, it is the organization’s reputation as an employer. An employer branding program includes strategies for enhanced talent attraction, engagement and retention to strengthen an organization’s employer brand. Our research shows that 72% of HR executives prefer the term “employer brand” over common alternatives such as “talent brand.

“If you haven’t captured the hearts of your employees, they won’t capture the hearts of the consumers.”

Marilyn Carlson Nelson, former CEO of Carlson Companies. Quote from Leaders Magazine, October 2008

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 1: Get Leadership Buy-in

total top Brands other BrandsCEO/President 34.3% 44.5% 25.1%Non-CEO Executive Team Members 18.4% 17.7% 18.8%Human Resources Department 21.2% 18.9% 23.6%Talent Acquisition Function 07.5% 01.8% 12.6%Marketing 06.1% 04.9% 06.8%Other 12.5% 12.2% 13.2%

Key Sponsor of employer Brand

GET THE CEO ON YOUR SIDE

Nothing will get your employer branding efforts off on the right start like getting CEO buy-in. Not surprisingly, the Top Brand companies are significantly more likely to have the CEO or President as the most senior sponsor of employer branding activity (44.5%) than Other Brand companies (25.1%).

total top Brands other BrandsHuman Resources Department 79.3% 76.7% 79.9%Non-CEO Executive Team Members 70.6% 79.9% 61.4%CEO/President 65.6% 75.5% 55.4%Marketing 60.1% 65.4% 53.8%Communications 52.8% 60.4% 45.1%Talent Acquisition Function 46.9% 48.4% 45.1%Public Relations 34.4% 45.9% 23.9%Outside Sales Partners 21.0% 25.8% 16.3%Internal Sales 20.1% 27.0% 13.6%Employer Brand is own Department 5.2% 5.0% 4.9%

Other 5.2% 5.0% 4.9%

departments Involved in promoting employer Brand

Executive buy-in and support doesn’t end with the CEO. It takes support across the entire organization to effectively communicate and promote the employer brand. It’s prudent to invest time winning the support and involvement of other key executives and department leaders beyond the HR department, as evidenced by the differences in how the brand is promoted between Top Brands and Other Brands:

X High-level executive buy-in is significantly greater for Top Brands than Other Brands for members of the executive team, (79.9% vs. 61.4%, respectively) and the CEO/President (75.5% and 55.4%, respectively).

X Overall, Top Brand companies involve more departments and other groups in promoting the employer brand.

How to Secure Sponsorship for Employer Branding

The CEO of a Hudson RPO client recently presented the firm’s top three strategic priorities to the workforce. Among them: “that every employee can clearly articulate why they work at this organization.”

Employer branding would be so much easier for all involved with such CEO commitment and support, yet it’s just not a reality for some. What do you do if your CEO isn’t quite convinced? Here are some practical solutions:

• Make it a commercial conversation. Review the company’s HR strategies for the year against the company’s business strategies. Then demonstrate how the employer brand underpins the HR initiatives and can improve important metrics such as:

• Cost-per-hire – show how you can reduce cost-per-hire by increasing direct candidate applications and reducing spend with third party agencies.

• Time-to-fill – reducing the time it takes to fill open

sales and account management roles can have a significant impact on your revenue line. Every day a sales role is left open creates a lost revenue opportunity so filling these roles faster by stimulating more direct applicants will help grow your top line.

• Ensure your commercial arguments are supported with facts and data. Consider all factors that may have contributed to a reduction in cost-per-hire or time-to-fill such as changes to the recruitment process.

• Make sure that HR, Marketing and Talent Acquisition aren’t sending mixed messages about employer branding to senior leadership. Get these teams to define and express the brand in the same language and collaborate on the business case. It also is prudent to appoint one individual as the leadership point person, most likely the head of HR or Marketing.

Win Friends and Influence People: The More Buy-in, The Better

Earning the support of senior leadership for the employer branding initiative can be an iterative process. Win the support of leaders one at a time by explicitly demonstrating the business value of the branding exercise.

Focus on service line leaders who actually drive the business, particularly those individuals entrusted with market expansion, new product launches or engaged in activities requiring highly skilled employees, where such talent is harder to come by.

For example, if a service line leader needs to grow an area of the business, create a custom employee value proposition (EVP) message for this area. To create this message, conduct a survey or take advantage of existing survey data and parse out a relevant data set applicable to that business area, such as “Sales” or “Accounting.”

Analyze the responses of employees as to what they say about the employer brand. Try to gauge the characteristics of the employee needed by the service leader to grow the business segment. Leverage these findings to craft candidate-specific messages. Then, determine what the employer’s reputation is in this market segment to understand what needs to be done to enhance it.

The sooner that service line leaders can secure superior talent, the more employer brand champions there will be.

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 2: determine Stakeholders and their roles

total top Brands

other Brands

We have clearly defined organizational responsibilities for our employer brand. 30.5% 44.6% 17.6%While we maintain the employer brand, there is some ambiguity about responsibilities for promoting it. 39.0% 41.2% 37.5%

Our employer brand is somewhat murky, with ownership not necessarily clearly defined. 30.5% 14.2% 44.9%

management of employer Brand

Managing the employer brand is just as important as developing it. The research underscores the importance in having people own the brand. Nearly one-half (44.6%) of Top Brand companies indicated that they have defined organizational responsibilities for their brands, versus only 17.6% of Other Brands. Similarly, nearly one-half (44.9%) of Other Brands lack defined brand ownership, versus 14.2% of Top Brands.

While 80% of respondents cited the HR department’s primary involvement in promoting the employer brand, the research indicates that specific areas within HR play a greater role than others. Not surprisingly, nearly one-quarter of respondents cited Recruitment as the top player in this regard (the most frequently cited response for both Top Brands and Other Brands). Interestingly, in the areas within HR that deal with the employer brand, more balance among these areas was discovered within the Top Brands. With regard to the four HR areas--recruitment, talent acquisition, employee relations/engagement and benefits--the range was 15% to 20% for Top Brands, and 8% to 28% for Other Brands.

Appoint an Influencer for Your Employer Brand Program

From the outside looking in, employer branding, like consumer branding, seems easy. Yet, while many observers can pinpoint the companies with effective brands, few can explain what it took to build these compelling brands.

These are reasons why otherwise well-intentioned employer brands fail to realize their full value: • Employer branding responsibilities are often given to an HR generalist or individual who has little to no experience delivering a complex employer branding project.

• This person doesn’t understand how to create an employer brand strategy, much less align programs to support the messaging or get sponsorship to drive initiatives effectively through the organization.

• This then creates the enterprise-wide perception that employer branding is not effective, which curtails continuing investments in employer brand initiatives.

Certainly, the root of the problem is the first bullet point. Companies must be serious about developing and conveying an employer brand that captures the organization’s value to potential hires. This is more than just an explanation of the company’s strategy, markets and products, although these are important. It is a valid, thoughtful expression of the corporate culture and work environment—why the candidate will want to engage with like-minded individuals in shared pursuits toward specific outcomes.

If the organization lacks an experienced strategist or influencer who can bring teams together to craft an effective employer brand, then it is advisable to engage someone who can bring these messages to fruition.

total top Brands

other Brands

We manage our employer brand internally. 57.1% 51.1% 62.2%We mostly manage our employer brand internally, but also use outside partners when needed. 39.1% 44.4% 34.6%

We manage our employer brand by using outside partners. 03.7% 04.4% 03.2%Use partners at all (Net) 42.8% 48.8% 37.8%

use of outside partners when promoting employer Brand

In many companies, it is often unclear as to who ultimately owns Employer Branding. Is it HR? Talent Acquisition? Marketing?

Unclear ownership results in a lack of effective collaboration. Ambiguity causes employer branding to become “political.” In such cases, senior leadership may be getting mixed messages from different departments.

An external partner brings together leaders in HR, Talent Acquisition, Brand, Internal Communications and Marketing to define shared interests, develop common goals and outline responsibilities. The external partner also can serve to educate internal groups about why employer branding is important. (It’s best not to assume that all divisions fully understand this.)

Regardless of the ultimate “owner” of employer branding, the external provider can overcome internal barriers that may be invisible to management, which is necessary to any project’s success.

Indirect External Partner Benefit: Overcoming the HR / Marketing / Talent Acquisition Impasse

Employer brand plays an important role in the talent acquisition process. The research indicates that while the majority of organizations (57.1%) manage the function internally, some leverage third-party expertise. Companies with Top Brands are roughly equally as likely to use partners (48.8%) to some extent, whereas only about one-third (37.8%) of Other Brands use partners at all.

External partners typically play several roles in articulating brand strategy.

X Among organizations using external partners, media is the primary reason (71.2% of respondents).

X Top Brands are more likely than Other Brands to use partners for strategy, 61.3% vs. 42.9%, respectively.

X Other Brand companies are more likely to use partners for media than Top Brands (75.0% vs. 66.1%, respectively)

THE ROLE OF PARTNERS IN BUILDING EMPLOYER BRAND

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 3: define the Strategy & Investment

EMPLOYMENT BRAND STRATEGY

While eight in 10 organizations cite an employer brand as very important or important, nearly one-half (43.1%) of respondents lack a documented employer brand strategy. This is surprising, as the research shows that a brand must be authentic and consistent with company practices, which are both driven by strategy. A business plan can make a real difference: Twice as many Top Brand companies have a defined and documented strategy as the Other Brands, 32.2% vs. 16.4%, respectively.

total top Brands

other Brands

We have some broad guidelines we follow, but not a documented strategy. 43.1% 46.3% 40.8%We have no documented strategy and manage our employer brand based on changing needs. 33.0% 21.5% 42.8%

We have a clearly defined strategy that is documented. 23.9% 32.2% 16.4%

total top Brands

other Brands

Net (Defined well) 49.4% 79.0% 26.5%Defined very well 13.4% 29.0% 1.5%Somewhat fairly well 36.0% 50.0% 25.0%Neutral 23.4% 17.0% 28.7%Defined very little 18.4% 3.0% 30.1%Not at all defined 8.8% 1.0% 14.7%

documented employer Brand Strategy

rating of How well defined employer Brand is in the organization

total top Brands

other Brands

Net (Defined well) 49.4% 79.0% 26.5%Defined very well 13.4% 29.0% 1.5%Somewhat fairly well 36.0% 50.0% 25.0%Neutral 23.4% 17.0% 28.7%Defined very little 18.4% 3.0% 30.1%Not at all defined 8.8% 1.0% 14.7%

total top Brands

other Brands

Average Budget $197,239 $259,783 $152,419

top Brands

other Brands

Defined 68.7% 31.3%Not Defined/Neutral 17.4% 82.6%

average Budget dedicated to employer Brand

correlation between defined employer Brands and top Brands

Top Brands also have a more well-defined internal employer brand compared to Other Brands:

X Less than one half (49.4%) of respondents indicated their employer brand was well defined. The first step to having a Top Brand is to define what it means to the organization.

X Top Brands define the employer brand well: 79.0% versus only 26.5% of Other Brands.

X More than two-thirds (68.7%) of respondents with Top Brands have well-defined employer brands.

It goes without saying: to build, promote and communicate a strong employer brand, organizations must invest in its development. Nearly US$200,000 was allocated by the respondents toward building and maintaining their employer brands each year. While the dollar amount varies substantially based on company size, it still shows a high commitment to furthering the employer brand.

Top Brands have an average budget of 52.1% more than Other Brands to support their employer brand initiatives. This equates to a difference of $107,363.

INVESTING IN THE EMPLOYER BRAND

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 4: develop the employee Value proposition

An organization’s employee value proposition (EVP) – the rewards and benefits employees receive in exchange for their performance – is critical to workplace culture, career management and retention. The research shows that Top Brands are more closely tied to their EVPs. When it comes to Top Brand companies, 49.1% have a defined EVP versus 20.0% of Other Brands.

When developing and communicating an employer brand to potential employees, certain building blocks are foundational to success. Survey respondents believe that an employer brand has to be authentic (55.3%) and consistent with company practices (52.1%). It is also fairly important that the employer brand and customer brand are consistent (36.4%). Other factors to consider when developing a brand include making it clear, believable, compelling and relevant.

A company will fall short of creating an authentic EVP if it leaves it up to a few people to merely hash out some messaging. A truly authentic EVP requires the input of internal and external stakeholders at all levels. When undertaking an employer brand engagement, Hudson RPO leads internal focus groups consisting of employees across departments, geographies and also seniority levels. This methodology involves discussions with current employees

to validate survey messages and to ensure that key EVP messages resonate and are true and authentic. Other conversations are undertaken with candidates who weren’t hired or have declined a job offer to elicit their experience and perceptions. The goal is to acquire a more honest, well-rounded view of the employer brand. Documenting both current and potential employee impressions guides a richer, more authentic employer value proposition.

IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR AN AUTHENTIC EMPLOYER BRAND

don’t Know

total

0%

100%

no

top Brands

yes

other Brands

companies with an eVp

33.2%

49.1%

38.2%

53.4%

13.4% 12.7% 14.3%

65.7%

20.0%

total top Brands other BrandsAuthentic 55.3% 56.0% 54.6%Consistent with company practices 52.1% 53.6% 51.0%Consistent with customer brand 36.4% 36.7% 36.1%Clear 34.2% 32.5% 34.5%Believable 29.6% 30.7% 28.9%Compelling 31.2% 29.5% 33.0%Relevant 28.5% 27.7% 29.4%Promise 9.6% 12.7% 7.2%Affirming 7.9% 7.8% 8.2%Timely 6.8% 6.0% 7.7%Concise 7.1% 6.0% 7.7%Other 1.4% 1.2% 1.5%

terms most applicable to an employer Brand

As found in the research, making your employer brand message authentic and consistent with company practices will attract employees who truly match your organizational culture: a hallmark of employer brand success. Employer brand initiatives tend to fail when HR policies are not aligned with the employer brand promise. For example, many companies state that they provide workforce flexibility. However, upon reviewing their retention data, they learn that employees are leaving the organization because this flexibility does not exist.

Obviously, if the employer brand states certain expectations, they must be delivered, otherwise the messaging backfires and creates disengagement and lack of trust. If the organization touts workforce flexibility, it must then offer flex time programs, compressed work weeks, telecommuting and/or job sharing. Empty employer brand promises lead to turnover spikes, increased recruitment costs and money wasted on supporting employer brand initiatives.

Empty Promises: Don’t Fail the Employer Brand

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 5: communicate the message - Leverage the right channels

total top Brands

other Brands

Company intranet 73.8% 75.9% 67.9%Company website 60.7% 63.0% 53.6%Employee conferences 35.7% 37.0% 32.1%Visible signage in company locations 27.4% 29.6% 25.0%

total top Brands

other Brands

LinkedIn 77.9% 77.2% 78.5%Facebook 69.8% 74.6% 63.9%Twitter 51.9% 56.1% 46.5%YouTube 24.0% 27.2% 20.8%Blogs 19.8% 21.1% 18.8%

Forums 17.8% 18.4% 15.3%Pinterest 5.0% 7.9% 2.8%collegefeed 2.7% 4.4% 1.4%Tumblr 1.2% 1.8% 0.7%Other 14.0% 12.3% 15.3%

The trend of companies with Top Brands going the extra step is apparent. In nearly every case, Top Brand companies use all (non-social) channels of communication more than Other Brands.

To leverage the employer brand, social media must be a major part of the overall strategy. LinkedIn is the most commonly used online social networking site among respondents (77.9%). Roughly the same proportion of Top Brands and Other Brands use LinkedIn for employer brand promotional purposes; however the main difference is that Top Brands use a greater variety of social channels beyond LinkedIn.

Other social networking sites used that were not part of the question set were Glassdoor and Instagram. Glassdoor in particular was frequently cited for its appeal to job seekers looking for feedback about prospective employers.

MULTI-CHANNEL APPROACH

LEVERAGING SOCIAL CHANNELS TO PROMOTE YOUR EMPLOYER BRAND

most used Social networking Sites

channels used to promote the employer Brand

total top Brands

other Brands

Industry associations 75.6% 76.8% 75.2%Online social networking 73.5% 73.0% 74.5%Campus recruitment 64.7% 63.1% 66.0%Online forums 54.3% 60.1% 50.0%

When promoting the brand outside of the organization, social media and industry associations are the most important areas. While both Top Brands and Other Brand respondents cite each of the areas equivalently, a significant difference was found regarding Online Forums, with 60.1% of Top Brands versus 50.0% of Other Brands considering them important in promoting the employer brand.

DON’T FORGET INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

most Important places to promote employer Brand

Be deliberate – So many social channels exist. Analyze your target candidates and understand how they use each channel. Is a particular channel truly worth your time? You may need to run small tests in the different channels to gauge which will have the best impact. Will it have other ripple effects? For example, some companies avoid Facebook due to a concern that they’ll spend their time responding to customer service inquiries, which is not the channel they wish to use for such inquiries.

Social media cannot always be controlled, and that concerns senior leadership at some organizations. If you face detractors, understand what is at the core of their concerns. Address those points to create an overall risk mitigation strategy. It goes without saying that anyone using your social channels should go through training to limit risk.

Be spontaneous – Once you’ve determined your target social channels, it’s time to be spontaneous. You want to put the employees and their experiences working at your company front and center. Conduct video interviews of employees discussing what it’s like to work at your company. Post photos of employee events, charity activities – anything about the internal culture.

You may even consider rotating social channel access to different employees from week to week to show diverse perspectives on working at your firm (be sure to change the passwords between users). This creates buzz and will demonstrate your internal culture better than any written messages ever could. Be sure to cross-promote your efforts by adding social feeds to your career websites.

Social Media: Be Deliberate, Be Spontaneous

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 6: create employee Brand ambassadors

employees’ role in promoting the employer Brand

total

top Brands

other Brands

62.5

75.7

51.0

Forward-thinking employers are turning to their own employees to help communicate their employer brand. The employees’ role in promoting the brand was rated 62.5 out of 100 among all respondents, with this percentage higher among companies with a Top Brand (75.7 for Top Brand companies versus 51.0 among Other Brand companies).

Strong communication of theemployer brand internally via thecompany intranet was cited by 60.7%of respondents. An even higherpercentage cited employee events(66.4%). More than eight in 10 TopBrand companies used employeeevents to communicate the brand

versus roughly one-half (53.4%) ofOther Brands. Presentations by seniorleaders were cited by 69.4% of respondents with Top Brands, but only 51.1% among those without. Again, overall, Top Brands conduct more initiatives to promote the employer brand internally than Other Brands.

ENSURE EMPLOYEES AT ALL LEVELS CAN COMMUNICATE THE EMPLOYER BRAND

total top Brands

other Brands

Employee events 66.4% 80.6% 53.4%Company intranet for employees 60.7% 60.2% 61.1%Presentations by senior leaders 60.3% 69.4% 51.1%Emails 59.0% 60.2% 55.7%CEO communications 50.7% 57.1% 44.3%

top 5 Initiatives to promote employer Brand Internally

800

Overall, organizations are not inclusive when it comes to perceiving which employee groups can communicate the employer brand. Among those with Top Brand companies, more than one-half of respondents (54.1%) felt all groups

could articulate the brand equally, versus less than one-third (31.4%) of Other Brand companies.

Communicating Employer Brand: Keep it Simple

When it comes to promoting the brand internally, avoid overcomplicating the plan. Be sure to leverage the normal methods of communications to get the message out to the employee base. Examine reliance on the company intranet and whether or not people are really visiting these pages. Use outlets that employees are known to access. Focus on simplicity and doing a few things really well. Perhaps the easiest and most cost effective way to educate employees about the firm’s employee value proposition is to put the actual EVP statement on the screen savers of all employees’ computers. The screen saver is something they see every day and with that type of repetition, the message is more likely to stay top of mind. Create a digital employer brand document that employees can download from the intranet. In it, link to employee testimonials and videos on your website. Give this document to new hires to help get them engaged in their new roles.

People want to be proud of the actions and goals of their employer. They should be able to positively respond to the question: From an employment standpoint, what does your organization do to motivate and inspire you, filling you with purpose and pride? By forging an emotional connection between the employee and employer brand, such individuals become an organization’s brand ambassadors. When crafting the employee value proposition, include a wide cross section of employees – across departments, geographies and seniority levels – in the focus group research. Employees will feel a vested interest in something when they are part of its creation. When interviewing them, establish the emotional connectors on why the company is a great place to work. Try to elicit a great story about the organization that will entice others to join the enterprise.

At Hudson RPO, we believe strongly in the value of a shared employer brand journey, developed as inexpensively as possible. When we conduct employee focus groups, for instance, we use video testimonials to document employee involvement in the various initiatives along the way. Once the employer brand work is complete, we recommend that our clients host an internal employee event to showcase the final results. This event is about the employees—not the company per se. We take employees on the employer brand journey – program goals, how it started, and their involvement. We also show them employer brand videos and other collateral promoting the company to candidates.

Demonstrating to employees that their input was heard and used is a key part of the process. They have been involved in the development of these key messages and their opinions and voices are valued. By doing this, many employees will feel a strong sense of engagement and support for the message, and they will be more likely to share the message with their wider community.

Creating Brand Ambassadors: The Employer Brand as an Emotional Experience

80

Creating a Powerful Employer Brand phase 7: measuring return on Investment

A troubling finding was the lack of measurement of the return on investment. Nearly two thirds of companies do not track the ROI of the employer brand, with little difference between Top Brands and Other Brands.

Many employer brand managers believe that measuring ROI is too hard and therefore choose not to make it part of their strategy. Others don’t set targets and therefore don’t know what to measure.

There are several ways to measure ROI: employee surveys, time-to-hire metrics, retention rates, cost-per-hire metrics, and the number of applications per position. Of the 16.2% of respondents

DEMONSTRATE VALUE THROUGH MEASUREMENT

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.”

H. James Harrington, IBM quality expert, “Mobilizing the Right Lean Metrics for Success,” Quality Digest, May 2006

measure roI of employer Brand

yes: 16.2%no: 61.4%don’t Know: 22.4%

where ROI and the impact of the employer brand are measured, HR is most often responsible for the calculations. Among Top Brands,

Marketing was cited as responsible almost as much as HR (27.1% and 32.9%, respectively), more often than it was cited with Other Brands (12.2%).

Tracking true ROI on employer brand activities is difficult because other variables beyond employer brand programs affect retention and hiring data. For example, if retention rates move from 65% to 75%, the increase could be attributable to enhanced HR programs, increased consumer brand advertising or new leadership, among other factors. Employer brand success is ultimately gauged by retention rates and how easy it is to put new talent into open positions. However, measuring certain hiring data before and after an employer brand campaign can provide indicators of success, assuming all other variables remain relatively constant. Common indicators include:

• Time-to-fill• Cost-per-hire• Retention rates • Job application rates• Changes in advertising spend• Cost of turnover and associated onboarding programs

• Surveying people about employer brand proposition awareness

Good measures of employer branding project success are increased rates of completed job applications and survey results showing that people are more aware of the EVP. Nevertheless, it is important to keep one’s eye on the end game – the measurements most valuable to the business are higher retention rates and the ease of securing top talent.

Cracking the Code on ROI for Employer Brand Programs

The value of the employer brand to talent initiatives is predicted to rise. Overall, two-thirds (65.5%) of respondents anticipate that the employer brand will increase in importance at their organizations in the next 12 to 24 months, whereas three-quarters of Other Brand companies anticipate the same. Less than one percent of all respondents felt the employer brand would decline in importance over the next 12 to 24 months.

Why will the importance of the employer brand increase? All the respondents stated similar reasons:

X Business growth

X Competition for talent

X Leadership changes

X Improving economy

X Financial constraints with raises

X Part of larger company brand strategy

Interestingly, respondents in growing companies cited the need to acquire more talent (particularly highly skilled individuals), while those with financial challenges often cited the need to retain workers, given the possibility of static compensation, low raises and potential layoffs.

THE FUTURE OF THE EMPLOYER BRAND

“I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1. Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream. A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.”

One comment addressed the need to focus the employer brand on Millennials, stating the “Need to attract a younger workforce to replace a growing experienced retire-eligible workforce.”

remain the same

0%

100%

decrease Increase

Importance of employer Brand in next 12-24 months

total top Brands other Brands

65.5% 54.2%

1.0%0.9%

33.6% 44.8% 25.6%

0.8%

73.7%

Steve Jobs, former Apple Chairman & CEO. Quote from “In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World” by Rama Dev Jager and Rafael Ortiz

Survey Respondent Demographics*

about Hudson rpo

about Hudson

about HRO Today magazine

Role Counts %

Acquisition 36 15.6%

Retention 23 10.0%

Both acquisition and retention 151 65.4%

Other 21 9.1%

total 231

Industry

Auto 2 0.9%

Consumer Items 9 3.8%

Consumer Staples 2 0.9%

Energy 3 1.3%

Financials/Insurance/Real Estate 33 14.0%

Health Care 23 9.8%

Industrial Conglomerate 4 1.7%

Industrials 8 3.4%

Information Technology 12 5.1%

Materials 2 0.9%

Media & Entertainment 5 2.1%

Services 33 14.0%

Telecommunication Services 2 0.9%

Utilities 1 0.4%

Other 96 40.9%

total 235

Number of Employees

Less than 100 employees 25 10.7%

100 to 499 employees 60 25.8%

500 to 999 employees 29 12.4%

1,000 to 4,999 employees 53 22.7%

5,000 to 9,999 employees 22 9.4%

Firms with 10,000 employees or more

44 18.9%

total 233

Headquarters Location

North America 165 71.7%

Latin America 0 0.0%

Europe 51 22.2%

Asia (APAC) 10 4.3%

Other 4 1.7%

total 230

*Note: Some respondents chose not to complete demographics section of study

Hudson RPO specializes in recruiting professional-level candidates for mid- to large-cap multi-national corporations in select industries. Hudson RPO offers a wide range of recruitment process outsourcing services including outsourced recruitment, custom blended RPO/MSP solutions, project recruitment, contingent workforce solutions as well as consulting services. A global force in talent acquisition solutions, Hudson RPO designs, implements and manages custom RPO programs. More information is available at HudsonRPO.com.

Hudson is a global talent solutions company with expertise in leadership and specialized recruitment, contracting solutions, recruitment process outsourcing, talent management and eDiscovery. We help our clients and candidates succeed by leveraging our expertise, deep industry and market knowledge, and proprietary assessment tools and techniques. Visit Hudson.com for more information.

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Tony Martin Executive Vice PresidentRPO & Talent Management, Americas

+1 212 351 7488

Kimberley Hubble Asia Pacific & Global RPO Leader

+ 61 2 8233 2447

Darren Lancaster Managing Director, EMEA

+44 20 7187 6041

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