EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand

EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
HR Swiss Congress 2014, Bern
EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Employer Branding in 1913
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Influence your Employer Brand in the right direction
ALL EMPLOYERS HAVE
AN EMPLOYER BRAND.
THE CORE OF THE
BRAND IS THE EVP.
Even if employers don’t
actively control the brand, it
exists and it influences
whether or not students and
young professionals choose
the employer.
To influence the brand,
employers need an Employer
Value Proposition (EVP) that
is attractive, true, credible,
distinct and sustainable.
THE BRAND HAS AN
INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL
PERSPECTIVE.
AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY
NEEDS A SOLID
FOUNDATION.
Not only does a strong
employer brand help attract
future employees, it also
creates an internal identity,
and that increases loyalty,
engagement and retention.
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It is important that the EVP is
developed using in-depth
research about current
employees, management and
external talent groups, in
order to create a compelling,
sustainable and effective
brand
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EMPLOYER BRANDING & THE EMPLOYER VALUE PROPOSITION
The benefits of a strong Employer Brand
100% higher job consideration
Research shows that a company’s employer brand is twice
as likely to drive job consideration as its company
brand*
28% lower turnover
Companies with a stronger employer brand have a 28%
lower turnover rate than companies with a weaker
employer brand*
Companies that are most
successful at improving their
employer brands outperform
other companies by the
following factors:***
2.4x
Revenue
growth
A competitive advantage
Only 69% of companies work with employer branding from
a strategic perspective**
1.8x
Lower cost per hire
Profit margin
increase
The cost per hire is more than twice as low for companies
with strong employer brands*
* LinkedIn Whitepaper, Why Your Employer Brand Matters, 2012
** Talent Attraction Barometer 2012 (How does you organization approach employer branding?)
*** Boston Consulting Group, Creating People Advantage 2012, Mastering HR Challenges in a Two-Speed World
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EMPLOYER BRANDING & THE EMPLOYER VALUE PROPOSITION
The Corporate versus the Employer Brand
A strong corporate or product brand is a great starting point and foundation. However, it will only take
you half-way. The Employer Branding strategy and the EVP should be aligned with the corporate
branding strategy to leverage positive effects of consistency and mutual support.
While corporate branding and product marketing try to attract as many customers as possible,
Employer Branding’s objective is to attract the right talent only.
A strong corporate or product brand will drive
awareness and consideration.
A corporate brand needs to be translated into
an employer brand to impact the desire and
position the company as employer of choice.
Awareness
Consideration
Desire
A clear employer profile will help to drive the
self-selection of the right talent.
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Application
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Defining the Employer Value Proposition
What is the EVP?
EVP
The EVP is a unique set of offerings, associations
and values that will positively influence the most
suitable target candidates and the internal target
groups. The EVP provides attributes and themes
that can be used as a long-term foundation and
framework for your branding and creative
approaches.
The EVP development is strategic
What is it NOT?
The EVP is not a tag line or a visual expression. It
is the underlying content that is then transformed
into messages, ads and a communication strategy
targeted at different talent groups and countries.
The choice of words, images and channels will
depend on the target group and might vary across
countries.
The EVP implementation is operational
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Best in class approach to strategic Employer Branding
What is important
and relevant to your
target groups?
What makes an
employer
attractive?
Are your activities
effectively building a
strong brand? Are you
attractive enough to meet
your recruitment needs?
How can you improve your
career website and ads? Is
your intended message
being communicated
effectively?
How should you
communicate the employer
offering to the target group?
What channels are most
effective?
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THE EVP
DEVELOPMENT
What impressions do
current employees
have? What are
perceived as strengths
and weaknesses?
What should you
emphasize in the
communication to
maximize its
effectiveness? What do
you need to reposition to
create your desired
employer image?
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
One global or many local EVPs?
Strong clear and
consistent profile
The Global EVP
Select and define attributes
to communicate as the
global EVP as the core of
the Employer Brand.
Universum strongly recommends that
employers develop one EVP to be used
on a global level for all target group and
business units.
However, market needs and internal
differences between entities often require
adjustments of the proposition.
Tailored Messages
Tweak the actual
communications and
messages (the examples,
stories and reason to believe
in the organization, for
example) for the target
groups.
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Business
Students
Engineering
Students
USA
Sweden
etc.
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Painting the picture
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
The EVP development process
Phase 1
Understand
Phase
2Decide
Phase
3Activate
Initiative 1
Current Employer
Branding Strategy
Initiative 2
Management’s
vision & goals
RESEARCH
Internal/External
Corporate
Branding Strategy
Initiative 3
EVP
EMPLOYER
VALUE
PROPOSITION
EVP
is turned into a
talent
relationship
activation plan
Initiative 4
Competitors’
positioning
Initiative 5
Initiative 6
M E AS U R E & R E V I S E
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
EMPLOYER REPUTATION & IMAGE
The attributes of the employer as an
organisation
• Attractive/exciting products and services
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Environmental sustainability
• Ethical standards
• Fast-growing/entrepreneurial
• Financial strength
• Innovation
• Inspiring management
• Market success
• Prestige
SOFT
The Universum Drivers of Employer Attractiveness
PEOPLE & CULTURE
The social environment and attributes of the
workplace
• A creative and dynamic work environment
• A friendly work environment
• Acceptance towards minorities
• Enabling me to integrate personal interests in my
schedule
• Interaction with international clients and colleagues
• Leaders who will support my development
• Recognising performance (meritocracy)
• Recruiting only the best talent
• Respect for its people
• Support for gender equality
EXTRINSIC
INTRINSIC
REMUNERATION & ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
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HARD
The monetary compensation and other benefits,
now and in the future
• Clear path for advancement
• Competitive base salary
• Competitive benefits
• Good reference for future career
• High future earnings
• Leadership opportunities
• Overtime pay/compensation
• Performance-related bonus
• Rapid promotion
• Sponsorship of future education
JOB CHARACTERISTICS
The contents and demands of the job, including
the learning opportunities provided by the job
• Challenging work
• Client interaction
• Control over my number of working hours
• Flexible working conditions
• High level of responsibility
• Opportunities for international travel/relocation
• Professional training and development
• Secure employment
• Team-oriented work
• Variety of assignments
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
How to analyze the status of your EVP
PREFERENCES
Why people choose
an IDEAL employer
ASSOCIATIONS
What the target group
associates with you
Not part of the EVP, attractive and
not associated. More focus?
Localize the EVP?
Not part of the EVP, attractive and
associated. More focus? Localize
the EVP?
Part of the EVP, attractive and not
associated. More focus? Why is this
not associated? Is the
communication not conveying the
intended message?
Not part of the EVP, not attractive,
but associated. Not too much focus,
but keep in mind that talents expect
this from the company.
Part of the EVP, but not attractive
and not associated. Adjust EVP?
Part of the EVP, not attractive, but
associated. Not too much focus.
EVP
What you want to be
associated with / your EVP
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Part of the EVP, attractive and
associated. Differentiating from
competitors?
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
It is all about differentiation
DESCRIPTION
GOAL
Core attributes (the things
that come to mind when
thinking of the employer)
One of the strongest
associations for the
employer
Attributes where the
employer is as strong or
stronger than peer group
On par with peers
Attributes where the
employer meets the talents’
requirements
On par with average
employers
DISTINCTIVE
COMPETITIVE
THRESHOLD
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Examples of research needed
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
• Analyze data from market-specific
Universum Student & Professional Survey
• Conduct additional tailored surveys if
needed to cover a specific target group
• In-depth focus groups with students/
professionals to gather additional
qualitative feedback
INTERNAL IDENTITY
• Review existing documents and internal
data from engagement and other surveys
• Internal online survey among current
employees
• Focus groups with current employees or
in-depth one-on-one interviews
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
• Interviews with management
representatives and key stakeholders
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
How to analyze the data
ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
Universum analyzes all data from the external and internal sources in order to provide you with detailed feedback regarding key
criteria necessary to developing a successful EVP. Below you will find the process that we follow when conducting the analysis that
leads to the suggested EVP:
True Internally
• What are seen as
strengths by
current
employees?
• Are there crucial
perceptions that
can be made
true?
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Strategy
& Vision
• What is in line
with corporate
values
and corporate
communication?
• What are
management’s
vision and goals?
Attractive
to target
group
Current
Image
• What is attractive
to current and
future
employees?
• Is this in line with
how we are
currently
perceived?
• What are the
target group’s
preferences?
• Is repositioning
required?
Competito
r
Positionin
g
DRAFT
EV
P
• In what areas do we
have a competitive
edge?
• Where do we lag
behind our
competition?
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
What you need to do – communication (1 of 2)
#1
#2
#3
Go beyond traditional
channels to appeal to top talent
and above all… dare to be
different.
Be True to your company values
Be Engaging but most of all Be
Authentic
Utilize both a High Tech and
High Touch approach
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Best practices:
1. Interesting dinners – discuss
relevant topics with inspiring
members of the organization.
2. Case Competitions – give top
talents the opportunity to be
intellectually challenged.
3. Tours of Corporate Offices –
show your innovations and
corporate culture through tours for
talent to visit your offices.
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
What you need to do – communication (2 of 2)
#4
#5
Tell them about the cool stuff
you are doing – they want to
know!
Employ your star players in the
recruiting process
“My ideal internship would be with GE’s
Health Imagination Branch or the Coca
Cola Ethos Project…. I want the
opportunity to be part of an initiative that is
doing extraordinary things.”
“There are some truly brilliant people at
these companies – I want to interact with
them.”
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Try to be unique and authentic…
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
EVP - Four key learnings
1. Management involvement
If you do not have buy in from management and your CEO you will not succeed with bringing the EVP too
life internally, it needs to start from the top. Their involvement in the entire journey is crucial.
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
EVP - Four key learnings
2. Not only based on internal findings
The most common mistake organization does is basing an EVP on their internal identity. The true piece of
the EVP is of course extremely important and a starting point the EVP development, but not ensuring that it
is attractive, distinct and credible for you to be talking about will set you up to fail.
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
EVP - Four key learnings
3. Localize/adapt
You have to understand and also think about that your EVP needs to be articulated in different ways to
different target groups. Not understanding of for example how innovation is to be articulated to a senior
executive and to a factory worker is also something that will make you be less successful in launching it.
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
EVP - Four key learnings
4. Track the success/development
Universum assists employers to do this, a lot of organizations that we speak to do unfortunately not do that.
You need KPIs and goals for the Employer Branding and EVP work.
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EVP | The foundation of a strong Employer Brand
Last words… The right strategic mind-set
1. View Talent as a strategic driver for business
2. Make Talent a top priority
3. Have a clear purpose
4. Excel at segmenting and profiling key target groups
5. Have a well defined EVP
6. Be clearly differentiated
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Thank you!
…until next time