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Liz is HR Technology and Services Research Director at NelsonHall, with global responsibility for key HR research projects including Cloud-Based HR Transformation, Cloud-Based Benefits Services, HCM Technology, EoR, Global Payroll and The Future of HR, as part of NelsonHall's wider HR Technology & Services practice.
meet & followNikki is a Principal Research Analyst at NelsonHall and a member of the HR Technology & Services practice. Nikki covers HR services research in the areas of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Programs (MSP), Total Talent, and Learning.
meet & followJeanine is a Principal Research Analyst at NelsonHall and a member of the HR Technology & Services practice. She has global responsibility for key HR areas including employer of record (EOR) and learning platforms.
meet & followDeeAnna is a Principal Research Analyst at NelsonHall and a member of the HR Technology & Services practice. She has global responsibility for key HR areas including HCM technology, workforce management, and health & welfare administration.
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posted on Aug 24, 2016 by Gary Bragar
Employer branding has become an integral component of an effective talent strategy. It is synonymous with a company’s reputation as an employer, portraying the image of what the company is like to work for. The purpose of properly conveying and clearly communicating an employer’s brand is essential to attract, engage, develop, and retain the best talent for an organization. Here I take a look at an example of employer branding that has worked well, producing quantitative results: IBM and its real estate client Waypoint Homes.
Employer branding is already evident in ~48% of RPO contracts today, and NelsonHall’s recently published RPO market analysis reveals that employer branding is increasing in future importance to clients by 10%.
RPO critical success factors include providing consulting services that include talent pool development and employment branding, and convincing clients of better results through candidate engagement, including developing employer brand messaging to attract candidates with cultural fit and improved retention.
Waypoint’s Decision to Outsource
Prior to outsourcing to IBM Kenexa, Waypoint Homes used internal recruiters, contract recruiters, search firms, and placement agencies, which Waypoint found to be ineffective. The principle reasons for deciding to outsource were to:
Services In-Scope
IBM Kenexa was chosen from among four potential RPO providers, with employer branding in-scope, which includes:
One of IBM Kenexa’s first projects completed was quantitative and qualitative research to assess Waypoint’s organizational culture. An IBM Kenexa Organizational Cultural Insight Survey was conducted, as well as stakeholder interviews and a review of company data. In eight weeks, Waypoint realized benefits from using IBM Kenexa Recruitment Services and IBM Kenexa Employment Branding, including being able to more clearly articulate company culture, and to provide input to the development of a new career website to help candidates better understand what it’s like to work at Waypoint.
Also delivered early on, IBM Kenexa rewrote existing job descriptions to be better suited for external job postings, with clearer language, and including a description of the impact these jobs have on the company.
Managers were trained in behavior-based interviewing skills, and interview guides were created for all common job types, including guidance for managers on how to assess candidates for cultural fit.
In addition, the IBM Kenexa recruitment manager was located at the client site to better understand Waypoint’s culture and to build effective relationships with hiring managers.
According to Andrew Bartlow, VP HR at Waypoint Homes, “the cultural work provided by employment branding was a huge value-add that IBM Kenexa brought to the table, in a very short time; their support helped us to more effectively source and select the kind of talent we need to be successful.”
Results Achieved
Tangible results arising from the outsourcing arrangement were:
NelsonHall’s RPO NEAT client survey reveals that, overall, vendors are doing well regarding clients’ employer branding expectations: satisfaction with improved employer branding exceeds current importance by 8%. In the case of IBM’s own client ratings, satisfaction exceeded importance by 20%, confirming IBM’s ability to add value in this area.
Given that future importance of employer branding is increasing, I expect employer branding to be included in ~60% of RPO contracts within three years.