Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels
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Transcript of Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels
Marketing the brand,
living the brand
Luc Sels
Dean
Faculty of Economics and Business
@LucSels
Employer brandingRelated to, but different from product branding
The branded product? A unique and particular employment experience!
The purpose? Influence how attractive an organization is to potential recruits
Assure that current employees are engaged in culture and strategy of the firm
The focus? Differentiation of a firm’s characteristics as an employer from those of its
competitors
The emphasis? Clarifying unique aspects of the organization’s employment offerings, work
environment, identity or image
The mistakes?Many …
Product, corporate and employer brandingMutually reinforcing mechanisms
Size of the applicant pool is positively predicted by levels of
corporate advertising, an effect which is particularly strong when
coupled with a high level of recruitment advertising
(Collins and Han, 2004)
For employer branding to succeed in its aim, it requires a close
coupling with a general increase in corporate advertising
Beware of negative spillovers: Sainsbury’s Advert
1.What we try to createA strong organizational image
A strong organizational image
The way people perceive an organization: a loose
structure of knowledge, beliefs and feelings about an
organization
Employer branding: managing an organization’s image as
seen trough the eyes of its associates and potential hires
A strong image
2.Why it is key to successThe impact on attractiveness
The importance of being attractive
1. More applicantsPotential applicants prefer / are more likely to apply at organizations
with positive images (attractiveness)
2. DifferentiationWithin the same industry job related factors are rather similar, making
it difficult for organizations to differentiate themselves
3. Better matching hiresPotential applicants compare the brand image they have to their
needs, personalities and values; the better the match …
4. Improved performance and ROISuccess of later HR efforts (e.g. selection, training, compensation)
depends in part on quality/quantity of new hires (path dependency)
Positive image and applicant preferenceMain findings
1. Potential applicants prefer organizations with positive images
2. Key factors predicting positive job seeker reputation perceptions (Cable
& Graham, 2000; Cable & Turban, 2003)
profitability, organizational success
external ratings of corporate reputation
degree of familiarity with the organization
3. Different subject groups (and applicant sub-populations) hold varying
images of the same organization and form images in different ways
4. Organizational image is more malleable among some groups of
applicants than others
Rate the image of the
company
RandstadKBC
KPMG GSKBpost
DEME
BekaertING
Ryanair
KU Leuven
Probability of responding
to a company’s recruitment
efforts
RandstadKBC
KPMG GSKBpost
DEME
BekaertING
Ryanair
KU Leuven
Probability of responding
to a company’s recruitment
efforts
adv. Randstad
adv. KBC
adv. KPMG
adv. GSK
adv. Bpost
adv. DEME
adv. Bekaert adv. ING
adv. Ryanair
adv. KU Leuven
.90
.57
Organizational
image
Recruitment
image
Organizations whose image causes them to fail
to attract applicants can modify their image
Recruitment imageContent of recruitment materials
1. Amount and adequacy of information
Strong positive correlations between amount of information
provided and probability of responding to the ads
2. Importance of job content / specification
Job content, work environment and organizational image are the
strongest predictors of applicant attraction (Chapman et al., 2005)
Perceived person-job fit becomes more important the further the
stage of recruitment reached (abilities vs job requirements;
preferences vs job content)
Detailed job specifications tend to ‘weed out’ unqualified
applicants, increasing the efficiency of the recruitment process
Job marketing
3.Why it is so difficultInforming versus selling
Marketing the brand vs living the brand
Overemphasis placed on communicating brand promises … at
the expense of longer term management of the employee
experience
External branding: distinctiveness and employee attraction
Internal branding: consistency and employee retention
Carrying the ‘brand promise’ made to recruits into the firm
The employer brand should be present in each and every aspect of
the real work experience
HR-led role of employer branding as a reinforcing counterpart to the
marketingled role of product and corporate brand management
Role of leadership to maintain the overall integrity of the employer
brand through appropriate communication and behaviours
Informing or selling?
Selling the job and the organization?
Portraying them in the most favorable light, emphasizing positive
and disregarding negative features
“Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you are staff …”
Informing applicants in a complete and balanced way?
Revealing realistic, both positive and negative features; adequate
information about the culture, management style, jobs and careers
offered, …
Limiting risk of ‘reality shock’ → reducing short-term turnover
Realistic Job Preview Idaho State Police
Employee referral
1. Strong post-hire effects
Lower turnover and absenteeism
Higher job satisfaction and job performance
High applicant attraction to the organization
2. Explanations
Realism of info: an informal source providing more accurate
information, leading to role clarity and realistic expectations
Differences in post-hire treatment: referrals who feel they are
‘sponsored’ by a recruiter/friend
Media richness: transferring complex and contextualized
information, two way communication
4.Why it will become
even more importantThe war for talent
The population on working age will decreaseAges 15-64, yearly average variation, x 1.000
Bron: Federaal Planbureau, Demografische Perspectieven 2013-2060
Replacement demand will increase50+ leaving the labour market, projection 2018-2023
265,375331,113
390,987443,407
525,740
630,112
2008-2013 2013-2018 2018-2023
Flemish Region Belgium
Bron: Projectiemodel werkzaamheid (Steunpunt WSE)
Expansion demand needs to increaseProjected employment rate, Belgium, ages 20-64
68,9%
73,2% target 2020
286.143 jobs
Bron: Projectiemodel werkzaamheid (Steunpunt WSE)
Targeted talent pools are drying upCurrent and potential employment rates, 20-64, Belgium
Bron: FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek - EAK (Bewerking Steunpunt WSE)
52.4
70.0
57.4
63.9 62.6
73.0
78.0 78.382.9 82.5 83.1
90.8 90.3
37.6 39.9 40.647.8
54.062.1
67.2 68.372.3 72.4 73.6
79.984.1
Potential employment rate Employment rate 2013
Current and potential employment rateAges 20-64, Flemish region
Bron: FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek - EAK (Bewerking Steunpunt WSE)
51.2
73.0
60.763.1 62.8
74.479.0 79.2
83.5 83.4 83.6
92.3 90.6
40.446.3 48.1
52.556.5
66.971.9 72.6
76.8 76.8 77.685.7 86.4
Potential employment rate Employment rate 2013
Wrap-up
Conclusions
Post and pray, or …
1. Invest in employer branding, but tailor your sourcing efforts to specific
positions and market conditions
2. Complement your employer brand with job marketing for your key
positions
3. Make data-informed sourcing channel selection decisions, taking into
account post-hire effects
4. Question whether your career site is working and educates prospects
on the organization, the type of organization you aim to be, jobs and
(a realistic preview of) job content, career opportunities, work
environment …
5. Market the brand, but even more importantly …
Live the brand!