dansk coaching institut - employer branding

The world’s leading Employer Branding journal Issue 1 2011Presented by Universum

Featured Brands: Apple LinkedIn CIPD Ernst & Young Unilever McKinsey & Co Siemens Credit Suisse University of Pennsylvania University of California Davis

FDM Group British Army The Danish Institute of Coaching

Generation IT – everyone wants them

A top information technology recruit is a treasured com-modity well outside of the traditional IT industry.

A hefty salary isn’t good enough for them. !ey want to feel that they contribute to the overall business success. > page 10

Modern EB – what’s in store?

New year, new deal. Universum Quarterly spoke to five senior employer branding executives about what’s hot for 2011 and what they think will

be the defining trends. > page 15

Mastering Metrics – our new column seriesLovisa Öhnell is Universum’s EB doctor. During this four-column series

she will guide you through easy steps for using metrics to check up on your EB health. Make sure you keep all her appointments. > page 6

Lessons from the Army

British Army Recruiting specialist Colin Cook discusses how the British Army succeeds with their recruiting in the face of civilian competition. > page 22

© Universum 2011© Universum 2011 3 #1 20112 #1 2011

Employer branding in the news

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Michal Kalinowski*OPLM�2UV^SLKNL�6MÄJLY��<UP]LYZ\T

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Catrine Johansson [email protected]

EDITOR: Jens Trulsson

ART DIRECTOR: Malin Wigren

ILLUSTRATOR: Malin Wigren

PROOFREADER: Michelle Boyde

WRITERS: Michelle Boyde, Fred Cohn, Lovisa Öhnell, Jens Trulsson, Bethany Read

PUBLISHER: Petter Nylander. CEO, Universum

PRODUCT MANAGER: Karin Almcrantz

ISSN 1653-8668 Visit us at: www.universumglobal.com/uqWe hope you like the new Universum Quarterly. Send your feedback to [email protected]

F riends, it is time for a change. After seven years at the helm of Universum, it’s time for some-one else to hold the rudder.

But I am happy to say, that Universum lives as it preaches – that employers should o"er a variety of opportunities for top talent within the organisation. In this case, me. In my new role as chief knowledge o#cer, I will be able to more actively participate in driving the development of employer branding. When I look back at the past decade and a half, I see an industry that developed from a somewhat obscure part of HR to a sophisticated and independent division filled with complexities and advanced theories. !e most obvious sign of how mature EB has become is that it has taken a seat at the board room tables of most employers. Today, EB is considered an integral factor in the overall business success. Univer-sum has developed along with EB, taking the leading position in EB knowledge, communi-cation and research data. It is imperative for Universum to maintain and enhance that posi-tion. Hence, it naturally follows that the com-pany has decided to dedicate a senior full time position to the work of being a thought leader.

A big part of my job will be to provide you with the right information, in the right amounts and through the right channels to keep up with the developments that impact

your job. I will be dedicated to helping you sort out, organise and use all that informa-tion in the best way. One of the most impor-tant changes we see is that people, particularly young people, spend enormous amounts of time consuming media and information. Sev-eral studies prove this. One concludes that 18-24-year-olds spend 10 hours consuming media for every six hours of time they are awake. To do that, they are logged on to several devices at the same time. To handle this, their attention span gets shorter, and they process smaller pieces of information at a time. We need to move with that change. You should consider how this shift in media consumption a"ects your employer branding work. To aid you, I will find new, faster and more continu-ous information sources for you, to comple-ment the information you get through Uni-versum Quarterly. So stay tuned for even more support from Universum, the leading partner in your EB work.

No more freewheeling

Not having pre-set methods for the recruiting process can be a dan-gerous pitfall. As corporate recruiting is picking up many simply hire external recruiters to get the job done. However, corporate recruitment departments are now realising the need to develop their own internal executive search. !is means new processes are being developed by com-panies to entice A-level candidates into jobs at companies that lack a well known brand name.

However, the absence of standardised recruiting processes means that this is not the first thing needed to be done. !e goal should be quality of hire. Recruiters need to consider the A-level candidates are likely to be passive so the assessment process needs to interest candidates who aren’t actively looking. !ink of recruiting a bit like sales and sales people; they have extensive training. If your company doesn’t have a strong employer brand, you have to sell the position to a potential candidate. With the right steps taken, your internal recruiting team should be able to com-pete with the best.

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Apple loses its core

Apple lost their illustrious leader, Steve Jobs to his precarious ill health. !is poses a problem for Apple because one of the great messages of branding is the power of founders and what they bring to a company.

Jobs resurrected the failing brand in 1997 and turned it into the global conglomerate it is today. Many brands struggle to retain their trajectory once the original leader is gone, and Apple has experienced a six per cent drop in share prices since Jobs announced his departure.

A founder has the brand in his/her bones, and they are more likely to understand the decision process needed in order to benefit their company to the max-imum. Also, it is a powerful form of marketing when a founder talks about their company as they are the ones who truly believe in the magic of their dream.

!ere are several cases when founders have had to return to resurrect their companies. Jobs in 1997, Coco Chanel in 1963 and more recently How-ard Schultz. He recreated the supposedly doomed Starbucks brand in under a year.

!e power of founders means that Starbucks is successful, Chanel will be iconic forever while Ap-ple may face a future struggle.

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www.marketingweek.co.uk

New year, new opportunities

MEDIA UPDATE,+0;690(3

Managing the masses

Whilst many business leaders have great skill in business administration, most lack one vital skill: people management. Academic study of people manage-ment focuses on the theory and mechan-ics of human resources and often ignores how to deal with employee issues such as disgruntled employees, harassment and romance in the workplace. !ese types of problems can create havoc in organ-isations if not properly dealt with. Lead-ers need to be able to identify negative behaviours exhibited by employees and determine how to best deal with them. An external organisational review identi-fies the depth of the issue and confirms the impact. Evaluations should be con-ducted by an objective third party who gives suggestions of how to best deal with the situation.

Source: Tough task deal

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Panning for gold

If organisations managed their business like they manage their human assets most companies would fight to stay in business at all. Talent management remains hit and miss, and companies have problems with the allocation of employees to specific jobs. Certain companies, including GE, P&G and Hindustan Unilever work hard to identify an individual’s talent through observation and detection, and are able to decide the position each

leader would suit best. Wharton has an advanced management programme that shows the problems associated with the vague clichéd phrases such as analytical

and innovative which are used to recruit leaders. When participants are asked to analyse where exactly Apple’s Steve Jobs’ talent lies, they’re told that you can’t define a leader by buzz words. Great leaders like Jobs understand what consumers want now and what they will want in the future. To become a great leader you need to

be able to relate and be trusted by everyone in the company.

Source: How Steve Jobs gets things done, www.management.fortune.cnn.com

Supervising the stars

If employee performance appraisals are put at the centre of talent management it allows key areas such as product quality and em-ployee’s competence to flourish, as well as aiding a logical workflow. Organisations are increasingly implementing programmes such as the ISO 9001 quality management system in order to increase profitability and competiveness. ISO standards ask organisations to identify skill sets in jobs for certification. Lorri Hunt, ISO 9001 ex-pert said that in order for the system to run properly “organisations need to ensure that HR has the integrated systems and tools in place to evaluate employee performance” as HR is often disconnected from the quality management process. Talent management is critical in manufacturing organisations because it enables the ability to create and automate the workflow, ensurimg employees have the skills and create quality standards.

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Performing to the max

Performance appraisal has been criticised from all angles. And yet, they are done in every organ-isation. The top fifty problems associated with performance appraisals have now been grouped into categories by Dr. John Sullivan, the “Mi-chael Jordan of hiring” according to Fast Maga-zine. He categorises them as follows: process-related problems such as little legal support and the lack of a second review. Next are manager-related problems, such as not fully trained man-gers and managers misunderstanding employ-ees. Finally there are employee problems that can occur during the process such as high anxiety and the fact it is a one way process, with no input from the employee being apprised. Dr. Sullivan estimates that it costs a company $2,500 annually to evaluate an employee. Per-haps it is time to make the dollars count?

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Stealing staples

Fraud prevention service CIFAS figures show that employee fraud has in-creased by 45 per cent under 2009, with cases worth up to £567 million in 2009, compared to £229 million in 2008. Pre-employment screens help to limit the risk at the recruitment stage. But it can create a false sense of security as there is no guarantee that an employee won’t commit fraud for the first time. Ongoing screens are still new in the UK because it can alienate employees along the way. Employees are more likely to join in the process if they understand why re-screening processes are in place. !is can be achieved by being clear about the organisations motives to avoid negativity. Ideally, all employees should be re-screened at least every 12 to 18 months but to minimise the costs organisations could use periodic checks on a random sample of the employee population. Regular screens help organisations to gain an insight into the background of their workforce and reduce the risks associated with a bad employee.

Source: Developing an ongoing screening strategy, www.hrmagazine.co.uk

Guarding the green

Pay accounting counts for the largest part of organisational expenditure in many businesses. !ere are big risks if done wrong, which can include low employee morale, industrial relations problems and the dangers of inef-ficiency. Many businesses are now conducting pay review processes that are not aligned with business needs. A new guide from !e Chartered Institute of Personnel and Develop-ment (CIPD), !e Pay Review Process, has been launched which uses case studies from 16 organisations to demonstrate how to carry out a successful review. Key messages include the importance of e"ective planning and data gathering, plus it encourages practitioners to keep processes simple. Chares Cotton, CIPD advisor said that getting a pay review process wrong can “send out mixed messages on what your organisations values are in terms of employee behaviour, skills, attitudes and performances”.Source: Align pay review with business, urges CIPD guide, www.peoplemanagement.co.uk

MEDIA UPDATEMEDIA UPDATE

Checking your EB vitals

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Lisa works with employer branding communication solutions, and has over 15 years of experience from stra-tegic communication within branding, PR, event and advertising. She has been PR director at MTV Networks, and has a broad knowledge of com-municating with young target groups in the new media environment, and is specialised in creating research based communication concepts and inte-grated communication campaigns.

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M easuring employer brand-ing (EB) is to your strate-gies what regular health checkups are to your

body. Even if you don’t feel sick, you should do regular checkups to confirm your good health, and to catch potential problems early. Only if the initial tests indicate a problem does the doctor send you for an MRI or a CAT scan. It’s the same thing with EB strategies. A sim-ple dash board of three key performance in-dicators should be used annually to gauge the overall health of the employer brand.

��([[YHJ[P]LULZZWhen measuring your attractiveness, make sure you do it amongst relevant target groups. Second, set a goal for the ranking. Being number one is not realistic for most. But perhaps being amongst the Top 20 or Top 10 is. !ird, changing rankings take time. So when you do set the goal and define your target groups, make sure that reflects future recruitment needs beyond six months.

��)YHUK�7LYJLW[PVUProper brand perception reflects your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) in the right way. You have to define what characterises your employ-ment o"er, and in what ratios. If the brand per-ception and your EVP aren’t aligned, you may run into a similar problem as a global soft drink company did whilst recruiting sta" to a

manufacturing plant in Asia. !e company’s brand is strongly associated with international atmosphere. But the manufacturing plant had none of that global flair. It was basically a local, independent, factory. Hence, the plant required a completely di"erent set of recruits than the company as a whole did.

��*VU]LYZPVUMeasuring your conversion means measuring the strength of your relationship with your tar-get group. How well they know you, and how strongly they want to join your organisation. At Universum, we have a funnel to illustrate this. At the widest point, we have those who are familiar with you. Further down are those who consider working for you. On the next level in the funnel, we find those who think of you as an ideal employer. And at the narrowest point are those that have also applied. Defining where you want to be will help you track your communication with your target group and also measure progress in a clear way. Following this health check ABC will hopefully generate a clean bill of health for your EB. If there are problems, they will be discovered early. And early detection increases the chances of e"ective treatment. In addition, if ailments are discovered early, the treatment will be considerably cheaper. So when you sit down to measure your EB, do as your doctor. Start with checking your vitals.

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Lovisa Öhnell .SVIHS�+PYLJ[VY�VM�9LZLHYJO�HUK�

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Lovisa has a background as a management consultant with

McKinsey & Co. As the global director of research and

consulting she is responsible for the 30 talent surveys conducted

by Universum annually, as well as for Universum’s consulting

business,serving global clients in the areas of EVP development,

employer brand strategy and communication strategy.

EBSURGERYMASTERING

METRICS

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Often the territory gets muddled between the consumer brand and the employer brand. What are the most important distinguishing factors?A lot of parts play in the complex process that is branding: the communication message, its execution, and if you really believe in and live your brand within the organisation. !e same goes for EB but it’s even more complex. To choose an employer involves a lot of very personal decisions. !e choice of a product has an e"ect on your life. To choose your employer envelopes your life, your family and your future. !erefore, the decision-making process involves a lot more psychological factors for the candidate – who is more critical, sceptical and evaluates the feelings surrounding your brand. !e candidate has to visualise a clear future role and it has to feel right on every level. Within marketing today we often work with experience branding, e.g. to a"ect all senses: see; hear; touch; feel and understand. It’s fragile and requires communication with a uniform message that is both experience-based and chock full of facts. As the Web has made information a lot more accessible to more people, potential candidates have become a lot better at digging up and evaluating information. !at implicitly means that they’re more demanding. Brands today have to stop thinking about being bombastic and think more specifi-cally about who they are and what they honestly can contribute with. !e consumer today is their own investigative journalist and social media can build brands as quickly as it can destroy them. Good advertising is built on honest facts but creates a credible experience. !e same goes for an employer brand, however, you have a lot more power with good ambassadors and brand builders. One clear di"erence with EB, that a regular consumer brand can’t touch, is the importance of the personal experience. Future employees want to meet with people from all levels within the organisation. Real people that can give them an idea if they can fill these persons’ shoes in a few years. !at is why events, meetings, editorial PR, social media with open channels and anything else that can be used for story telling is important. EB has many similarities with business-to-business marketing where it’s important to build relationships based on knowledge. A strong consumer brand often means a strong EB but it isn’t enough to be invisible in the personal meet-ing. !e people you send forth have to be representative of the company in a way that make their stories compelling. A boring or uncharismatic person can a"ect an entire EB. In this new environment, where you are visible on so many platforms, the message gets all the more important. Good preparation with a clear EVP, a distinct communications idea and a good o"er to the employer market is extremely important. Students and professionals better perceive a message and idea that is strong and uniform. It can cut through the noise and have a stronger impact on the target group. !e messages, advertisements and activities devised for younger groups could do with a touch more creativity. Young people today are knowledgeable and smart, they can see through bad communications in a ji" as they’re used to marketers flirting with their attention. Only a few brands dare to try new approaches to EB as most are too scared to stick their necks out by using creative, fun and engaging methods. Overall there is a need for a more varied EB as a lot of companies choose similar ways of profiling themselves. It’s like a cake. !e bottom of the cake is all the hard facts, about the o"ering, about the company and about the culture. Be open with your culture – showcase it. !e topping is the feeling you get. You try to analyse what they say and try to go behind it. What are they really saying? What feeling do I get from this? We often talk about low involvement and high involvement. EB is higher than the highest involvement. !erein lies the di"erence.

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How will you handle the leap from online betting to employer branding?Actually, I see many similarities between my old role and my new one. !e online indus-try is extremely talent driven and as a CEO in that industry, talent development has always been a top priority for me. Further-

more, the online industry is at the forefront of digital and online technology. I believe that my experience from this will bring new possibilities to Universum and to how em-ployer branding strategies are executed. In addition, I have spent my entire career in an international environment. !at fits very well with Universum’s global reach and am-bitions.

In your opinion, what is the most important employer branding is-sue today?Internal talent development is a key issue. To-day, what di"erentiates employers is their values and culture, not monetary compensation. In that environment, cultivating and developing your existing talent is crucial. Done successfully, it brings less risk and is less expensive, than re-lying too heavily on external recruitment. With talent that is already within the organisation, you know that they are a good cultural fit and they have higher credibility with their col-leagues because they have a proven track record. !roughout my career, I have identified young, ambitious and smart employees that I have mentored to successful careers. I have seen first- hand the advantages of that kind of approach.

We see big changes in what mo-tivates talent groups today com-pared to previous generations. How do you see that affecting the employer branding community?Gone are the days when products or patents put a company ahead of the rest. Instead, we operate in a society where talent has the

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power and the self confidence to use it. We live in a much more equal society where a vast amount of information is available to all. In a world driven by information flow, talent is more sophisticated and more knowledgeable than ever. Whereas employers used to select the talent, nowadays, the talent selects the employers. !is coupled with more emphasis on work/life balance, forces employer brand-ing strategies to o"er values and a culture that talent can identify with and relate to. Select-ing an employer is a statement of the person’s personality and lifestyle – not a paycheck.

>OH[�^PSS�`V\�MVJ\Z�VU�HZ�*,6�VM� Universum?I will continue to lead Universum’s expansion as a global thought leader in the employer brand-ing field. Second, I will focus on our own talent and client o"er development. We need to con-tinue to strive for better client o"ers, higher ex-pertise amongst our employees and an increased focus on innovative solutions for our clients. !ird, the digitalisation of our client o"ers will be a main focus. !ere is enormous potential in our various online o"ers, and I see that as the main growth area for the future.

>OH[�RPUK�VM�*,6�HYL�`V\&I am ambitious, curious and I have a genuine interest in helping people develop. Focus on the client is central to my philosophy and I believe it is my job to sometimes look further down the road, to set the long-term course for the company and its employees. But this is no revolution for Universum. I am enter-ing an already well-managed company that is stable and has moved in the right direction for quite some time. It is my job to continue that work, enhance it, and add my perspective to maintain the growth.

“Selecting an employer is a statement of the person’s personality and lifestyle – not a paycheck. ”

– Petter Nylander, Universum

Petter Nylander *,6��<UP]LYZ\T�.YV\W

Age: 46 Family: Wife Annika, daughter Filippa 15 years Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, University of Stockholm, graduated 1994. *HYLLY�OPNOSPNO[Z! 1993-1994: Intern at Universum, 1994-2003: Various posi-tions, including CEO at TV3 Sweden, CEO TV3 Scandinavia,. Vice President MTG )YVHKJH[PUN�*OHUULSZ��:^LKLU»Z�ÄYZ[�JVT-TLYJPHSS`�ÄUHUJLK�;=�Z[H[PVU��!�CEO of Omnicom Media Group AB, a global communications services company. 2005-2010: CEO Unibet Group PLC, one of Europe’s leading online gaming sites. Hobbies: I am very interested in History. I also enjoy travel, art, science and cooking. I also try to be at the gym twice a week. Did you know…that Petter speaks Greek after working several summers as a tour guide in the Greek Island before his university studies?

Universum announces its

By Catrine Johansson

“I am ambitious, curious, and I have a genuine interest in helping people develop. ”

– Petter Nylander, Universum

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Off-shoring and the ¸YHUR�HUK�ÄSL¹

0;�QVIZ�YLX\PYPUN�TPK�SL]LS�ZRPSSZ�TH`�IL�LHZPLY�[V�ÄSS�[OHU�[OVZL�H[�[OL�[VW��;OPZ�PZ�H�YLZ\S[�VM�PUJYLHZPUN�NSVIHSPZH[PVU��ÔPJO�OHZ�YLJVUÄN\YLK�[OL�SHUKZJHWL�PU�the past decade or so and given rise to

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salaries than their European and Ameri-

JHU�JV\U[LYWHY[Z�� “An American IT worker may feel the

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tion Task Force of the Association for

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IT talent – the new golden calves of business(�[VW�PUMVYTH[PVU�[LJOUVSVN`�JHUKPKH[L�PZ�H�[YLHZ\YLK�JVTTVKP[ �̀�9LJY\P[LYZ�ÄUK�[OLTZLS]LZ�]`PUN�UV[�Q\Z[�^P[O�JVTWHUPLZ�PU�[OLPY�VÛ�ÄLSK��I\[�HSZV�^P[O�JVTWL[P[PVU� HJYVZZ� HSS� PUK\Z[YPHS� ZLJ[VYZ��:HSHYPLZ� HSVUL�^VU»[� S\YL� [OL�ILZ[�prospects; any company hoping to attract top IT talent must show that the

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By Fred Cohn

No matter whether the industry is banking or media, energy or high-tech, information technology is the

backbone of any company’s operations. In any corporate sector, top-flight IT people are key to a company’s success.

!e situation presents a special conun-drum to re-cruiters who aim to attract the best IT tal-ent. Although some educa-tional tracks prepare stu-dents for work in a particular sector, IT skills are applicable

across a whole range of industries, making the competition for top candidates all the more fierce. At the top of the heap: technol-ogy-focused companies, which hold a spe-cial allure to these professionals. For many, Google or Facebook represent the Holy Grail of IT.

“!e challenge we face is that your typical IT graduate doesn’t necessarily think of go-ing into banking or finance,” said Jan Simon, global head of the IT Graduate Program at Credit Suisse. “Until we talk to them, they

think they want to work for a tech company and invent the next Android.” Add in the abundance of tech start-ups, all fishing for top talent. “Everybody in Silicon Valley or in New York City who’s a top engineer has a friend who’s starting something,” said Kevin Scott, vice-president of engineering at LinkedIn and a member of the Professions Board at the As-sociation for Computer Machinery (ACM), a US-based IT trade organisation. “!ey can also start their own two-person company: it’s really easy for small groups of technological entre-preneurs to start companies. All the angels, the venture capitalists, are angling after these guys.” Even setting aside the technology sector, any firm seeking top IT talent have to compete not just with traditional rivals in the same field, but companies across all corporate sectors. “!e competition is fierce,” said Simon. “We aren’t just competing with other banks, but with any company that recruits IT people.” “Students are looking at everything,” said Rosette Pyne, senior associate director for en-gineering and applied science bachelor’s and master’s students in University of Pennsyl-vania’s career o#ce. “Not just banks, not just consulting. It could be IBM or Google or Mi-crosoft or a small start-up; a multinational or a small local organisation. !ey’re trying to find the one that works best for them.”

The EVP for IT candidatesTop IT candidates can expect to command big salaries, but money alone isn’t enough to lure the best and the brightest. !eir professional lives are driven by a passion for the field, and they need to know that they’ll land in a place where that passion will be rewarded. “You have to o"er hard problems, where they’re constantly working on new things,” said Scott. “!ey have to be surrounded by very smart colleagues. !ey don’t like to be micromanaged; they need a certain level of autonomy.” “Google and Facebook have been success-ful at providing that atmosphere for their em-ployees,” Scott continued. “Yeah, they’ve got good salaries, lots of benefits. !at’s not to be sneezed at. But what these companies really o"er people is the chance to solve interesting problems and the ability to be entrepreneurial in the way they approach their work.” As Scott sees it, this kind of value propo-sition is hardly limited to tech companies. “I’m sure a big bank can o"er the same kinds of opportunities,” he said. “!ey have to make a case that these are the kinds of positions where you can have a real impact. If you’re coming up with faster trading soft-ware, you’re helping create capital and value for lots of investors and having a positive im-pact on a large number of people. !at’s the

kind of sales pitch that’s really appealing.” !e recruiting of top IT employees re-quires more than just lip service; the process itself must reflect the kind of technical savvy a company needs to make itself a magnet. “Good engineers can detect things that are inauthentic,” said Scott. “People are go-ing to see if you’re just using a bunch of tech buzzwords. You almost have to involve your engineering team to understand the culture of the folks you’re trying to hire, and build a brand for your IT shop.”

Actions speak louder To a certain extent, the IT community is a small one. When they’re scouting out jobs, candidates can easily find colleagues who can brief them on a company’s reputation. “!ey’re doing a lot of research on the organisations – more than ever before,” said Pyne. !is makes it especially important that a company can demonstrate a core commitment to its IT functions. At Credit Suisse, for instance, CIO Karl Landert is a member of the executive board – a clear signal of the centrality of IT to the bank operations and its long term success. “Typically, the companies that are most at-tractive are those with long-term CIOs inside that environment,” said Rod Flavell, CEO of the FDM Group, a provider of IT services

“!e competition is fierce. We aren’t just competing with other banks, but with any company that recruits IT people.”

—Jan Simon, Credit Suisse

TIPS

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only where the programme has allowed

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LYLK�H�JVTWH[PISL�JVYWVYH[L�LU]PYVUTLU[� “The most important thing to my people

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Rod Flavell*,6�-+4�.YV\W��)YPNO[VU��<2

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© Universum 2011© Universum 201112 #1 2011

to top corporations. “!ey’ve shown a con-sistency of processes and of human-resources management, rather than showing a knee-jerk reaction to the market with hiring-and-firing, outsource/in-source patterns.” Pyne said that she has seen companies at-tract attention from UPenn’s IT candidates by o"ering workshops that the students might find useful – not just on the company itself, but on business tactics like networking or how to have a successful in-terview. A general in-formational session on the company may be fine, but an even more e"ective strategy is to address IT-orientated student organisations on specific technologi-cal issues, by giving a tech talk or sponsoring a technology day. Another successful tactic, said Pyne, is to follow up a large scale informational event with a smaller-scale breakout sessions or a separate meet and greet event. !ese allow the compa-nies to create a relatively intimate bond with the students: “It’s easier to connect informally

at these sessions and ask the students ‘By any chance, do you have a resume?’,” she said.

*YLKP[�:\PZZL�VU�JHTW\ZIn its e"ort to attract top IT talent globally, Credit Suisse has devised a number of targeted recruiting tactics. Of course the company at-tends the traditional job fairs and campus

events. But it also has come up with pro-grammes aimed at giving students a clear sense of the chal-lenges and rewards in-volved in working for the bank. !e first step is to convince IT can-didates that banking as a whole is a desir-able career target. “We have to

raise awareness that it’s a great idea and a fantastic career opportunity to go to a bank,” said Simon. “!at’s maybe something my col-leagues in other [Credit Suisse] divisions don’t have to face.”

A key element of the bank’s pitch is the centrality of IT to its operations and our service

o"erings. “Banking is all about the e#cient man-agement information, and what is that? Informa-tion technology!” said Simon. “Including con-tractors, we have about 17,000 people globally working in information technology. !at’s more than most Fortune 100 technology companies.” Credit Suisse is a global company but it takes special e"orts to tailor its IT recruiting e"orts to individual markets. “Recruiting is always a local business,” said Simon. “You have to stay close to your universi-ties. If you compare the coursework of an engi-neering student in the US to India or Singa-pore, you’re looking at two di"erent things. At the end of the day, you have to be aware of the local market you’re hiring from.” !e bank runs a number of feeder pro-grammes, to get students acquainted with the organisation before they make their career choice. In both the US and Switzerland, Credit Suisse has run programmes through universi-ties, overseeing undergraduate and master’s theses that tackle real-world banking issues. !e university professor and a line manager will work together to devise topics that both fulfil academic requirements and contain practical value for the bank. “!e students enjoy doing work that’s not just theoretical,” said Simon. “And it gives

them exposure to the types of problems they’ll encounter in their work for us.” In the UK, where students have more time o" than in the US to work in the field, Credit Suisse o"ers industrial placements of six-to-12 months. Simon said these make a more in-depth, longer term introduction for both parties than typical two month summer internships. “You get a bigger chunk of work,” he said. “You get to know us better, and we get to know you.” One recent attention-getter was Credit Suisse’s “IT Challenge.” Marketed on cam-puses across the UK, it was an online com-petition featuring a series of multiple choice quiz, with prizes including Iphones, Ipads and Amazon vouchers. !e IT Challenge drove students to the bank’s career Web site and helped enhance the bank’s reputation amongst engineering students. As Simon explains, all of these disparate e"orts are devised toward a single end: “We want to make people aware that IT is big and important business at Credit Suisse and that IT candidates can have interesting and exciting careers here,” he concluded.

“ You have to under-stand the culture of the folks you’re trying to hire, and build a brand for your IT shop.”

—Kevin Scott, LinkedInRosette Pyne

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bank has three main divisions: Investment Banking, Private

Banking and Asset Management. In 2010, Credit Suisse generated V]LY��IPSSPVU�PU�UL[�WYVÄ[Z�MVY�P[Z�

shareholders. Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

Number of employees: 50,100

“You get a bigger chunk of work, you get to know us better and we get to know you ”

—Jan Simon, Credit Suisse

13 #1 2011

9,*9<;05.�;9,5+: 9,*9<0;05.�;9,5+:


W hile AT&T was busy an-nouncing the layo" of 15,000 workers in 1994 it simultaneously sent its sta"

to a stadium session with Christian motiva-tional speaker Zig Ziglar who told them: “It’s your own fault; don’t blame the system; don’t blame the boss – work harder and pray more.” !at message pinpoints what Barbara Eh-renreich rallies against in her latest book Smile Or Die: How Positive !inking Fooled America and the World. !e positive thinking jugger-naut has been in e"ect in various shapes since the Calvinist movement loosened its grip on New England in the middle of the 19th cen-tury. !rough chronicling our modern world’s fascination with positive thinking and moti-vational speakers, and the multi-billion dollar business that has grown up around it, Ehren-reich e"ectively punches holes in most argu-ments for its existence. Instead she wishes for us to be human beings, with all our range of emotions. However, in her quest to pull down the proverbial pants of the positive thinking industry, she does sometimes do it in a shoot fish in a barrel kind of way. Especially by tak-ing pot shots at easy targets like televangelists who proclaim that God wants you to have a table at that fancy restaurant.

The upbeatness of cancerWhen Ehrenreich was diagnosed with breast cancer she was flung into the world of positive thinking by doctors and friends alike. Whilst undergoing the treatments of her disease she spent hours scouring Web site forums. !ere she met with women’s stories and the pink rib-bon terminology where the words ‘victim’ and ‘patient’ are prohibited, as they have an aura of self-pity and passivity. Instead those in the midst of treatment are “battling” or “fighting”. When the battle is over one becomes a survi-vor, or nothing – there is no noun for the ones that do not make it. What struck her as

awkward was the relentless upbeatness of it all. !ere was hardly any anger or frustration and some even embraced breast cancer as a welcome chance to change their lives. When Ehrenreich tried to vent her indignation and frustration she was met with comments like “Please get yourself some help…so you can enjoy life to the fullest”. !e additional burden extolled on patients al-ready losing their struggle against cancer to keep a positive outlook sometimes takes on horrify-ing proportions as the woman who writes the self proclaimed “guru” Deepak Chopra saying that she has “come a long way in unburdening [herself ] of toxic feelings, [has] forgiven every-one, changed [her] lifestyle” and yet, ”the can-cer keeps coming back”. She then asks if if she’s missed a lesson and that it gets harder to stay positive. Chopra’s reply is, of course, to keep at it.

*VYWVYH[L�VW[PTPZT�NVLZ�H^Y`Corporate America has embraced the posi-tive attitude makeover with full vigour as well. Ever since the legendary CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, earned his nickname of “Neutron Jack” by laying o" 112,000 employ-ees in a five-year span, American corporations have constantly been on the move to down-size and trim their organisations and raise stock prices. In order to do so, the remaining workforce had to become more e"ective. Enter the motivational speakers to make that hap-pen. Ehrenreich goes on to tell stories about young and powerful CEOs on a “shamanic healing journey” and how spirituality made it into the boardrooms of Fortune 500 compa-nies. !e vibe of positive thinking has got so far out of hand that when a government o#-cial tried to warn the US government that the toxic mortgages Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were backing risked a financial collapse and a “contagious illiquidity in the market”, they tried to fire him for being “negative”. You can say it even caused the financial meltdown we’re still feeling the shakes from today.

0Z�[OLYL�Z\JO�H�[OPUN�HZ�[VV�T\JO�WVZP[P]L�[OPURPUN&�(\[OVY�)HYIHYH�,OYLUYLPJO�KLÄUP[LS`�[OPURZ�ZV��0U�OLY�IVVR��Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled

America and The World��ZOL�L_WSVYLZ�[OL�JVUZLX\LUJLZ�VM�VW[PTPZT�V]LYSVHK�VU�IV[O�WYP]H[L�HUK�JVYWVYH[L�SPML�

By Jens Trulsson

Barbara Ehrenreich is an experienced journalist who has over a

dozen books under her belt already, holding a PhD in cellular biology and a career as a

political activist. She has written a genuinely funny and sometimes terrifying book about

what happens when you apply the law of attraction and magical thinking to real life

situations. Certain aspects of Smile or Die JV\SK�YLHSS`�ILULÄ[�MYVT�ILPUN�TVYL�JVU-

cise as she sometimes hammer the points home in an overly gleeful fashion, delighted

at having ridiculed her subjects. Positive thinking seems to be here to stay but Eh-

renreich reminds us all to use our common sense and ends with her own recipe for

happiness: “have a good time trying”.

Keeping it real – Barbara Ehrenreich tells it like it isEB Forecast 2011By Michelle Boyde

,TWSV`LY�IYHUKPUN� PZ�ILJVTPUN�HU� PUJYLHZPUNS`�Z[YH[LNPJ�HJ[P]P[`�HUK� [OVZL�JVTWHUPLZ�[OH[�KV�P[�^LSS�JVU[PU\L�[V�YHPZL�[OL�IHY�`LHY�VU�`LHY��7^*»Z�NSVIHS�Z\Y]L`�VM��*,6Z�YLSLHZLK�PU�-LIY\HY`�YLWVY[LK�[OH[�[HSLU[�THUHNLTLU[�OHZ�YPZLU�HIV]L�YPZR�THUHNLTLU[�HUK�PU]LZ[TLU[�PU�[OLPY�SPZ[�VM�WYPVYP[PLZ��(Z�8��NL[Z�̂ LSS�\UKLY^H`�Universum Quarterly asked some key individuals work-

PUN�^P[O�,)�[V�ZOHYL�[OLPY�WYLKPJ[PVUZ�MVY�[OL�ÄLSK�PU��

Michal Kalinowski*OPLM�2UV^SLKNL�6MÄJLY�� <UP]LYZ\T

In Q1 Michal Kalinowski, left his post as CEO to drive EB knowledge further as Universum’s chief knowl-edge o#cer – he shares his predic-

tions for the year ahead.

What will make employer branding exciting in 2011?!e majority of companies now see EB from a strategic perspective, but in 2011 they are really beginning to reflect on this. As we exited the recession, investment in EB went up to secure talent quickly for the recovery. !e drop in EB spending was only half the intensity of recruitment cuts. !e BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) region, especially China, did ex-traordinarily well on an economic level. !ey are now en par with other markets, no longer a follower. Executives are re-alising that they need to be strate-gic in these coun-tries in regard to talent, rather than just treating them as operational markets. After this last recession employers do not want to go back into an annual cycle of attracting talent, they are now aiming for long term engagement. !e trend is from “recruitment” to “talent relations”. Now students are looking at employers when they first enrol at university, there needs to be a longer investment in talent

without such immediate feedback. Lastly, they understand the value of alumni and looking after their regretted losses are the long term. For me what’s really exciting is working closely with companies helping them set their goals and the strate-gic dimension of where they are going. !e business plan is cascading down to employer branding strategy more than ever before.

What will be 2011’s biggest challenge for those working with employer brands?Still, despite lots of progress, it is the in-ternal challenge of getting internal buy in. Also, to have courage can be hard. HR teams need to have the guts to say how

things really are when you work for them. Com-panies need to be presented to talent, not sold. Employers have a responsibil-ity to give people the best foun-dation to make decisions, even if that decision

turns out to be this might not be for me. Additionally, corporate communica-tions are like mission control, they hold the brand guidelines and need to sign-o" mate-rial. Now employees have access to many on-line channels to tell their story. HR’s ability to persuade corporate communications to be more open is increasingly important – there needs to be a nuance in communications.

“For me what’s really exciting is working closely with companies helping them set their goals and the strategic dimension of where they are going. ”

– Michal Kalinowski, Universum

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Paul Maxin .SVIHS�9LZV\YJPUN�+PYLJ[VY��

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“It used to be that you evaluated these things every 10 years, then five years and now it’s changing every few months. We have to decide how best to deploy our resources to cope with this.”

– Jennifer Philpot, Ernst & Young

If you weren’t in EB, what would you do? Follow Bob Dylan’s never ending tour around the world.

What will make EB exciting in 2011?!e acquisition and development of great talent will remain as competitive as ever. We’ll use our corporate brand as the platform to ensure a compelling can-didate-centric employment brand that is flexible enough to adapt to local markets and cultures. !e ongoing explosion of digital and social media as platforms for engagement makes this challenging and exciting in equal measure.

2011’s biggest challenge for those working with EB?To maintain key discriminators and to ensure that we have the right targets and know how to measure success in our tar-get markets.

Which employers should we keep an eye on in 2011?I suspect great social media brands such as Facebook and LinkedIn will be in-teresting as they develop their EB. Will they take on the attributes of larger cor-porate organisations, or remain true to their roots?

If you weren’t in EB, what would you do?I would want to work with Tom Ford, the former creative director of Gucci, as his brand guru. He has such an amazing personal brand and unique style and now works in movies, with make-up and clothes – it would be great fun.

What will make EB exciting in 2011?Continuing to tackle the challenges of social and mobile media includ-ing phones and Ipads. We need to understand how to use them to ad-dress issues and opportunities, but also how to build the cool factor. Keeping up with it is a challenge.

2011’s biggest challenge for those working with EB?It’s tied to what is exciting this year – re-ally keeping up with social media and looking at the hygiene factors. What must we have, what is cool to have, what creates positive awareness, plus what should we stop doing. It used to be that you evaluated these things every 10 years, then five years and now it’s changing ev-ery few months. We have to decide how best to deploy our resources to cope with this. Ten years ago marketing and recruit-ment worked separately, but the desire from leadership is they become more integrated. We are shifting focus from the external brand to the internal brand to balance our activities. We are spending more money and resources on our people.

Which employers should we keep an eye on in 2011?!ere are three groups I will be watch-ing. Firstly, our service competitors – we are a very tight pack and we tend to trial many things between us because we have the resources. Secondly, the banks – we are competing with them for top talent so I always want to know what’s happening with them. And lastly, companies focused on the people aspect of their brand such as Virgin and Apple. Ernst & Young will never be as cool or style focused as these employers, but there is lots we can learn from what they are doing.

If you weren’t in EB, what would you do?I would likely still be a human rights legal academic. I was starting my doctorate in law at Cambridge when McKinsey approached me – that was 16 years ago. If I hadn’t joined McKinsey that is probably what I would be doing.

What will make EB exciting in 2011?!e resurrection of the War for Talent - or should I say the Battle for Talent as it’s still not fully back to where it was, but it’s getting there and will make this year exciting. It will be challenging to distinguish your EVP from others in the market for top talent. Fortunately, the McKinsey brand itself is pretty tough to beat.

2011’s biggest challenge for those working with EB?In 2011 and beyond, the challenge for global employers will be to increasingly understand the talent pools from non-traditional geographic sources, paralleling the rise of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies. How can we begin to access those talent pools while still drawing from the traditional Harvards and INSEADs of the world? We will need to be clever to locate and attract talent beyond our usual channels.

Which employers should we keep an eye on in 2011?McKinsey & Company – just watch us! You should also watch the resurgence of private banking and equity players. !e financial sector as a whole is back in the talent market and the companies in this sector will be interesting to watch this year.

If you weren’t in EB, what would you do?I was always very interested in recruiting and employer branding. To enthuse and engage young people for Siemens as an employer is very fulfilling for me. Alternatively, I would follow my fascination of sports and somehow work with that.

What will make EB exciting in 2011?!e key is to develop and implement a true global brand which is attractive in all major markets, while maintaining all the local specialties of the brand. It will be exciting to work out how to find talent in all regions where a strong employer brand will be a key lever to successfully attract and recruit talent. !erefore, EB e"orts are highly interlinked with all recruiting activities – it is the backbone of your recruit-ing success.

2011’s biggest challenge for those working with EB?It is the main lever to convey a trustworthy story. It’s not all about nice collaterals – it is about authentically presenting what your company really stands for and what makes you so unique. We have to develop an e"ective approach to ensure that the message will reach sustainably all the di"erent target groups including those who have not considered working for us. !is also requires a strategy of using all com-munication channels and platforms successfully.

Which employers should we keep an eye on in 2011?Companies who provide answers to the questions of the future. For example, how can we provide clean and sustainable energy and transport or a"ordable healthcare for millions of people in growing cities around the globe? Candidates are fascinated by these questions.

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Market complexityAccording to a Boston Consulting Group survey from 2008 the worldwide shortage will, until 2015, take on a di"erent face. Europe and North America will face quantitative tal-ent shortage and Latin America will be con-fronted with qualitative challenges. !is means that the theory has become more complex in order to reach the right candidate. However, my belief is that there is a geographical view we need to remember. Talent travels across borders and therefore our branding needs to address both the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects.

Branding a dream and failing on realityTo have employer branding as a useful organ-ising framework connected to strategic talent management, it is very important to have de-fined the goal that will bring a defined outcome. In theory employer branding is as it says “brand-ing” creating awareness and attraction amongst a specified target group. In order for it to bring ROI, it needs to be very closely interrelated to not only a talent management strategy, but also to the culture in which new people will take part. In my experience many companies forget to step outside their own company and monitor it and ask for themselves: “What do I see hap-pening, and is that aligned with our branding

message?” Lots of talent doesn’t last long, be-cause their company couldn’t deliver what they promised in their branding campaign, because they forgot to monitor themselves from the outside. Is our reality, the actual reality?

Added value from new talentIn my view, it is important that the plan we make in theory of what we can bring of value to new employees can be as authentic as possible. I recommend that as a company you bring more focus on what value talent can add as part of this company. Work with the reality in which the audience is experiencing. !is way in prac-tice, the focus is on what we do need for the talent to bring us value as a company and how we will then embrace it. Value added selling is a reality and the more a new employee can align him/herself with the values, opportunities and challenges, the more successful a campaign it has been.

Stakeholders have a task to do I often find that the strategy is developed in one place in the company and rarely involves all the stakeholders who will be important parts of an on-boarding and then talent management strategy. !e most important practice is to get every-body involved who can secure that the employer branding investment and then the process will

From theory to practice in development of the employer brand,TWSV`LY�IYHUKPUN�PZ�OPNO�WYPVYP[`�HUK�OHZ�THU`�MHJLZ�PU�VYKLY�[V�H[[YHJ[�[OL�YPNO[�WLVWSL�[V�ZLJ\YL�Z\Z[HPUHISL�I\ZPULZZ�VIQLJ[P]LZ�HUK�Z[YH[LNPLZ��0U�[OL�WSHUUPUN�phase the view is often one-sided and the companies do their outmost to show

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By Christian Dinsesen

become a success. Is the organisation aligned and have we checked whether our culture match our promise? Culture is both what we see and don’t see. !e first impression will always be behaviour from new colleagues and direct reports. In theory, easy peasy, in practice it can be a disaster.

Resources to secure impact and ROIWhen turning theory into practice, I see that organisations often forget the value of engaging existing employees into the process to support the employer branding process and thereby also the next step, the on-boarding process. When us-ing the organisation to grow by its own, all are engaged in equality and work towards a common goal and outcome. Identify the people in your company and delegate roles and responsibilities to support the massive investment in securing the best people for a competitive advantage. Re-member, we all want to be part of a success.

The plan that secure successAn employer brand game plan is essential not only at the planning stage, but also when roll-ing out the campaign. It will secure the neces-sary overview of what we have planned, when each step is being executed, who are in charge of what and that the pool of resources is intact. Remember to check whether all parties

involved to secure each step are clear on their role, responsibility and mandate for taking de-cisions. You want self e#cacy from your or-ganisation to roll the theory out into practice.

Increased interest and competi-tive edgeWhen doing employer branding it is key to track the response and the feedback which shows our ability to succeed. So a recommen-dation is to take the mix of activities and con-nect them with the social media channels and people’s media behaviour. Do you track them by text message, blogging, online surveys or response portals? !e closer you monitor the process the better you can adjust and re-ad-dress your messages to the target audience on the fly. !is way you are taking a proactive role.

SummaryIn theory we often look at what we want. Do we remember to ask what the target audience wants? Do we remember to ask: “What will you bring to us?” and thereby also attract people according to their values but also their competence? Employer branding is more than a marketing activity, it is about growing business and organisation, as the employer brand reflects success, culture, value and people.When launching your next campaign then ask yourself: “Will this work in practice and how will I do it?

Securing your employer brand in practice

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ing – what to achieve and what outcome

to have

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want to attract

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;OL�+HUPZO�0UZ[P[\[L�VM�*VHJOPUN� was established in 2002. With headquar-[LYZ�PU�gYO\Z�HUK�VMÄJLZ�PU�[OL�JHWP[HS�VM�

Copenhagen, the institute employs Ä]L�ZLUPVY�HZZVJPH[LZ�HUK��HZZVJPH[LZ��

and deliver business coaching programmes such as a Talent, Sales, 3,(5��*OHUNL��;LHT�*VHJO�JLY[PÄJH-

tion for executives and line managers to develop talent in real time. The institute

focuses on transforming science into adaptable business skills and behaviour through action learning and real experi-

ence for immediate return on investment.

“In theory we often look at what we want. Do we remember to ask what the target audience wants? ”

– Christian Dinesen, The Danish Institute of Coaching

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© Universum 2011© Universum 201120 #1 2011

Research Snapshot – Employer Branding Survey)`�1VLS�8\HZ[��*OYPZ[VWOLY�]HU�4VZZL]LSKL� �1VHV�(YH\QV

40%

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Q�Yes, to great e"ect

!e majority of employers now view employer branding as a long-term and strategic activ-ity. !at is one of the key findings from Uni-versum’s annual Employer Branding Survey. Around 63 per cent approach employer brand-ing as a thought-through, long-term and stra-tegic process versus only 37 per cent that are focused on short-term needs and day-to-day operations. Most employers are also confident that employer branding will help them to ad-dress their talent needs and contribute posi-tively to business performance.

Six clear employer branding trendsFrom December 2010 to January 2011, Uni-versum interviewed 632 global employers in Europe, the Americas and Asia. !e major-ity of respondents were at manager/ director level in HR, recruitment, or employer brand-ing functions. !e survey identified six clear trends. We present three of those here in Uni-versum Quarterly. If you want to read the full report, it’s available for download at: www.universumglobal.com/EBinsights2011

1. Talent investments have a clear impact on both company revenue and recruitment costs

-ing the right people has some e"ect on their company losing business.

talent attraction budgets will lead to higher recruitment costs.

Do you think your company has lost business because you did not have the right people?

Do you believe that talent attraction budget cuts will lead to higher recruitment costs?

Q�Yes 60%

Q�No 16%

Q�Don’t know 24%

1. Implication: (Z�O\THU�JHWP[HS�ILJVTLZ�H�NYLH[LY�JVTWVULU[�VM�JVYWVYH[L�HZZL[Z�investments in talent attraction will give

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2. There is a disconnect between talent strategy investments and key performance indicators such as a reduced cost-per-hire.While the majority of employers invest in talent attraction activities, only one third of respondents think their talent strategy has brought down cost-per-hire. However, em-ployers who identify employer branding as a long-term strategic process are nearly twice as likely to report a reduced cost-per-hire compared to employers who approach em-ployer branding based on short term needs.

Does your company invest in talent attraction, i.e. activities that exclude direct recruitment but include brand-ing and communications about your company as an employer? Have you reduced your recruitment cost-per-hire as a result of your tal-ent attraction strategy?

Q�Yes 82%

Q�No 14%

Q�Don’t know 4%

Q�Yes 27%

Q�No 31%

Q�Don’t know 42%

3. Implication: ;OLYL�PZ�H�OPNOLY�KLTHUK�MVY�[VW�[HSLU[�HUK�[OL`�HYL�TVYL�SPRLS`�[V�IL�OLHK�O\U[LK�PU�JVTWHYPZVU�[V�YLN\SHY�LTWSV`LLZ��;OLYLMVYL��LTWSV`LYZ�ULLK�[V�JHYLM\SS`�L]HS\H[L�^OH[�KYP]LZ�HUK�ZH[PZÄLZ�[OLPY�ILZ[�LTWSV`LLZ�HUK�RLLW�[OLT�TV]PUN�HUK�WYVNYLZZPUN�PU[LY-UHSS �̀�<UP]LYZ\T�OHZ�^P[ULZZLK�H�WVZP[P]L�ZPNU�[OH[�JVTWHUPLZ�HYL�PUJYLHZPUNS`�[Y`PUN�[V�OPYL�IHZLK�VU�H�J\S[\YHS�TH[JO�HUK�IL�TVYL�[YHUZWHYLU[�HIV\[�[OLPY�J\S[\YL�PU�[OL�YLJY\P[-TLU[�WYVJLZZ��*VUZLX\LU[S �̀�HU�LU]PYVUTLU[�VM�ILSVUNPUN�PZ�JYLH[LK�HUK�TP[PNH[LZ�¶�although not eliminates – the tendency of top talent to look outside the organisation for a

IL[[LY�Ä[��0U�JVUJS\ZPVU��[VW�[HSLU[�^PSS�HS^H`Z�IL�VU�[OL�SVVRV\[��I\[�H�MVJ\Z�VU�WLYZVUHS�Ä[�HUK�VMMLYPUN�UL^�WLYZVUHS�NYV^[O�VWWVY[\UP[PLZ�JHU�THRL�[OLT�Z[H`�W\[�� ;OL�YLZLHYJO�JSLHYS`�PKLU[PÄLZ�[HSLU[�H[[YHJ[PVU�HZ�H�RL`�MHJ[VY�MVY�THPU[HPUPUN�H�JVT-

WHU`»Z�JVTWL[P[P]L�HK]HU[HNL�HUK�[OH[�[OL�ZOVY[HNL�VM�O\THU�JHWP[HS�PZ�KPZY\W[P]L�[V�UVYTHS�I\ZPULZZ�HJ[P]P[PLZ��6UJL�HNHPU��VU�H�WVZP[P]L�UV[L��TVZ[�JVTWHUPLZ�YLHSPZL�[OPZ�HUK�HYL�HJ[P]LS`�^VYRPUN�^P[O�[OLPY�LTWSV`LY�IYHUK��HUK�OH]L�P[�HZ�H�RL`�JVTWVULU[�VM�[OLPY�JVYWVYH[L�Z[YH[LN �̀

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2. Implication: *VTWHUPLZ�ULLK�[V�[OPUR�TVYL�HIV\[�connecting their talent strategy to relevant

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40% 40%

9% 11%

64%

43%

29%

19%

10%

(YL�JVTWHUPLZ�MHPSPUN�[V�LUNHNL�LTWSV`LLZ�PU�[OLPY�QVI�HUK�YL^HYK�[OLT��VY�is top talent simply ready to move on? Two-thirds of employees leave their

J\YYLU[�LTWSV`LY�[V�W\YZ\L�UL^�JOHSSLUNLZ��<UKLYZ[HUKHIS �̀�[OPZ�ZPNUPÄJHU[S`�HMMLJ[Z�JVTWHUPLZ�¶��WLY�JLU[�VM�LTWSV`LYZ�L_WLYPLUJLK�H�SVZZ�VM�I\ZPULZZ�K\L�[V�SHJR�VM�[OL�YPNO[�WLVWSL��;V�THRL�TH[[LYZ�̂ VYZL��WLY�JLU[�VM�LTWSV`-

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New challenges: a new opportunity for professional development in another company

Money: a higher remuneration o"er from another company

Mismatch of expectations: we fail to deliver on their expectations

We´re not losing our top performers

Mismatch of values: they do not feel in line with our corporate values

21 #1 2011

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3. Top performers are leaving either for greater challenges and opportunities or money. Employers see mismatch of values as the least important factor. Nearly two thirds of employers highlight the new challenge or opportunity o"ered by another company as the main reason they lose top performers: 43 percent consider money as a reason.

What are the reasons your top performers leave your organisation?

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The Army’s recruiting organisation uses a combination of advertising, field marketing, careers o#ces, contact

management, Web sites and social networking to attract about 20,000 young men and women every year. It o"ers around 140 di"erent roles and seeks to attract a diverse range of individu-als including school leavers, top graduates, ex-perienced professionals and those who want to combine Army training with a civilian career. !e Army identified and developed its em-ployer brand through an understanding of how young people think about jobs and careers and, more specifically, how they regard the Army within the range of potential options. !is may sound obvious, but the consequences for recruitment are significant. Attracting a gen-eration that expects to have choices requires the Army to understand how it’s positioned alongside a plethora of other employers rather than just the other uniformed services. Attract-ing those who aren’t attracted by the notion of a career with a single employer requires a conver-sation about the transferability of Army skills to civilian life, as much as a focus on the role of training to ensure continuing military success. Appealing to young people who might not have had personal contact with the Army, requires the benefits of an Army career to be explained in terms and in places that suit their lifestyles and communications habits rather than in ways that suit the Army’s marketing operation. In meeting these challenges, the Army made the strength of its employer brand one of four key outcomes of its recruiting organ-isation, along with the achievement of in-year targets, financial e#ciency and the quality of recruits it is able to attract. !is ensures a clear focus on long term, sustainable success by tak-ing action to grow the pool of young people

who are, at the very least, prepared to consider an Army career. In particular, it requires inno-vation and a determination to reach out to the very best young talent, regardless of whether they come from backgrounds or communities with a tradition of Army service.

Reputation and qualityIn developing its employer brand, the Army explored current perceptions of its strengths and weaknesses as an employer and matched this to the critical factors in career decision making. It identified that its source of compet-itive di"erentiation and advantage lay in the quality of its people, the quality of the train-ing it provides and the portability of Army skills across both Army and civilian careers. Critically, this could be evidenced in very tan-gible ways. !e reputation of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as a training ground for future leaders, the range of apprenticeships it o"ers and the personal experiences of those who have acquired everything from a driving license to a higher degree as part of their pro-fessional development. !is in turn, required a marketing strategy that draws attention to learning opportuni-ties and allowed potential recruits to get a first-hand understanding of what Army life is really like. !e “Start !inking Soldier” cam-paign set out a number of real life scenarios and challenged viewers to say what they would do in those circumstances. It directed them to the Army’s website to find the correct answer and explore the scenario still further through a series of interactive online challenges, each of which was designed to illustrate the skills re-quired of a successful soldier. In so doing, it en-abled people to explore Army life and discover more about their own skills through a medium

Army recruitment ,]LY`IVK`�RUV^Z�HIV\[�[OL�)YP[PZO�(YT �̀�0[�OHZ�H�SVUN�HUK�WYV\K�OPZ[VY �̀� 0[�MLH[\YLZ�PU�ÄSTZ�HUK�]PKLV�NHTLZ��0[»Z�VU�[OL�UL^Z�HSTVZ[�L]LY`�UPNO[��)\[�how much do we really know? How can you reframe general awareness

HUK�PU[LUZL�W\ISPJ�PU[LYLZ[�PU[V�H�ZHSPLU[�IYHUK�WYVWVZP[PVU�^P[OPU�[OL�YLJY\P[-TLU[�THYRL[&�/V �̂� PU�V[OLY�^VYKZ��KV�`V\�I\PSK�HUK�THPU[HPU�HU�LTWSV`LY�IYHUK�[OH[�JHU�HWWLHS�[V�`V\UN�WLVWSL�^OV�HYL�UV^�[OYLL�VY�MV\Y�NLULYH[PVUZ�removed from those whose understanding of Army life was forged directly

[OYV\NO�5H[PVUHS�:LY]PJL�VY�^HY[PTL�L_WLYPLUJL&

By Colin Cook

that would be very familiar to those who have grown up with sophisticated gaming technolo-gies. !e follow up campaign “Army Learning Di"erent Class” built upon the notion of self discovery, by focussing more directly on the ways in which an Army helps to develop indi-vidual potential. !rough sophisticated anima-tion it featured soldiers telling their personal stories of what they had learnt in the Army and how they hoped to use that learning in the future. Once again, the call to action was to the Web, where people were o"ered the opportunity to follow the soldiers on Face-book and find out more about the Army’s approach to learning and development.

Old institution, new media!e employer brand is also reflected in the Army’s media choices. TV remains important in attracting high numbers of recruits, but so-cial media is increasingly significant, because it is ideally suited to a brand that wants to enable potential recruits to engage di-rectly with the organisation. It first manifested itself in two way online chats be-tween recruiters and potential recruits, but now sees thousands of people following the Army’s Facebook pages, communities forming spontaneously to share information on their journey through the recruiting process and insights into Army life provided through the blogging of an Army Chaplain or the tweeting of a soldier in a far flung corner of the world. It allows a diverse

range of audiences to make contact with a diverse range of role models and get a first hand insight into the training and development opportunities that might be appropriate to their circumstances and ambitions. It might never match the power of hearing an experience face-to-face, but it does allow brand messages to emerge spontaneously from individual experiences alongside finely crafted marketing messages and a chance to de-mystify Army culture by invitation. !is experience suggests a number of things that may resonate with employer branding pro-fessionals. First, that recruitment marketing needs to focus on brand salience more than a singular pursuit of brand awareness. You don’t become an employer of choice by telling people that is what you are; you become an employer of choice by giving people a reason for choos-ing you and being able to evidence that rea-son in ways that make sense to those who are weighing up complex choices about their lives.

Second: that the employer brand should be con-sidered as an out-come rather than an input measure and monitored at the highest levels. Finally, that the task of identify-ing and building

the employer brand cannot be the preserve of a single person or group. It will emerge and be given life from a blend of skills and experiences, particularly as social media makes the role of a brand ambassador an opportunity for the many rather than the preserve of a few.

EB in the Army

Army recruitment has a long tradition;

from the famous posters of Lord Kitch-

ener to multi-channel advertising; from

recruitment in local town halls to online

HWWSPJH[PVUZ��,TWSV`LY�IYHUKPUN�TH`�IL�H�YLSH[P]LS`�UL^�HKKP[PVU�[V�[OL�SL_PJVU��I\[�[OL�LZZLU[PHS�JOHSSLUNL�YLTHPUZ�[OL�ZHTL��;V�IL�JSLHY�HIV\[�[OL�ILULÄ[Z�VM�HU�(YT`�JHYLLY��[V�LUZ\YL�[OH[�[OLZL�ILULÄ[Z�resonate with the current people you arte

trying to attract and to put people in touch

with those who know what it is like and

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“it requires innovation and a determination to reach out to the very best young talent”

–Colin Cook, British Army Recruiting

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In his role as marketing director for British Army Recruiting he has delivered multi

award winning advertising campaigns and overseen a customer management pro-

gramme that includes retail, phone, Web and social media channels. Colin’s previ-ous experience includes time as a senior

civil servant working on strategy for the NHS and as marketing director at the core

domestic letters business of Royal Mail.

© Universum 2011© Universum 201122 #1 2011 23 #1 2011

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“Selecting an employer is a statement of the person’s personality and lifestyle – not a paycheck.”

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“Measuring EB is to your strategies what regular health checkups are to your body.”

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“HR teams need to have the guts to say how things really are when you work for them.”

“I’ve got millions of dollars, if only I could f ind the right candidates.”

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!is issue at a glance...

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,UOHUJPUN�[OL�IYHUK�¶�HSS�[OL�^H`�MYVT�U\YZLY`�ZJOVVS

To meet the talent shortage, some employers start branding all the way from nursery school. Engineering

companies in particular, spend lots of resources on younger age groups. > page 16

9LQLJ[PVU�THJOPUL�¶�[OL�SHZ[�YLJY\P[TLU[�[HIVV&Many employers decline far more candidates than they ever hire. Have you

thought of how rejection a!ects your employer brand? > page 7

:LYPV\ZS`�:VJPHSUniversum Quarterly is proud to introduce the first in a series of columns by Per Håkansson discussing the role of social media in employer branding. > page 13

4HRPUN�KP]LYZP[`�`V\Y�I\ZPULZZExpressing a commitment to diversity is important from a social perspective, but

does your company understand the business necessity of it? > page 10


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-LH[\YLK�)YHUKZ!�2]PUUVRVTWL[LUZLU�.LULYHS�,SLJ[YPJ�9LNLU[»Z�*VSSLNL�*:9��)\ZPULZZ�PU�[OL�*VTT\UP[`�/ 4�3»6YtHS�I^PU�.HTLZ�()�(SSPHUa�)\YZVU�4HYZ[LSSLY�(JJLU[\YL�4J2PUZL`� �*VTWHU`�4+)�.YV\W�9\[NLY»Z�)\ZPULZZ�:JOVVS�5H[PVUHS�0UZ[P[\[L�MVY�>VTLU�PU�;YHKLZ�;LJOUVSVN`� �:JPLUJL

(�UL^�SL]LS�VM��JVYWVYH[L�YLZWVUZPIPSP[`

Corporate social responsibility is taking on a new form. Previously mostly a PR exercise it’s now deeply rooted in

many companies’ culture of business ethics > page 14 ;OL�VWWVZP[L�ZL_�LZ�

Two players on the employment field share their best practises to increase gender diversity in the workplace: attracting females to a male dominated

area and vice versa. Fred Cohn has the story > page 20

;OL�WV^LY�VM�RL`�WLYMVYTHUJL�PUKPJH[VYZ��How do you know your employer branding is working? Universum’s head of research Lovisa Öhnell talks about how to measure it accurately. Talent

attraction is an area where top performance matters > page 8

0U[LYUH[PVUHS�JHYLLY�!e dream of an international career can sometimes ignore the volume of work

such a career demands. Students and employers are rarely aligned on what a modern international career entails > page 10


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4PSSLUUPHSZ�¶�NL[[PUN�[OL�ILZ[�V\[�VM�[OLT�

!ey answer to Gen Y or Millennial and they don’t listen to the normal recruitment lingo. Get the inside on how to

communicate with them > page 18 :^LL[�]PJ[VY`

Hard work pays o". Polish Mars did their due diligence on how to become a more attractive employer and they did so without throwing money around. > page 16

0THNL�PZ�L]LY`[OPUN��Many dream of landing a job with an investment bank. Gruelling hours and no

social life aside, the industry has taken a bashing in the media. So what’s the recruitment future for this sector? > page 22

@&�5V^�P[»Z�[PTL�[V�[OPUR�HIV\[�.LU�AJust when we’ve learnt about Gen Y, the Z’s come along. How do they di"er

from the Y’s and what drives them? You might be surpised > page 10


��

-LH[\YLK�)YHUKZ!�;LHJO�-PYZ[�<[]LJRSPUNZWVVSLU�>HS[�+PZUL`�*VTWHU`�A-�-YPLKYPJOZOHMLU�(.�A`UNH�<UP]LYZP[`�VM�9LHKPUN�)HYJSH`Z�*HWP[HS�@VYR�*VSSLNL��7LUUZ`S]HUPH�+Y��*OYPZ[PUL�-HU[OVTL�+LSVP[[L�9VSSZ�9V`JL�,\YVWLHU�:WHJL�(NLUJ`�5H[PVUHS�0UZ[P[\[L�VM�/LHS[O�,K\JH[PVU�7YVQLJ[Z�(J[P]P[PLZ�<UP[�,K\JH[PVU��

HUK�2UV^SLKNL�4HUHNLTLU[�6MÄJL�5VY^LNPHU�*LU[YL�MVY�:WHJL�YLSH[LK�,K\JH[PVU�0U[LYUH[PVUHS�/LYHSK�;YPI\UL�*VU[PULU[HS�9VILY[�>HS[LYZ�/H`Z

;OL�NYLH[�YL[\YU!e booming economy in Asia has created a special

need for Western experience amongst natives. Asian expatriates are big game for companies and the

competition for their attention is fierce. Are you pushing the right message? > page 9

*H[JO�[OLT�`V\UN�Enigneering and science is where the future is. !at’s the message sent by

employers to trigger youngsters’ imagination and interest early. !e goal is to alleviate the skills shortage in the long run. > page 12

;OL�>VYSK»Z�4VZ[�([[YHJ[P]L�,TWSV`LYZ

Universum has released its second annual global index of employer attractiveness and the response has been massive. Where did your company rank? > page 14

0UHWWYVWYPH[L�PU[LYUZOPWZStudents lack of awareness of workplace etiquette is getting out of hand.

Whose responsibility is it to educate them? If internships are seen as work auditions, shouldn’t we provide a script? > page 18

dansk coaching institut - employer branding

Business

lovisa hnell

discovered

talent management

manufacturing

petter nylander

employer branding

related problems

steve jobs