insights from outstanding employer brands....Employer Brand Research, these are the questions that...

human forward.

insights fromoutstandingemployer brands.

employerbrand research

2020.standing out

foreword

The human face: Why Merck wants to tell people who they are, not just what they do

Changing perceptions: How Colruyt Group has transformed its talent appeal

The 80:20 rule of employer branding: Why the way you treat your people is far more

important than communication

Come and make a difference: How UNSW is sharpening its appeal to academic

and professional talent worldwide

Going places: How TAP Air Portugal is building a winning global employer brand

Perfect match: How BT Hungary is sharpening its appeal across different generations

Connecting on a higher level: Randstad Employer Brand Research findings 2020

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standing out 2020 | 2

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In a disrupted and uncertain world, how can your business strengthen engage-ment with employees, and stand out as a magnet for talent?

Featuring interviews with executives from five leading organizations that have consistently scored highly in the Randstad Employer Brand Research, these are the questions that Standing Out: insights from outstanding employer brands seeks to address.

At a time when corporations and public sector organizations can sometimes come across as impersonal and remote, a particular focus of this year’s set of interviews is how to put a human face on your employer brand. What comes through strongly is the extent to which people relate to people rather than PR speak, which highlights the value of building employees’ real-life stories and perspectives into brand development and communication.

Other areas of focus include how to connect with different generations. To what extent do the expectations and

foreword.Insights from organizations with outstanding employer brands

aspirations of the Gen Z youngsters coming into the workforce differ from those that went before, for example? Does your employer brand and under-lying employee value proposition need to adapt to these potential differences? The answers from the executives we interviewed test and even confound common assumptions.

The interviews were carried out before the full global impact of the COVID-19 outbreak became clear. Therefore, some of the immediate business priorities and labor market circumstances may have changed. However, the insights in areas such as workforce engagement and how to be a force for good within society are now more relevant than ever.

We would like to thank the executives from Merck, Colruyt Group, BT Hungary, TAP Air Portugal and the University of New South Wales for kindly sharing their employer branding insights. We hope that you find ‘Randstad Standing Out’ interesting and useful for your organization.

why is employer branding so critical?

Your employer brand is the image of your organization among current and prospec-tive employees, along with a wider set of stakeholders that include people who might work for you in the future or people that influence them such as their family, friends or social networks.

In these uncertain times, employer brand-ing is more important than ever, reflect-ing your values, the sense of purpose within your organization, and the support you offer your employees, customers, and wider society.

about the randstad employer brand research

The annual Randstad Employer Brand Research is the most comprehensive study of its kind. In 2020, we asked some 185,000 working age adults from 33 countries what are their preferred sectors to work in, what are the best companies to work for, and what makes them attrac-tive. The results can provide valuable insights to help your organization under-stand and shape your employer brand.


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what brought them to Merck, what inspires them, and what it feels like to work here. In other words, we want to talk about who we are, not just what we do.” How does Merck seek to convey the personalities behind the corporate image in a compelling and authentic way?

Showing your human face: Why Merck wants to tell people who they are, not just what they do

“We’ve always been very good at talking about technology, innovation and progress,” says Chris Dinwiddy, Merck Group’s Global Head of Employer Branding and Social Media Recruitment. “Now, we want to take this to a new level by encouraging our employees to tell their stories about


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Standing Out: Tell us about Merck, and what makes the company so distinctive?

Chris Dinwiddy: We see ourselves as a vibrant science and technology company, bringing together specialists in healthcare, life sciences, and perfor-mance materials.

Science is clearly at the heart of every-thing we do. But what really makes us the company we are is the importance we attach to curiosity. We believe that curi-osity is the key to making a real impact on the world.

Curiosity is a very human emotion, driven by creativity, openness and readiness to embrace new ideas, as much as techni-cal know-how. We’ve carried out quite a lot of research into what makes some people more curious than others, and what can help to inspire curiosity within our workforce. What comes through strongly from this research is the vital importance of emotional intelligence – EQ – in helping us to work together as a team, make new discoveries, and apply them to everyday life.

One of the challenges we face in project-ing the ‘real Merck’ to the outside world is that people sometimes look at our long history, and assume that we’re a little bit traditional or an old-fashioned business. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

The other common misconception is that we’re primarily a German company, because that’s how we started out in 1668. However, our group has been built up through multiple acquisitions, and organic expansion across the world. We now have 57,000 employees right across the world, with operations in 66 countries.

What I should also add is that for histori-cal reasons, we operate in North America as EMD Serono in healthcare, EMD Performance Materials in performance materials and MilliporeSigma in life science, which adds significant complex-ity to employer branding. So, while we have operations there, they are branded differently.

science is clearly at the heart of everything we do, but what really makes us the company we are is the importance we attach to curiosity.

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Standing Out: How is your recruitment strategy evolving to keep pace with changing skills demands?

Chris Dinwiddy: The skills sets we’re looking to attract, and develop are evol-ving fast. This includes growing demand for people with proficiency in areas such as digital technology and data science. There are clearly a lot of companies chasing people with these skills. So, we realized that we had to become more proactive. Key steps in the last couple of years have included setting up a global sourcing team, which not only focuses on recruitment, but also long-term engagement with people with the capabilities we need to acquire. These sourcing efforts are supported by significant investments in HR Tech in areas such as talent profiling and engagement. We are also looking to change the culture within the talent acquisition function to be more recruit-ment marketing focused.

In line with the importance we attach to curiosity, we now focus closely on attracting and retaining people with ‘soft’ skills, such as creativity and empathy. The big challenge is how do you identify people with these softer skills. This is more difficult than screening, and selecting people with ‘hard’ technical capabilities.

to help support movement within the organization, we recently set up a pilot scheme using advanced data analytics techniques to look at statistical similarities between job descriptions indifferent parts of the business.


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there’s obviously more to diversitythan gender balance alone, but we believe that the 30% target is a useful first step… bringing more women into senior positions provides a common goal around which we can all mobilize.

of life experience, and personal per-spectives new employees bring to the organization. We call this ‘culture add’. Rather than new employees having to ‘fit’ into the existing culture, they ‘add’ to the culture. This embracing of diversity is how our company will continue to grow and evolve. The focus on culture add includes looking far beyond ‘visible diversity’ at how to attract people from a broader range of backgrounds.

Standing Out: What is the balance between hiring from outside, and devel-oping from within?

Chris Dinwiddy: This depends on the market. If you’re looking to add significant headcount in a growth market, then external hiring is clearly the key focus alongside internal development. It’s a different dynamic in a market such as Germany, where we’re already very well-established. There, our primary focus will always be internal develop-ment, and progression.

Merck has always had a good record of supporting progression and internal mobility. This includes helping people to find new opportunities beyond their immediate sphere. For example, one of our HR leadership team members, who is global head of talent, was previously the general manager for the Healthcare business in the UK. I’ve seen many of these types of moves being made.

Therefore, we have introduced new psychometric tools to better assess these soft skills, as well as identifying particular traits that could mark out potential leaders. We developed this strategy in 2018, and have already seen its value, particularly when assessing leadership capabilities. However, you have to be careful about how you use these techniques as you don't want to narrow selection down to one particular profile, worse still create ‘clones’ within the workforce, and its leadership.

We see diversity as critical in helping to create a more curious, and emotionally intelligent workforce. Our initial target is to ensure that at least 30% of our global leadership are women. There’s obviously more to diversity than gender balance alone, but we believe that the 30% target is a useful first step. Perceptions of diversity differ from region to region, so bringing more women into senior posi-tions provides a common goal around which we can all mobilize. We also want to go further by broadening the range


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the key to employees telling their story is to concentrate on the content, rather than worrying about how they might be perceived.

To help support movement within the organization, we recently set up a pilot scheme using advanced data analytics techniques to look at statistical sim-ilarities between job descriptions in different parts of the business. One of the things we wanted to find out is whether there is a hidden overlap between the job descriptions for people in different functions, divisions and other seemingly unrelated roles. From this, we discovered a statistically clear link between a posi-tion in our Life Science organization and a position in our Healthcare organization that even a well-trained human eye would not have picked up. It’s hoped that when we upscale pilots like this, it will transform internal talent movement.

Standing Out: How does your employer branding strategy support talent recruitment?

Chris Dinwiddy: We have a strong and compelling message. At the heart of this is the opportunity to embark on a per-sonal and professional adventure, with curiosity as the driving force.

In the past, we’ve talked a lot about the innovations we’ve developed, and other achievements. This is still really import-ant. But we also want to convey the personal stories of our people, to show who we are as a company. For example, our careers website features short films

where employees talk about their per-sonal journeys. One of these is Lekha, a senior scientist working on develop-ments in liquid crystal technology. Lekha recounts the voyage of discovery that took her from a childhood fascination with airplanes to a career at Merck. These are what I call ‘authentic employee narra-tives’. This kind of employee advocacy is not just more relatable, but also far more powerful and authentic than many of your traditional corporate videos.

One of the challenges to overcome is that employees are often reluctant to tell their stories in this way. Part of this is technical. So, we partnered with a smart-phone app company, who have provided an easy, structured way for people to make their own films, or work with corpo-rate communications on the production, whichever they prefer. Others are worried about how they might come across. So, we work with them to help build up their confidence. In my experience, the key to this is encouraging people to concen-trate on the content, rather than worrying about how they might be perceived. When it comes to filming, we encourage authenticity by saying “just be yourself”.


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using programmatic advertising, we’ve developed direct engagement and targeted digital content in much the same way as consumer companies.

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Standing Out: How do you adapt your overall employer brand to local markets and specific talent groups?

Chris Dinwiddy: Our employer brand is developed and managed centrally by me and my two colleagues. This is supported by employer branding ambas-sadors within the recruitment group, who in turn connect closely with other recruiters and HR colleagues.

The message and how it is conveyed need to be relevant within the target market. In China, for example, which is major growth market for us, we are in the process of tailoring our employer brand assets and messaging to raise awareness of who we are, and our development plans in the market.

We’ve also looked at where and how we communicate. In China, this includes focusing on WeChat, which allows us to engage with far more potential employees than channels like LinkedIn. Using programmatic advertising, we’ve

developed direct engagement and targeted digital content in much the same way as consumer companies. This enables us to target the messaging straight to the audience. While our strategy is still being developed, the key takeaway is that there's no point shouting to a crowded room when only one person wants to hear your message. Using a programmatic approach, we can talk far more effectively to a room of ten genuinely interested people.

This understanding of social media channels, engagement and target messaging is becoming an increasingly important element of both recruitment and employer branding. It’s important to learn about what works and what doesn’t, not just in employer branding communications, but also from related areas such as consumer marketing, and social media influencing.


knowledge basewhat we can learn about employer branding from Merck Group

• Social media messaging, and channel strategies are increasingly critical within employer branding.

• Make sure people know who you are, and what you stand for, rather than just what you do.

• Encouraging your people to tell their stories helps project your business in a re table and authentic way.

• Encourage the people telling their personal stories to forget about how they might come across. Ask them to focus first and foremost on the content, while being themselves.

• Talk quietly to people who want to listen, rather than trying to shout at people who probably don’t.

• Programmatic marketing techniques can help you to find people who want to listen, and direct the right content to them.

Chris Dinwiddy Global Head of Employer Branding and Social Media Recruitment

Chris Dinwiddy is a multi-sector recruiter, who has worked across recruit-ment process outsourcing, search and corporate roles. Chris is an expert in functional improvement projects and leading multi-country talent acquisition teams. His special interests include talent development, recruitment mar-keting, social media and the impact of artificial intelligence.

Chris has been lucky enough to have lived and worked in several countries, gaining experience in a range of sectors from fast-moving consumer goods to oil and gas. He’s also an occasional Influ-encer, with a blue tick on Instagram.


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Changing perceptions: How Colruyt Group has transformed its talent appeal

Colruyt Group is one of the most attractive employ-ers for Belgian people taking part in the Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) – more than 40% of participants would like to work there. But when the REBR started, around 20 years ago, barely 20% of Belgians would consider a job with Colruyt Group. David Cornelis, who is responsible for Colruyt Group’s Center of Expertise for Talent Acquisition and Labor Market Research, and Kathelijn Vanhaute, Employer Branding Marketeer, explain how the company has successfully changed perceptions, while staying true to its ‘family values’.


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customer demands are changing so fast that the most important skills are the learnability, adaptability and flexibility needed to keep pace.

Standing Out: Tell us about Colruyt, and what makes the Group distinctive?

Kathelijn Vanhaute: Colruyt Group brings together a number of retail chains, and own brand product manufactures, along with other activities ranging from sustain-able energy generation to customized business documentation.

We started out as a small family-run local grocery business around 80 years ago. Since then, we’ve grown into one of Belgium’s biggest companies, with nearly 30,000 staff and annual turnover of more than €9 billion. But our founding family is still actively involved in the running of the company.

Being a family firm is the key to our values. For example, one of our nine core values is simplicity, which is one of the main ways we drive cost-efficiency. We want to do things quickly, as simply as possible, and avoid doing jobs twice. This is rooted in our beginnings as a small grocery business, where people were constantly striving to reduce costs and waste. And this is still true today, not only in our stores, but also in the way that teams like IT and engineer-ing work. We believe in the ‘80/20 solution’ – you don't always look for the best solu-tion, instead work with the one that works, and then continue to improve it.

Standing Out: What do you look for in the ideal employee?

David Cornelis: Customer demands are changing so fast that the most important skills are the learnability, adaptability and flexibility needed to keep pace. Even where specialist skills are needed in areas such as IT or HR, we still look for candidates who can learn and adapt.

The ability to work well together is also essential. The size of our organization, with processes spanning different departments, and areas of management, means you can’t do anything by yourself.


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We want our people to understand how their role and activities impact on colleagues and customers. Hence ‘#dotogether’ is one of the three main propositions within our employee value proposition.

One of the practical ways we promote learnability, adaptability and flexibility is encouraging our people to carry out a range of different tasks. People aren’t just cashiers or shelf-stackers. Instead, everyone gets involved in all jobs around the store. This helps our people to strengthen their capabilities and cus-tomer understanding, while improving motivation and engagement.

We adopt a similar approach within our wider workforce. From a talent perspec-tive, one of the common misconceptions is that almost all of our staff work in our stores or warehouses. In fact, we are one of Belgium’s biggest private employers of software engineers, solutions ana-lysts, and other IT specialists. Our 1,800 strong IT workforce is much larger than

the employee numbers within many of the tech giants operating in Belgium. Similarly, our 1,500 strong technical & engineering department makes us one of the biggest technics & engineering companies in the country.

Our IT and engineering teams focus on much more than just day-to-day oper-ational support. For example, we have a large engineering team dedicated to developing sustainability solutions in areas such as low energy building design and greener hydrogen-powered trans-port. We’re also helping to pioneer low environmental impact ‘circular systems’ in areas such as turning waste products into new raw materials, and producing food with much less water and energy. In-house systems developments include the introduction of new digital price labels. The switch from paper to digital has enabled us to adjust prices several times a day as part of our price match scheme. This wouldn’t have been possi-ble before. This highly sustainable and cost-effective system will also enable us to save around 90 tons of paper a year.

our 1,800 strong IT workforce is much larger than the employee numbers within many of the tech giants operating in Belgium.


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Standing Out: Your rise up the rankings of attractive employers is a testament to the success of your employer branding strategy. Tell us about how your strategy and the thinking behind it.

Kathelijn Vanhaute: In 2007, we created Colruyt Group as an overarching brand that brings together all the different commercial brands within our organi-zation. We wanted to show that we are a family of companies, with a common mission and set of values. From then on, we also started to position Colruyt Group as an employer brand, initially alongside the retail brands, and then more and more as one unified employer brand. This phased approach was a conscious choice, designed to be as efficient and effective as possible, in keeping with the DNA of our organization.

We knew that we were starting from a low perception of attraction, and therefore needed to develop a strategy for the long haul. We also recognized the challenges we faced in positioning Colruyt Group as more than just a retailer. People didn’t know about our large IT, engineering, marketing, and HR divisions. This is one of the main

reasons why we’ve chosen to develop an employer brand proposition that covers all of the companies and divisions in Colruyt Group, instead of one for each sub-brand. With the right positioning, we believe that a diverse group with multi-ple commercial brands can have a single employer brand.

The employee value proposition is built around the concept of ‘working differently’, by which we mean human-centered, and value-driven. This then leads to the three propositions: #dotogether, #growtogether and #dreamtogether, which together demonstrate the growth potential of workers and the organization. For example, #growtogether and #dreamtogether show how employees come with their own talents and competencies, and the organization then supports their development with good training, regular feedback, and a range of job opportunities.

we knew that we were starting from a low perception of attraction, and therefore needed to develop a strategy for the long haul.


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Each of these propositions is brought to life through personal testimonials. For #dreamtogether, for example, Dieter, a bio engineer in our project and reliability team, talks about his work in developing sustainable hydrogen filling stations. The short film doesn’t just look at what he does, but the vibe between Dieter and his colleagues. The focus is outside-in, by looking at what candidates want, and what they find important.

To help shift perceptions beyond retail work alone, the testimonials and other communications embrace the diversity of our work-force, and the vastly different kind of work they do. In this way, we’re able to adapt the ‘working differently’ brand messages to particular activities, and target audiences.

David Cornelis: For us, values should be lived rather than just displayed on our corporate walls. For example, we hold regular

workshops for managers, new employees, and existing teams to instill our values, and demonstrate how to bring them into their own day-to-day work.

Patience is key. Strength-ening our employer brand has taken a great deal of perseverance and ongoing investment over the past decade and more, but we’re now seeing the results. Having gradually climbed up the rankings, Colruyt Group is now consistently ranked among Belgium’s most attractive companies in the Randstad Employer Brand Research. What’s really satisfying is the broad range of interest from across the labor market, men and women, young people and older people, and people with all levels of educational attainment.


Standing Out: Looking specifically at shop work, this is often low down the list of desirable careers. But working with you is seen as highly appealing. How have you achieved this?

David Cornelis: Shop work is often seen as an occupation for people with few skills or qualifications, rather than a career for high-flyers. But we appreciate the true value of what our people do, and seek to do everything we can to support and nurture them. This includes sitting down with them individually to see how hours can adapted to fit in with family responsibilities, and promote a good work-life balance.

As part of our values, we also encourage our people to be entrepreneurial and take the initiative – we believe that our company grows as our people grow. A clear reflection of this is how many of our commercial ideas and new ways of working start life as suggestions from employees, which we collect and nurture through our ‘ID-net’ company intranet. Examples include the original ideas for our Cru home delivery service, and our Solucious brand, which supplies food products to professional customers.

It’s also important to recognize that working on the shop floor can be a steppingstone to management. A lot of our middle managers started here. For many of our graduate intake, their first taste of Colruyt Group was working as a student in a store or distribution center during their holidays.

Looking at the retail sector as a whole, some of the negative perceptions may be difficult to shift. But the tireless efforts of retail staff in keeping customers sup-plied during the Coronavirus emergency shows just how critical they are. I hope that the profile, and attractiveness of the sector improve as a result.

For us here at Colruyt Group, we remain shopkeepers at heart. But the breadth of our operations and the opportunities we offer mean that we cover a much broader spectrum of the labor market than shopwork alone. This makes us increasingly attractive as an employer across the board.

the tireless efforts of retail staff in keeping customers supplied during the Coronavirus emergency shows just how critical they are and I hope that the profile, and attractiveness of the sector improve as a result.

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Standing Out: Yours is a highly diverse multigenerational workforce. Do you have a specific recruitment strategy for different generations, such as millennials or older talent?

David Cornelis: No. We don’t see the value in this. Indeed, our experience here at Colruyt Group is that there are more differences within a generation than between them. And we have a lot of research to back this up.

Instead, we primarily focus our mes-saging and content on different target groups such as engineers or store workers. Similarly, we have the same HR framework for different age groups, though this is adapted to the employee’s different life stages, and job context.

Standing Out: Does your employee experience influence your commercial and employer brands?

Kathelijn Vanhaute: Absolutely. When customers see smiling, friendly staff, they will want to come back. Similarly, we’ve seen how happy staff can encourage candidates to apply. A good working atmosphere is a visible expression of your culture and values.

Kathelijn VanhauteEmployer Branding Marketeer, Colruyt Group

Kathelijn holds a master’s degree in work and organi-zational psychology, with an additional degree in marketing communications. She has experience in HR, corporate communications, and employer branding. Her career includes posts at PwC, Randstad Professio-nals, Accenture and Beluga, a communication agency specializing in employer branding. Kathelijn loves HR and marketing communi-cations, but to her, the best of both worlds is employer branding.


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knowledge base what we can learn about employer branding from Colruyt Group

• More than specialist skills, Colruyt Group believes that the ability to learn and adapt is the key to meeting fast-changing customer demands.

• As customer demands evolve, and technology transforms businesses, employer brands need to appeal to a broad range of talent. Many of the people you are targeting may not have considered a career in your sector.

• A diverse group with multiple commer-cial brands can have a single employer brand as long as it reflects the values that bind the organization together. It’s also important to think ‘outside-in’ by considering the needs of different groups within the labor market.

• Generational differences may be overplayed. Rather, Colruyt Group targets its content and messaging at different target groups, depending on the nature of the job.

David is responsible for Colruyt Group’s talent acquisition and labor market research. Recruiting 3,000 new employ-ees every year, talent acquisition plays a key role in the continuing growth of Colruyt Group. David’s role within talent acquisition and labor market research spans strategy, market insight, stakeholder communications, and developing and projecting content for the careers site.

David believes in close collaboration between HR and marketing, with good insight into the labor market as the starting point. He works closely on the development and refinement of what is today one of the strongest employer brands in Belgium.

David Cornelisresponsible for the Center of Expertise for Talent Acquisition and Labor Market Research, Colruyt Group


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“There’s too much emphasis on communication within employer branding. What really counts is how you treat your people. That’s why the 80:20 rule is start with culture and behavior, before working on your communications,” says Jan Denys, Director Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Randstad Belgium. Beginning his career in academia, before moving on to work for Randstad for the past 20 years, Jan has advised a host of major corporations on how to develop a compelling employer brand. He also helped to launch the original Randstad Employer Brand Research, which has since been rolled out worldwide. What then has all this wealth of employer branding experience taught him about what works, what doesn’t, and why?

The 80:20 rule of employer branding: Why the way you treat your people is far more important than communication


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it’s clear that people want good pay, but this is only part of the story…there are plenty of examples of companies that offer top rate financial rewards, but still have lousy employer brands.

Standing Out: Why is employer branding so important?

Jan Denys: Investing in your employer brand enables your business to recruit better people, retain them, and see engagement levels rise. The recruitment and retention benefits are fairly obvious. But engagement is an equally crucial, though often overlooked, factor in making the most of talent potential, and boosting company returns.

All these three elements of a winning employer brand have been decisive in competing for talent in the tight labor market we’ve seen in recent years. The economic impact of COVID-19 may change the labor market dynamics in the short-term, but probably not all that much in the long run.

Standing Out: Can money alone secure the talent companies need?

Jan Denys: When I began researching into what makes companies attractive to work for, I wanted to find out whether there was more to this than money. It’s clear that people want good pay, but this is only part of the story. Indeed, there are

plenty of examples of companies that offer top rate financial rewards, but still have lousy employer brands.

People want to feel valued and have a chance to fulfil their potential. They want to work within a culture and environment that is friendly, supportive, and enables them to balance their professional and personal lives. In difficult times like these, job security becomes more important. Many people also want to make a difference to the world around them. All these multiple factors are wrapped up in the employer brand.

Standing Out: What are the key foun-dations for developing and projecting a winning employer brand. What are the pitfalls to avoid?

Jan Denys: First and foremost is patience. Unless you’re in this for the long haul, you shouldn’t start. The problem is that a lot of companies want immediate results, and if they don’t get them, they give up.

Successful companies have been invest-ing in their employer branding for 10, 15 years, and seeing the benefits gradually build up over time. In Belgium, Colruyt Group is a great example.


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they’ll tell their friends, and customers will see them smiling. That is the most authentic and convincing way to project your employer brand. Yes, good market-ing and communications can support this, but only when the foundations of culture and behavior are in place. And you have to keep working on this. It takes a long time to achieve the credibility and authenticity that come from matching the message communicated externally with the reality employees live with every day. However, this credibility is very easy to lose.

Its main business is retail, which has always been low down the list of sectors people want to work in according to Randstad’s Employer Branding Research. But Colruyt has bucked that trend by being one the most sought out compa-nies in Belgium. Colruyt has achieved this by going out of its way to treat its people well. Sure, pay rates for its retail staff are constrained by the fine margins in its market. But engagement is still very strong.

Crucially, Colruyt recognized that having started with a low attraction rating, it couldn’t change this overnight. When we first surveyed the company around 20 years ago, only some 20% of the people in our survey said they would want to work there. Rather, Colruyt has sought to gradually and sustainably improve its appeal, conscious that each year brings fresh challenges and opportunities. This commitment to the long game means that Colruyt’s talent attraction score has more than doubled to around 45%.

The other main pitfall is too much focus on telling a good story, without thinking about what lies behind that. The first pri-ority should be making this a great place to work, and living up to your promises. If your staff feel like they’re treated well,

if your staff feel like they’re treated well, they’ll tell their friends, and customers will see them smiling…the most authentic and convincing way to project your employer brand.


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Standing Out: How would you describe Randstad’s employer brand, and what makes it stand out?

Jan Denys: Randstad’s employer brand is a complex, multiple brand. It not only relates to people who work in our consul- ting and corporate teams, but also the flexworkers we support. The latter group is a lot bigger than our direct workforce. This means Randstad’s brand is made up of two ‘sub-brands’.

However, there is a common thread as both brands are based on what our founder, Frits Goldschmeding, described as “simultaneous advocacy”: What that means is that we strive to do the best for employees, candidates and clients at the same time. That sounds fairly obvious now, but 60 years ago when the company was just starting out it was quite a unique approach. And now we’ve grown to be the biggest employment services group in the world, this simultaneous advocacy is still our guiding philosophy.

From an employer branding perspec-tive, Frits Goldschmeding has always been very keen to stress the distinction between image and identity. The image is what people on the outside see, and the identity is our culture, our values, how we feel about being part of this organization. It’s the identity that’s the real differentiator, as unlike an image it can’t be duplicated.

Standing Out: As contract work, freelance work and portfolio careers become more commonplace, should organizations start updating their employer branding strat-egy and employee value proposition?

Jan Denys: It’s clear that permanent and contingent workers have different expec-tations in some areas – the value they attach to job security is a likely example. In the main, however, I would question whether permanent and contingent workers want fundamentally different things. Your business would therefore need to look closely at whether there is a sufficient cost-benefit in overhauling your employer branding strategies and employee value proposition, or creating separate approaches for permanent and contingent workers.

I would question whether permanent and contingent workers want fundamentally different things.


Standing Out: How important are gen-erational differences in talent attraction and employer branding?

Jan Denys: Over the years, the Randstad Employer Brand Research has shown that there are some generational differences in what people want from an employer. However, these differ-ences are not as significant as is often assumed. And when they do exist, they tend to reflect life stages rather than any major change in attitudes. For example, training and opportunities are critical for young people. However, as they get older, and financial and family demands increase, pay, security and work-life balance rise in importance.

However, we are now seeing a notice-able shift as Gen Z comes into the workforce. They are a well-educated generation – more than 50% with degrees in many countries. Many are in a hurry to progress their careers, even if the scope to meet these expectations hasn’t necessarily increased. This can be a challenge for employers as Gen Z employees could easily become frus-trated if they can’t advance their careers as quickly as they would like. Will they leave? Well, so far our research suggests

that most don’t. But they do become increasingly disengaged, which is in many ways worse than losing them. From an employer branding perspective, one of the big challenges ahead will be how to meet these expectations and sustain engagement.

Standing Out: How do you see employer branding developing in the future?

Jan Denys: Globalization has reshaped economies worldwide, and it won’t go away. But some aspects of it are coming under attack. From an employer branding perspective, one of the clear-est trends that stems from this is the growing preference for local companies – ‘national champions’ – as many coun-tries’ preferred employers of choice. Even where companies have extensive international operations, they tend to be most popular in their home market. As multinational corporations look at how to compete for talent, it’s therefore important for them to think about how to strengthen engagement and trust in the non-home countries in which they operate. As a major global corporation, we at Randstad recognize this.

Gen Z employees could easily become frustrated if they can’t advance their careers as quickly as they would like.


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globalization has reshaped economies worldwide,…from an employer branding perspective, one of the clearest trends that stems from this is the growing preference for local companies – ‘national champions’ – as many countries’ preferred employers of choice.

The ways companies engage with talent are increasingly shaped by technology. But the need to match the promises you make to candidates and employees with the reality within your business is just as important as ever. You can think about this like dating. Just as people now increasingly meet their partners online, this is also how companies and candidates connect. Digital technology certainly makes it easier to match people up. The interview is in turn the equivalent of the first date. Everyone will try to put themselves in the best light in both the online profile and the interview. That’s only natural. But if you stray too far from the truth, you’ll inevitably end up with frustration and separation.

Flexibility and work-life balance continue to rise up the lists of talent attractions worldwide. This used to be seen as simply a matter of creating family- friendly ways of working. But, flexibility is now becoming increasingly important across the workforce as work becomes more mobile, and employees seek out greater autonomy over how they get things done.


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• Alongside recruitment and retention, make sure your employer branding strategy prioritizes employee engagement.

• Plan for the long haul. Employer branding takes time to deliver.

• Before you start devising your com-munications plans, make sure the culture and behavior in your organiza-tion are right first.

• Live up to your promises. Credibility and authenticity are difficult to achieve and easy to lose.

• Generational differences are less significant than is often assumed. And when they do exist, they tend to reflect life stages rather than differ-ences in attitudes.Since 1999, Jan Denys has been director

of external communications, labor market expert and spokesperson for Randstad Belgium, the country’s largest HR resources service provider. During this time, he helped to instigate the Randstad Employer Brand Research.

Before joining Randstad, Jan was a labor market researcher and project manager at the Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA) at the University of Leuven, working with international clients such as the European Union and the OECD.

everyone will try to put themselves in the best light in both the online profile and the interview… but if you stray too far from the truth, you’ll inevitably end up with frustration...

He advised various policymakers on labor market policies and is an active participant in a number of government and industry bodies, including being a member of the World Employment Federation’s board (since 2019).

Jan is the author of numerous reports and books, as well as a presenter, on labor markets. He holds a master’s degree in Sociology.

Jan Denys director Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Randstad Belgium


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come and make

a difference.


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Come and make a difference: How UNSW is sharpening its appeal to academic and professional talent worldwide

“We used to say to potential recruits ‘come and work in Sydney with its fabulous beaches and wonderful lifestyle’. Now, research has shown us that what really counts for the people we want to attract is who they work with, not where. They want to join up with good people, so they can make a difference for society,” says Marcus Clark, Head of Talent Acquisition at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The insights from this research have provided the foundation for a revamped employee value proposition, which is in turn reflected in the employer branding

and talent acquisition strategies. What can other organizations learn from an institution that’s making its mark in the competition for academic and professional talent worldwide?

The interview was carried out before the full global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear. While circumstances have changed since, the engagement, pursuit of social good, and determination to find out what employees really want, which is at the heart of UNSW’s employee value proposi-tion, have never been more critical.


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Standing Out: How would you describe the culture and ethos of UNSW, and what makes this special?

Marcus Clark: UNSW has been rising up the global rankings in recent years, and is now among the top 50 universities worldwide. We stand out in fields stretching from medicine to law. Being a center of academic excellence is clearly important to us. But we’re much more than that. What really marks out UNSW is the desire to be at the forefront of change, and be a force for good in society. Climate change is a clear case in point, both through our dedicated research center, and the active campaigning by students and staff.

We’re also a group of people who want to make a tangible difference. Our longstanding motto has

been ‘knowledge by hand and mind’, which speaks to our focus on academic excellence and real-world outcomes. We’re now keen to add ‘heart’ to this, reflecting the focus on social good that is so important to who we are, and how we do things.

The combination of heart, hand, and mind is commonly expressed by staff in the words that “our research must focus on what the world wants”. Coming back to sustain-ability as an example, this hands-on approach includes being a world leader in the development of photo-voltaic cells, solar power research, and energy storage. This is backed up by the highly effective support we offer to help researchers secure the government funding and industry partnerships they need to take their developments forward.

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through market research, we wanted to get to the bottom of what motivates the people UNSW is looking to attract and retain.

Standing Out: In 2019, you revamped your employee value proposition. What does this involve, and what is driving this?

Marcus Clark: Through market research, we wanted to get to the bottom of what motivates the people UNSW is looking to attract and retain. We were also keen to compare ourselves with competitors, and see what differentiates us. This ana- lysis didn’t just look at other universities, but also at the consultancies, private companies and other organizations that are looking for the same kind of talent as us. The big take-away from the research was the extent to which good people attract good people. While in the past we had highlighted the attractions of the lifestyle here in Sydney, the people in our talent orbit are mainly looking at who they’ll be working with, and how they can come together to make the difference they all want.

The challenge was then how to crystal-lize this into a suitably short, sharp, and catchy tagline. This needs to capture the essence of our employee value proposition. To be credible, it also needs to reflect how our people see UNSW, and their part in its success. The result we came up with is ‘make it matter’, which manifests itself in everything from better career opportunities to better lives for people around the world.


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Standing Out: How is your employee value proposition reflected in your employer branding strategy?

Marcus Clark: Our employee value proposition and the employer branding strategy that stems from it should be just as relevant and meaningful for our staff as potential recruits. If the message resonates internally, it will resonate externally.

Our organizational design team have led the development of our new employee value proposition. This includes long

if the message resonates internally, it will resonate externally.

conversations with different groups of staff about what motivates them, and what resonates with them. The conver-sations have also focused on the great contributions our people are making, and how we can best support and build on this. With the employee value proposition as the foundation, this dialogue can help to create a social contract whereby we – university and staff – can do the best for each other.

I and my colleagues in talent acquisi-tion are responsible for the employer branding framework, which is very much driven by the employee value proposi-tion. We want the brand we project to convey how we see ourselves. In seeking to reflect our culture, and match internal and external messaging, this includes moving from what has been quite direct and technical communications to a warmer and more emotionally- connected approach. One of the advan-tages is helping us to appeal to people with a broad emotional intelligence. This approach can also help us to attract and retain more female academics.


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We’ve also been adapting the ‘make it matter’ message to make it relevant and appealing to particular target groups. The communications are built around ‘proof points’ to demonstrate what we offer, and how we are living up to our promises.

Women within science, technology, engi-neering, and mathematics – STEM – are an example of one of our target cohorts. Our aim is to attract elite candidates, who want to work with likeminded and equally talented people. For academics, with typically three to seven years’ post-doctoral experience, our Scientia Fellowship Program perfectly captures the ‘make it matter’ ethos by seeking to tackle “global issues that keep us all awake at night”. To demonstrate the opportunities for women, we’ve been able to show that they make up the majority of our recent intake. We can also give real life exam-ples to show the pathways for developing their careers, along with the support we offer in areas such as mentoring and securing funding.

For more senior posts, we’ve developed our SHARP program, which seeks to attract senior academics in the top 1% in their field. To reach out to women specifically, we’re able to show that they make up around half of the recent intake

in the program. We can also highlight prominent role models such as Michelle Simmons, Scientia Professor of Quantum Physics, who was ‘Australian of the Year’ in 2018.

In thinking about how we tailor our messages, it’s important to remember that most academics work on a series of fixed-term contracts as they move from one grant-funded project to the next. While this might sound tenuous, specialist researchers form close-knit communities within their fields. Again, the chance to work with respected peers is a big attraction. We advertise these posts globally, and receive a huge amount of applications from overseas.

we want the brand we project to convey how we see ourselves…moving from what has been quite direct and technical communications to a warmer and more emotionally-connected approach.


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Standing Out: How do you seek to stand out in the global talent market?

Marcus Clark: Recruiting people from overseas is a big priority for UNSW and other Australian universities. We’re keen to bring in new blood.

Looking again at our SHARP program for elite researchers as an example, this is an exceedingly difficult cohort to attract. Many will already be in senior positions, and possibly reluctant to come half-way around the world to UNSW. That’s why our successful record on grant funding, and the opportunity to collaborate with other leading researchers are so important.

One of the particular challenges for us here at UNSW is that we don’t have as big a profile as many of the other leading universities worldwide. That’s why we have a highly developed digital market-ing program. For example, if someone types ‘top 100 universities’, they’ll almost invariably see a pop-up from us. Digital engagement also helps us to ensure we’re getting the right messages to the right people. The first thing international post-graduates do when they are thinking of coming to UNSW is to look online

at what employment opportunities are coming up at the university. They can then be tracked online.

Our talent demands go far beyond the academic world to include professionals in areas such as finance and HR. A particular focus of recruitment internationally is people with philanthropy and social impact experience. This is a relatively new field in Australia, so there are few people to draw on locally. However, unlike academics, for whom visas are reasonably securable, Australia’s immigration policies can make social impact specialists and other profes-sionals hard to bring in from abroad. One of the ways we’re seeking to boost our professional talent pool is by developing a graduate training program, with UNSW alumni forming a key part of the intake.

Standing Out: What role does social media play in your communications?

Marcus Clark: From a communications perspective, we’re able to generate a constant stream of great stories – univer-sities are good news factories. We have a dedicated social media team to manage this. Academics also tend to be big users of Twitter, creating their own content without the support of the marketing team. For example, Emma Johnston, Dean of the science faculty, a leading marine biologist and well-known TV presenter, has built up a significant social media following from her regular posts.

from a communications perspective, we’re able to generate a constant stream of great stories – universities are good news factories.


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Marcus Clarkhead of Talent Acquisition, UNSW

Marcus took up his post as Head of Talent Acquisition at UNSW in 2016, following more than 20 years of experi-ence in recruitment. He was previously Head of Talent Acquisition at LafargeHolcim and has held various senior roles both in-house and in recruitment agencies. Marcus has established several in-house recruitment functions, with a strong focus on setting up teams, systems, and processes to secure the best talent.

• If it resonates internally, it will reso-nate externally.

• Promote your people – good people like working with other good people.

• An emotional connec-tion can do more to broaden your talent appeal than dry facts and figures.

• Working on fixed-term contracts is less tenuous than you might think. With the right engagement, you can still create a sense of belonging.

• Put yourself in the picture globally. Digital profiling and engage-ment can help you to target candidates worldwide.

knowledge base what we can learn from employer branding at CLP power


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Going places: How TAP Air Portugal is building a winning global employer brand TAP Air Portugal is going places – new intercontinental

routes, a revamped fleet of airplanes, and a major over-haul of its travel experience. This ambitious transfor-mation wouldn’t be possible without the recruitment of thousands of new staff. This in turn brings huge challenges in an industry where competition for flight crew, maintenance technicians and other prized talent is intensifying all the time. Pedro Ramos, Group Human Resources Director, believes that TAP Air Portugal’s award-winning employer brand has been a key factor in its ability not just to attract the quantity of people it needs, but also the right people to take the company forward. How then does TAP Air Portugal’s people strategy and employer brand stand out?

The interview was carried out before the full global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the airline industry was felt. However, the focus on employee engagement, experience, and adaptability, which is at the heart of TAP Air Portugal’s employee value proposition, has never been more critical.


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Standing Out: In less than five years, TAP Air Portugal has gone from being a mid-size national carrier to one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. What’s driving the expansion and what are your long-term plans?

Pedro Ramos: The airline was partially privatized in 2016. This brought in a significant injection of capital, and pro-vided the catalyst for our transformation strategy. We’ve always had a strong presence within Southern Europe, along with some prime intercontinental routes such as Rio and New York. Now, we’re flying to new destinations in Northern Europe, and North America, including Chicago, Washington and San Francisco.

Strategies to support our expansion plans include positioning Portugal as the ideal gateway stopover for global travelers. Passengers in transit from other destinations can spend up to five nights enjoying the delights of Lisbon or Porto at no extra cost, before continu-ing their journey within Europe or on to Asia, Africa or the Americas. We see this as part of our contribution to the wider Portuguese economy, and becoming a leading exporter and promoter for this wonderful country.


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Alongside new routes, we’re investing in the latest generation of jets, which is giving us one of the youngest fleets in the world. This includes the world’s first AA330 neo, with more on order. Flights are quieter and more comfortable as a result. The ‘new engine option’ in the neo also uses 20% less fuel than older engines. That’s not just better for the environment, it also frees up funds for making the travel experience more enjoyable, such as improved inflight meals and entertainment. To complete the revamp, we’ve refurbished the interiors of our existing fleet.

The investment in customer experience is just as strong on the ground as in the air. This includes new apps, an increased social media presence, and a new state-of-the-art call center to serve our passen-gers. We want to balance the ease and speed of digital interaction with personal engagement when and where customers would like it. We want to be proactive in dealing with issues before they could become a problem. This has led to a significant rise our Net Promoter Score, which measures customer’s willingness to recommend us.

the investment in customer experience is just as strong on the ground as in the air and includes new apps, an increased social media presence, and a new state-of-the-art call center to serve our passengers.


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Standing Out: Tell us a about the people challenges that come with a transforma-tion on this scale?

Pedro Ramos: People are at the heart of this transformation. So far, we’ve hired an extra 3,000 staff, an increase in our workforce of more than 25%, with more to come. Recruitment on this scale isn’t easy in any industry, but especially so in aviation. There is a growing global shortage of pilots and technicians, with competition leading to high turnover rates. As we modernize our fleet, par-ticular challenges include the need for technicians who can work on both new and older generations of planes – these are especially scarce. We’ve also faced the challenge of bringing in call center agents with the language skills to serve customers flying on our new routes. English is taken as read. The big difficulty is securing people with command of less spoken languages like Italian, Dutch and German.

Just as important is creating the right attitudes and motivation within our work-force. We want to build customer focus into our cultural DNA. We want people who embrace change. We want people who are committed to developing the digital, social media and other skills needed as our operations and customer engagement are modernized.

Standing Out: How are you seeking to bring in all these new people and what differentiates your recruitment process?

Pedro Ramos: Our main recruitment channel is our website, where we receive several hundred new applications every week. In more specific cases, we use social media such as LinkedIn for highly qualified roles. We also deploy Facebook for specific groups, as it still has a strong capacity for attraction and dissemination among particular sources of talent.

we want people who are committed to developing the digital, social media and other skills needed as our operations and customer engagement are modernized.


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One of the ways we stand out is that we fully support the training and qualification of maintenance technicians. These are the aviation professionals who represent the most time and financial effort for the airline, and TAP fully bears these costs. A lot of airlines don’t.

In the case of pilots, we also help support their training, albeit not in full. We also offer great pay, conditions and job security and excellent engagement with representative bodies. Our standards are higher than the industry as a whole.

Standing Out: TAP Air Portugal has led the way in recruiting a multigenerational workforce and capitalizing on the benefits. Please explain the thinking behind this.

Pedro Ramos: The multigenerational nature of our workforce gives us an important edge, both in recruitment and in the running of the company.

We were one of the first airlines in the world to drop the age criterion when selecting and recruiting new staff. In recent years, we’ve hired pilots and flight attendants who are in their fifties. This is making a very positive contribution to growth and cultural change within our organization. In particular, it demon-strates to our people, and the market as a whole, that we prize the cognitive diver-sity that comes from varied experience and perspectives.

It is very interesting to integrate profes-sionals from different generations, and see how they mix. What we’ve learnt is that we can’t evaluate staff by their age. Everyone is different, and has an import-ant role to play in our organization.

Standing Out: What role has your employer branding played in helping you to deliver your workforce plans?

Pedro Ramos: We’re determined to be an employer of choice, and project the employer brand that demonstrates this. A great employer brand provides an excellent foundation for the kind of rapid expansion we’re undergoing.

we were one of the first airlines in the world to drop the age criterion when selecting and recruiting new staff.

This is a long-term investment. We maintain a prominent presence at international pilot fairs, for example. In Europe, we have close partnerships with the educational institutions, aviation and pilot schools that qualify and train profes-sionals in the aviation industry. We also promote talent outreach and attraction events in growth markets such as Brazil, Africa and the United States. It’s clear that we can’t just replicate our approach within Europe across markets worldwide. We’re therefore taking the time to under-stand the recruitment channels, and cultural nuances within each particular market.


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This investment is paying off. We’re especially pleased to have been consis-tently recognized as one of the top three organizations to work for in Portugal, and number one in aviation, within the Randstad Employer Brand Research. This has helped us to attract the people we need in our projecting this overseas, where a lot of our flight crew and main-tenance recruitment is focused. People see that we’re a fast-growing company. People see that we’re investing in new routes, an advanced fleet of planes, and superior levels of service; and they want to be part of that. We’ve had thousands of applications from qualified personnel from around the world as a result.

Standing Out: How do your commercial and employer brands support reach other?

Pedro Ramos: Our commercial and employer brand are highly complemen-tary, and managed in an integrated way.

A great employee experience is the key to providing the unforgettable customer experience we want to offer. Our flight crews, cabin crews, and call center agents project our commercial brand.


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So do the people working behind the scenes – the chefs preparing the food or technicians ensuring the planes take off on time, for example. We want our people to have the joy and motivation to bring their best selves into work every day. We want them to think about how they are going to deliver a better service tomorrow than they did today.

This works in reverse as our passengers, along with their families and friends, are potential candidates. If passengers see smiling and engaged staff, that can clearly help to boost recruitment. We also need to think about how we treat candidates when they are applying for jobs with us. We risk losing them as customers if the candidate experience isn’t up to scratch.

We seek to harmonize our commercial and employer brands through an orga-nizational culture and employee value proposition that aligns the individual expectations of our people with the

purpose of our company. The foundation for this common sense of purpose is regular one-to-one discussions with each member of staff about their ambitions, and how we can help them to fulfil these aspirations in a way that contributes to the success of the company. We also recognize the exceptional work of our staff in a public and energizing way through our TAP Stars’ awards for outstanding performers.

To enhance our employee experience, we take the time to listen to them, create a dialogue with them, and support their development through world class facilities like the TAP University. To ensure we’re on the right track, we’re developing and implementing compara-ble HR analytics to the systems we use to understand and respond to changing customer sentiment. As part of this, we measure our net promoter score inter-nally as well as externally. This helps us to know our strengths and know where we need to improve.

our passengers, along with their families and friends, are potential candidates and if passengers see smiling and engaged staff, that can clearly help to boost recruitment.


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knowledge base what we can learn about employer branding from TAP Air Portugal

• A great employer brand can provide a firm foundation for expansion and transformation.

• Employer branding is a long-term investment, supporting retention as well as recruitment.

• Aligning your organizational purpose with what employees want to achieve individually can help to create com-plementary employer and commercial brands.

• At times of major recruitment and expansion, it’s vital not to lose focus on your existing employees. Make sure you listen to them, and reward them for great performance.

• Ensuring all generations integrate, and feel welcome within your workforce doesn’t just broaden your talent pool, it also delivers the invaluable benefits of cognitive diversity.

Pedro Ramos is currently Human Resources Director at TAP Air Portugal Group, having previously held executive positions in a number of leading compa-nies over the past 25 years.

Pedro is one of the most influential human resources directors in Portugal, Brazil and Africa, and is mentioned in several inter-national forums and studies in the area of People Management.

He holds a PhD in Business Economics, a Master in Sociology and a Bachelor's Degree in Educational Sciences. He is a university Professor (Coimbra, Portugal) in the areas of HR Management and Leader-ship, as well as an international speaker.

He is Vice-President of the Portuguese Association of People Management (APG)

and Member of the Strategic Council of the Brazilian Association of Human Resources (ABRH Brasil). He is also the author of several works on Leadership and People Management. He recently published the book “PEOPLE & BUSINESS – Mobilizing for Obtaining Results”, and is co-author of several other books pub-lished in Portugal and Brazil.

During his career, Pedro has received several awards and distinctions for excel-lence for his role as a people manager. This includes the Career HR Award from RH Magazine (Portugal) for more than 27 years of top management as a human resources director.

Pedro Ramosgroup Human Resources Director, TAP Air Portugal


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perfect

match.


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“We need an increasing number of people with high-end skills, but the pool of available talent is shrinking all the time. To hire and retain the right people, we therefore need to be ahead of the game,” says Máté Fazekas, Head of Corporate – Public Affairs & Brand at BT’s (British Telecommunications) Regional Operations Centre in Hungary. How is BT in Hungary looking to gain an edge in the competition for talent in this tight labor market, both now and in the future?

Perfect match: How BT Hungary is sharpening its appeal across different generations


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Standing Out: How are BT Hungary’s skills demands evolving, and what challenges does this present?

Máté Fazekas: Right now, we have around 2,500 employees, who provide a broad range of business and customer support for BT internally, and its clients. In addition to customer relations, a significant proportion of our workforce covers areas such as finance and HR services for the BT Group. Further oper-ations include network design, which requires highly specialized skills.

Pressure on available skills is mounting as our services move up the value chain, with more routine operations being pro-gressively transferred to other centers worldwide. The resulting talent demands include a big expansion in our business support teams. The required skills profile of our customer relations teams is also more exacting. This includes recruiting client relations personnel with the language skills to serve our clients all over Europe. With much of our client base being multinationals with complex needs, we’re also looking for people with deep knowledge of business and finance.

Securing the right people is challeng-ing. Unemployment here in Hungary is at a record low (February 2020). The resulting talent squeeze is compounded by the fact that there are around 5,000 fewer students coming out of educa-tion every year. With business support becoming an ever more prominent part of the Hungarian economy, we’re competing with many other companies for people with the capabilities we need. In areas such as network design, the number of suitably qualified senior archi-tects for the systems we use is probably no more than 50 or 60.

pressure on available skills is mounting as our services move up the value chain.


Standing Out: What’s your strategy for getting on top of these talent demands?

Máté Fazekas: With so much competition for key talent and changes in our skills’ demands, we recognize that we need to take a proactive, forward-looking view. One of the first strategic moves that our new general manager made when he took up his post in 2016 was to develop a sustainable employer branding strategy.

Our first campaign under this new employer brand strategy and the associated employee value proposition was #next10, which focuses on how we can be an employer of choice, not just now, but also as our demands and talent expectations evolve over the next ten years. We offer good salaries

and benefits, which are undoubtedly important, but not enough in them-selves. That’s why we’ve been carrying out in-depth research into what different generations and cohorts of talent want from their careers. We can then frame our employee value proposition and develop targeted messaging around these various demands.

The results include a revamp of our workspaces, and how we communicate and engage as a team, to reflect the desire for a more relaxed and informal environment among the Gen Z recruits coming out of school and college. For people further along their careers, a key focus is developing family-friendly support and ways of working that enable them to sustain a healthy work-life balance. For our more experienced and senior personnel, we’re also creating more openings for mentoring and coaching.

our first campaign was #next10, which focuses on how we can be an employer of choice as our demands and talent expectations evolve over the next ten years.


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our focus isn’t just short-term recruitment. We want to start the conversation with potential candidates early, so when they leave education or look to switch, we’re the company that’s first on their list.

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Beyond these broad attractions, it’s important to determine the decisive factor that can really set us apart. That’s where the kind of research we’ve been carrying out is so useful. For example, we found that the most important aspiration for the more than 100,000 Gen Zs we reached, is to be able to earn 420,000 Hungarian forints (around US$1,310) a month within ten years (around 3.5 times minimum wage). Nearly half didn’t believe that they could achieve this in their home country, so would need to seek out opportunities abroad. But with the appropriate level of skills and knowledge, BT in Hungary and the business services sector more broadly can offer this. That enabled us to communicate a clear message to this cohort that “no, you don’t need to go abroad, come and work for us instead”.

In terms of the number of people we’re able to attract, we’re pleased with the results. Last year, we received around 20,000 applications for 500 hires. But what’s more important is that we can secure the right people. Good com-petition for places means that we can be selective. And for us, this isn’t just about skills and experience, but also people who are good at solving complex problems, and who can contribute to the close and supportive community we want to be.

Standing Out: How does your employer branding strategy stand out?

Máté Fazekas: BT was among the first multinationals in Hungary with a country specific employer branding strategy. Its importance is reflected in the fact that it’s embedded within corporate level strategic planning and evaluation, rather than being a matter for HR alone.

Our focus isn’t just short-term recruit-ment. We want to start the conversation with potential candidates early, so when they leave education or look to switch, we’re the company that’s first on their list.


We’re making a significant investment in developing clear and targeted mes-saging, supported by the research I mentioned earlier. For people coming out of education and with one- or two-years’ experience, it seems only right to use Facebook. These communications include cartoons, interactive games and other media that appeals to this demographic. If we’re looking to engage with more senior and experienced talent, we tend to use LinkedIn. We look closely at language, both in how we communi-cate, and whether the communications are most appropriate in Hungarian or English. LinkedIn communications are generally in English, while Facebook messaging tends to be both in Hungar-ian and English, reflecting the different target audiences. With quite a few of our people now being recruited from outside Hungary, English can also be used to help broaden the international reach of our communications.

Communications are only part of the story. Equally, if not more important, is living up to our promises. We’ve received recent awards for our employer branding strategy, but what really led to celebrations were the awards BT in Hungary have won for mentoring and being a family-friendly company of the year. That shows that we mean what we say over career development and work-life balance. Similarly, when we say “You write your story” in terms of career development, we need to make sure we back that up with learning, development and opportunities for progression. Of around 900 positions that come up here annually, some 400 are filled by internal candidates.

when we say “you write your story” in terms of career development, we need to make sure we back that up with learning, development and opportunities for progression.


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Standing Out: There is a lot of specula-tion and often misunderstanding about the Gen Zs coming into the workforce. How have you developed an effective employee value proposition that reflects their and your expectations.

Máté Fazekas: Yes, Gen Z does have high expectations. We know that from both our research and the growing number of these young people who are joining and beginning to move up within BT in Hungary. In addition to good pay and a vibrant environment, they want challenges, they want to be able to make their mark, and they want to progress at perhaps a quicker pace than previous generations coming into the workforce.

Where possible, we’ll deliver. I’ve talked already about the salaries and working environment we are looking to foster. With personal development plans, more technical apprenticeships, and the rising value of the kind of work we carry out, we can also help Gen Z talent to meet their aspirations. Managers now offer bigger challenges if that is what their

people want. At the same time, expec-tations need to be realistic. Through our school and college outreach program, we offer both technical training and guidance on what the world of work is really like. This guidance also forms a key part of our candidate engagement and induction for recruits. So, when people join us from school and college, they are prepared.

Gen Z does have high expectations…in addition to good pay and a vibrant environment, they want challenges, they want to be able to make their mark, and they want to progress.


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Máté Fazekashead of Corporate – Public Affairs & Brand

Following university studies in which Máté qualified as a corporate communications & PR professional and English teacher, he started his professional career at IBM’s shared service center as a communications specialist in 2006. He went on to lead the communications activities for IBM’s Central European centers for six years. In 2015, he joined to the governmental sector as a director for communications and protocol. In 2016, Máté joined BT, where he works on positioning BT and improving the company’s brand attractiveness and awareness in Hungary. His responsi-bilities also include internal and external communication, employer branding, PR, HR marketing, academic relations and corporate relations.

knowledge base what we can learn about employer branding from BT Hungary

• Employer branding should look ahead to help build talent communities, and understand what talent wants as they set out and develop their careers.

• Employer branding is a business priority that should be closely aligned with strategic management at a corporate level.

• Do your research: BT in Hungary’s experience highlights the benefits. For example, by highlighting the gap between what Gen Z candidates thought they would be paid and what the company could offer, they were able to gain an edge in a tight labor market.

• Priorities do change as people progress through their careers. As long as the core commitments are common to all, it is possible to shape the employee value proposition around these differ-ent expectations.

• Gen Z has high expectations. But they’re not impossible to meet.

what really led to celebrations were the awards BT in Hungary have won for mentoring and being a family-friendly company of the year.


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connecting

on a

higher level.standing out 2020 | 54

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Attractive salary and benefits is the number one attribute of the ideal employer for the nearly 185,000 people taking part in Randstad’s latest Employer Brand Research (REBR). Yet money isn’t everything – 70% say that non-financial benefits are important to them when deciding who to work for. Moreover, when workers who’ve switched jobs are asked why, the REBR underlines the vital importance of values, relationships, and a sense of purpose. How then can your organization connect with employees and potential recruits in a deeper and more enduring way than pay alone can achieve?

Connecting on a higher level:Randstad Employer Brand Research findings 2020


Each year, we survey people from around the world to find out what they want from their jobs and careers. The aim is to help employers understand employee aspirations, gain insights into what makes an organization attractive to work for, and identify the sectors and companies that employees find most appealing.

The REBR survey was carried out before the full global impact of the COVID-19 outbreak became clear. Since then, the pandemic has put economies and labor markets into a prolonged lockdown, from which we’re only now gradually beginning to emerge. In these uncer-tain times, employer branding is more important than ever. Your brand doesn’t just reflect your identity and ability to attract talent from outside, but also the strength of goodwill and engagement with the people within your organization. This year’s REBR results can therefore provide valuable insights into how to strengthen your employer brand.

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what is the Randstad employer brand research?

• Optimizing 20 years of successful employer branding insights.

• Independent survey with nearly 185,000 respondents in 33 countries worldwide.

• Reflection of employer attractiveness for each country’s 150 largest employers known by at least 10% of the population.

• Valuable insights to help employers shape their employer brand.


exhibit 1top ten reasons to choose an employer

attractive salary & benefits 57%work-life balance 45%job security 44%pleasant work atmosphere 42%career progression 35%financially healthy 34%flexible arrangements 33%location 29%good training 28%strong management 27%

work-life balance, job security, pleasant work atmosphere and career progress join salary and benefits in this year’s key reasons to choose an employer.

more than moneyWhat then do the findings reveal? Pay is clearly critical in deciding who to work for and whether to stay, but it’s not enough on its own. In an interview on page 21, Jan Denys, Director Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Randstad Belgium and one of the original instigators of the REBR, highlights the dangers of believing that key talent will simply follow the money. “There are plenty of examples of companies that offer top rate financial rewards, but still have lousy employer brands,” he says. Moreover, with the current economic climate putting intense pressure on turn-over and returns, many businesses won’t be able to pay over the odds to attract and retain the people they need.

So, apart from pay, what matters? Work-life balance, job security, pleasant work atmosphere and career progress join salary and benefits in this year’s key reasons to choose an employer (see exhibit 1). “People want to feel valued and have a chance to fulfil their potential. They want to work within a culture and environment that is friendly, supportive, and enables them to balance their pro-fessional and personal lives. In difficult times like these, job security becomes more important. Many people also want to make a difference to the world around them. All these multiple factors are wrapped up in the employer brand,” says Jan Denys.

*Source: Randstad Employer Brand Research 2020


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benefits ratedWhen we look at what aspects of the benefits package are most prized, it’s revealing that more than 70% of the global workforce believe that non- monetary ones are important. Many of the most valued center around flexibility: additional vacation benefits (80% cite this as important), flexible working hours (79%) and being able to work from home (72%). Health care insurance (79%) is also high on the list.

human dimension How then can you meet these wide-ranging demands as part of a compelling employer brand, and under-lying employee value proposition?

What cuts across so many of the factors that make an organization attractive to work is a genuine commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of its people – the human dimension.

In an interview on page 60, David Cornelis, who is responsible for the Center of Expertise for Talent Acquisi-tion and Labor Market Research at the Belgium-based Colruyt Group, highlights the importance of treating people with care and respect in areas such as “sitting down with employees individually to see how hours can be adapted to fit in with family responsibilities”. The Group is also committed to creating the kind of friendly and supportive environment where everyone comes to work with a

smile. “When customers see smiling, friendly staff, they will want to come back. Similarly, we’ve seen how happy staff can encourage candidates to apply. A good working atmosphere is a visible expression of your culture and values,” says Kathelijn Vanhaute, Employer Branding Marketeer at Colruyt Group.

A lot of Colruyt Group’s staff work on the tills or stacking shelves in its various

exhibit 2most attractive sectors

ITC* 57%fmcg 54%automotive 54%life sciences 51%agriculture, forestry and fishing 50%engineering 49%financial services 47%retail 45%energy & utilities 44%logistics 43%hospitality 43%services 43%public services 40%

*Source: Randstad Employer Brand Research 2020

retail chains. But while retail isn’t high on the list of sectors people want to work in (see exhibit 2), Colruyt Group consis-tently ranks as one of Belgium’s most attractive employers in the REBR. This is a testament to the way it cares for its staff. “What really counts is how you treat your people. That’s why the 80:20 rule is start with culture and behavior, before working on your communications,” says Jan Denys.


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a good working atmosphere is a visible expression of your culture and values. a real sense of purpose

The human dimension is also evident in the desire to make a difference and work for organizations that reflect personal values. As the REBR reveals, these factors can be especially important in encouraging people to switch jobs. More than half of the people in our survey who’ve changed employers in the past 12 months cite a lack of a sense of purpose as a reason (see exhibit 3). Roughly 40% did so because of a mismatch between their personal values and those of the organization or as a result of poor relationships with their manager or colleagues.

exhibit 3I changed my job because…

my salary being lower than elsewhere 59%the additional benefits being less attractive than elsewhere 55%a lack of sense of purpose in my job 52%a mismatch between my personal values and those of the organization 45%a poor relationship with my manager/colleagues 37%

Yes, people may be more reluctant or less able to switch jobs because of the current economic situation. Yet, if you can’t provide a sense of purpose and other compelling human needs you risk creating a cohort of disengaged and demotivated people within your orga-nization. This disconnect can be worse than losing them. In addition to the 18% of people in our survey who changed employer in the past year, 26% plan to do so within the next year.


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the big take-away from the research was the extent to which good people attract good people.

knowing what countsA key part of getting this human dimension right is finding out what makes employees feel good about the organizations they work for. In an inter-view on page 54, Máté Fazekas, Head of Corporate – Public Affairs & Brand at BT’s (British Telecommunications) Regional Operations Centre in Hungary, describes the research the company has been carrying out into what different generations and cohorts of talent want from their careers. BT Hungary can then frame its employee value proposition and develop targeted messaging around these various demands. “The results include a revamp of our workspaces, and how we communicate and engage as a team, to reflect the desire for a more relaxed and informal environment among the Gen Z recruits coming out of school and college. For people further along their careers, a key focus is devel-oping family-friendly support and ways of working that enable them to sustain a healthy work-life balance. For our more experienced and senior personnel, we’re also creating more openings for mentor-ing and coaching,” he says.

This kind of research can often come up with surprising results. “Through market research, we wanted to get to the bottom of what motivates the people UNSW is looking to attract and retain,” says Marcus Clark, Head of Talent Acquisition at Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) in an interview on page 29. “The big take-away from the research was the extent to which good people attract good people. While we had in the past highlighted the attrac-tions of the lifestyle here in Sydney, the people in our talent orbit are mainly looking at who they’ll be working with, and how they can come together to make the difference they all want.”

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speaking with impact and authenticity A big question is how to communicate this human, and often very personal, appeal. In an interview on page 4, Chris Dinwiddy, Global Head of Employer Branding and Social Media Recruitment at Merck Group, a global science and technology company, describes how they’ve always been good at talking about technology, innovation and progress. Now, they also want to convey the human face of the organization by encouraging employees to tell their stories about what brought them to Merck, what inspires them, and what it feels like to work here. “We want to talk about who we are, not just what we do,” he says.

foundations for the futureSo, with the world facing challenges that few if any have ever experienced, this is the moment to demonstrate your true values and identity as an organization. The results are not only closer engage-ment in these difficult times, but also the ability to attract the best people as we emerge from the crisis and economies rebuild.

we want to talk about who we are, not just what we do.


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#newways

If you would like to discuss the relative attractiveness of your sector or find out how you can use the research insights to drive more effective workforce strategies in your organisation, visit our website randstad.com.au/employer-brand-research

You can request a visit by reaching out to your Randstad Account Manager or emailing us at [email protected]

find out more.

http://randstad.com.au/employer-brand-research

mailto:employerbranding%40randstad.com.au?subject=Randstad%20Employer%20Branding

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