USA - Why Would Someone Want to Work for You

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10 Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | October 2010 ©2010 ERE Media, Inc.

BRANDING

If more companies had the answer to the question, “Why

would someone want to work for us?” chances are we

wouldn’t have the increasingly high levels of disengagement

we do now amongst employees in companies around the

world.

The past few years have witnessed one of the most severe

periods in economic history following the meltdown of the

global financial system, which had its roots in the subprime

mortgage market and took hold when Lehman Brothers filed

for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2008.

The effect of the global financial crisis resulted in record rates

of unemployment in many countries following years of growth,

and some of the lowest unemployment rates for over 30-40

years. The recruitment drives which accelerated during the

years of economic prosperity came to a screaming halt.

Now, in 2010, many countries, such as Germany, China,

and the U.S., are starting to show positive signs of econom-

ic recovery, albeit at varying degrees.There is also still some

concern over the recovery of the European economy. The

legacy from the financial crisis has resulted in employees hav-

ing to sacrifice a number of employment benefits they took

for granted prior to the financial crisis, such as bonuses, com-

pany cars, and investments in their training and development.

In countries such as Australia, employees were asked to re-

duce their five-day working week (and salary!) by one day.

Many didn’t have a choice: it was either accept the reduc-

tion in working hours (many were happy to do that!) andsalary (many were unhappy to accept that!) or risk losing

their job.

During the economic downturn we also witnessed an ex-

plosion in the adoption of social media worldwide.Today the

world has become more connected and with this has come

greater access to knowledge, cultural differences,and millions

of websites where people are in a much better position to make

an informed choice about where they want to work.

Companies who were earlier adopters of social media for

talent acquisition such as Sodexo, Starbucks, and Best Buy

are now in a position to use this media to influence the em-

ployment choice of passive and active candidates. Most peo-

ple search online for information about companies, and so-

cial media provides the opportunity to build a “fan” or “fol-

lower” base which is similar to customer relationship man-

agement platforms that came for before it.The difference is

that people choose to “follow” companies and are not sim-

ply put into a database and bombarded with messages of lit-

tle relevance or impact. Social media provides an opportu-

nity for companies to interact and engage with their target au-

dience, and secondary to this is that people will form an opin-

ion about what it is like to work for your company.

Understanding which combination of employment attrib-

utes at the rational (or functional) and emotional (or senso-

ry) level have the strongest influence on a person’s employ-

ment choice will contribute to a better understanding and ap-

plication of the employer brand concept.Your employer brand

is “the image of your organization as a ‘great place to work’”

in the mind of current employees and key stakeholders in the

external market (active and passive candidates, clients, cus-

tomers, and other key stakeholders). A person’s image of your

company is formed through the sum of high-touch and low-

touch experiences it has with your company across multiple

touchpoints (e.g. career website, interview, Facebook page,

etc.) and has the ability to influence the employment choice

of your target audience.

The Influencers of Employment Choice

To better understand what the key influencers or employ-

ment choice are, Employer Brand International conducted

a global research study and found that not all candidates are

influenced by the same attributes. Complicating the matter

further is that when we analysed the data we found differences

by the country region, gender, age, organization type, posi-

tion levels, and employment tenure.

Why Would Someone Want to Work for You?

A global study by Employer Brand International looking at what job

candidates want, depending on factors such as age and gender.

By Brett Minchington, Chairman and CEO, Employer Brand International



©2010 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | October 2010 11

BRANDING

WHY WORK FOR YOU?

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Figure 2: Influencers of employment choice, by age

Figure 1: Influencers of employment choice - By gender

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Copyright: Employer Brand International


18-29

30-39

40-49

50+

Employer Brand Attributes

1. Corporate reputation 2. Thought Leadership 3. Performance Management 4. Internal Business Processes

5. Leadership 6. Innovation and Re-invention 7. Strategic Intent 8. Corporate Social Responsibil ity

9. Communications 10. Customer Relationships 11. Developing People 12. Measurement & Evaluation

13. Flexibility 14. Work Environment 15. Global Perspective

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i n c r e a s i n g

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Male

Female



5. Leadership 6. Innovation and Re-invention 7. Strategic Intent 8. Corporate Social Responsibility






BRANDING

WHY WORK FOR YOU?

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Figure 4: Influencers of employment choice - By position levels

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15


Administration

Management

Senior Management

Executive



5. Leadership 6. Innovation and Re-invention 7. Strategic Intent 8. Corporate Social Responsibility



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Figure 3: Influencers of employment choice - By organization type

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15


Private

NFP

Government



5. Leadership 6. Innovation and Re-invention 7. Strategic Intent 8. Corporate Social Responsibil ity





©2010 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | October 2010 13

BRANDING

WHY WORK FOR YOU?

By Gender

When comparing the results between genders, flexible

working patterns is a significantly (six times more)

stronger influencer of employment choice for females com-

pared to males.Working for a company with a strong rep-

utation and a friendly working environment is also a

stronger influencer of employment choice for females (see

Figure 1).

The opportunity to work with thought leaders, an organ-

ization with a culture of innovation (nearly twice as much),

and a clearly defined mission (three times more) have a

stronger influence on employment choice for males compared

to females.

By Age

When comparing the results between age groups, being re-

warded for performance decreases in strength of influence

as age increases. It is twice as strong an influence for 18-29

year-olds compared to 40-49 year-olds. At 50+ years it drops

off in influence tenfold (see Figure 2).

A clearly defined mission increases as an influence of em-

ployment choice as a person increases in age, with it twice

as strong an influence for 40-49 year-olds compared to 18-

29 year-olds.Working for a company that provides a high

level of customer service also increases in influence of em-

ployment choice as age increases. It is nearly five times as

strong an influence for 50+ year-olds compared to 18-29

year-olds.

A friendly working environment is also a stronger influence

of employment choice for younger age groups and declines

with age (nearly three times stronger for 18-29 years com-

pared to 50+ years).

By Organization Types

When comparing organization types, working for a com-

pany with a strong reputation is twice as strong an influence

of employment choice for the not-for-profit sector comparedto government.

The opportunity to work with thought leaders is nearly twice

as strong an influence of employment choice for the private

sector compared to government; being rewarded for perform-

ance is three times stronger in influence in the private sec-

tor compared to government; and working for a company with

inspiring leadership is three times a stronger influence for pri-

vate sector employees compared to not-for-profits and gov-

ernment (see Figure 3).

By Position Levels

When comparing the results between position levels,

working for inspiring leaders is a stronger influencer of em-

ployment choice for executives compared to other position

levels (two times stronger than Administration).

Interestingly effective internal processes have less of an in-

fluence on employment choice the higher the position level

(see Figure 4).

A company that offers high levels of customer service in-

creases in influence of employment choice the higher the po-

sition level, with nearly twice the influence strength for Ex-

ecutives compared to Senior Management. Executives are less

influenced by clearly defined career paths than positions low-

er in the staffing hierarchy.

Work flexibility is a much stronger influence for Adminis-

tration staff compared to the other levels (nearly four times

stronger than Executives). Surprisingly it was also a stronger

influence of employment choice for senior managers compared

to managers.

The Implications

Now, more than ever, influencing candidates to join your

company will require a targeted recruitment strategy and com-

munications approach.There is little value in recruiting tal-

ent into your organization if you promise what you can’t de-

liver or the candidate’s values are not aligned with the direc-

tion your company is heading. Some of the key implications

for your leaders to focus on to ensure recruitment messag-

ing resonates and influences your target audience in their em-

ployment choice include:

1. When planning your recruitment communications, al-

ways bear in mind the different aspects you should fo-

cus on when communicating to males and females.An

offer of flexible working patterns and a friendly work en-

vironment is a much stronger influencer of employment

choice for women compared to men. Men are more in-fluenced by a company who offers a clearly defined mis-

sion, a culture of innovation, and high levels of customer

service.

2. We grow up in different cultures; therefore, we value dif-

ferent things in life. Bear this in mind when planning a glob-

al recruitment campaign. For example work flexibility will

be relevant for employees from the U.S., Canada,and Aus-

tralia, and not so much Europe. Don’t make assumptions




BRANDING

WHY WORK FOR YOU?

about other cultures; understand what is important for

them.

3. We change with age. People over 55 tend to focus more

on their impact to society, so no wonder they are the only

group that is strongly influenced by your corporate social

responsibility activities or customer relationships. On the

other hand,they are far less influenced by strong leader-

ship or performance management.

4. Many of your recruitment campaigns will focus around

college graduates and entry-level positions. Remember they

are looking for a good career start more so than some “big

words” in your recruitment ads, as they don’t know yet

what to really expect from work.It’s no surprise then that

they don’t focus as much on leadership, strategic intent,

or customer relations in employment choice.They will fo-

cus more on the everyday aspects: new colleagues (work

environment), clearly defined career path development,

and global perspective.

5. The kind of organization you have also builds certain ex-

pectations. People who are driven to work for private com-

panies, governments, or not-for-profits value different

things, and are attracted to organizations who can meet

these expectations. Ensure the offering you are commu-

nicating can be matched by your ability to deliver on it.

6. The research shows private company employees value lead-

ership, rewards for performance, and global perspective

much higher than their other colleagues in the not-for-

profit and government sectors. On the other hand, gov-

ernment employees value flexibility and corporate social

responsibility. This comparison shows that different

kinds of organizations usually hire different profiles of peo-

ple, and it is really difficult for them to appeal to the same

talents.

7. Do you have a different recruitment strategy for different

position levels? Different position levels are like different

market segments for marketing communications you con-

duct for your products and services.They have different

characteristics, needs, expectations, and most important-

ly, goals. Understand your employees and help them

achieve those goals.

8. People view employment offerings differently as they

progress along their career path. Entry-level or admin-

istrative workers will focus on how the company affects

their life and work-life balance; hence the importance

of flexibility, work environment, and developing people.

Senior management and executives look more at the type

of company you are, and are influenced by thought lead-

ership, innovation, strategic intent, and customer rela-

tionships.

9. If your challenge is retention, think about how your em-

ployment offer changes with employees’ tenure.The most

common mistake would be to offer a person the same ben-

efit each time along the employment lifecycle,ignoring how

the employee’s needs are changing. Employees differ in

their expectations depending on how long they have been

working for the same company. Global perspective is one

example which is more important for young recruits, but

eventually over the years it becomes less important in com-

parison to corporate reputation or customer relationships.

10. Your line managers should play a crucial role in identi-

fying the values which most attract employees and ensure

they are aligned with the organization’s values.You can

build up a framework model of how employees’ expecta-

tions change over time and develop and equip your man-

agers with the skills and capabilities to deliver on the prom-

ises articulated during the recruitment campaign.

Brett Minchington is the Chairman/CEO of Employer Brand International, and a global authority, strategist, and corporate advisor

on employer branding. His new book,E mployer Brand Leadership — A Global Perspective , is now available from the publisher at

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USA - Why Would Someone Want to Work for You