Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels

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Marketing the brand, living the brand Luc Sels Dean Faculty of Economics and Business [email protected] @LucSels

Transcript of Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels

Page 1: Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels

Marketing the brand,

living the brand

Luc Sels

Dean

Faculty of Economics and Business

[email protected]

@LucSels

Page 2: Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels

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 …

Page 3: Randstad Award: Marketing the brand, living the brand - Luc Sels

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

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1.What we try to createA strong organizational image

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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

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A strong image

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2.Why it is key to successThe impact on attractiveness

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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3.Why it is so difficultInforming versus selling

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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

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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

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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

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4.Why it will become

even more importantThe war for talent

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The population on working age will decreaseAges 15-64, yearly average variation, x 1.000

Bron: Federaal Planbureau, Demografische Perspectieven 2013-2060

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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)

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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)

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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

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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

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Wrap-up

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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 …

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Live the brand!