Employer branding trends in the US, Europe and Asia

HR Magazine sat down with Johan Ramel, Universum’s CEO for the Asia Pacific region, to take a quick look at the impact of 2009 in employer branding and talk about the latest employer branding trends in the US, Europe and Asia.

We are now getting over one of the hardest economic downturns ever. How has this affected the way companies around the world work with employer branding?

After a period of steady growth and large budgets, the words “cost-control”, “budget-cuts”, “downsizing”, among others, became part of the everyday life. Companies faced truly difficult times and had to deal with it in various ways: from large downsizings to mere reductions on their employer brand promotion. What we have seen all around the world is an increased focus or a “back-to-basics”. Companies focused on defining their recruitment target properly and in understanding this target in-depth and from different angles, from what their career preferences are to how and what they want to know about future employers. Also, with the reduction of the communication budgets, companies had to assess the return on investment of each channel used and communication materials in place. The recession has forced companies to be more efficient.

From what you know from the market, do you have any forecasts for 2010?

Last November, Universum conducted a research on the global market temperature in the employer branding field. The results show that companies are now starting to feel positive and investments will be in place. In fact, nearly half of the respondents say that the promotion of their employer brand will be higher and one fourth indicate an increase in the amount invested for next year – an encouraging sign that employers will be active for 2010 after a rather dismal year!

Recruitment will also be again on the table. In comparison to 2009, recruitment of recent graduates and experienced professionals is expected to go up for next year. For the recruitment of graduates, 32 per cent of the interviewed HR managers said there would be an increase, while for the recruitment of experienced professionals, 38 per cent said that recruitment would rise. When we look at the regional figures, 35% of the interviewed managers in Asia said that there would be an increase in graduate recruitment, with a special focus on engineering students. Good news for those that will soon finish their studies.

In the same vein, 74% of the participants from Asia said that there would be an increase in their young professional recruitment.  Asia is by far the region that will focus more in the recruitment of young professionals, with the US coming second with 43%.

So it seems that we are again on a path of higher budgets and more recruitment. But how are companies planning to invest those higher budgets?

Due to an eventual recovery of employment markets, employers also forecast an increase in employee turnover for 2010. Results show that the average expected attrition rate for next year is expected to be around 8.3 per cent. In comparison to 2009, the average is 7.8 per cent. On a regional level, the highest attrition rate to be experienced was noted for Western Europe at 10.9 per cent and the lowest rate for Central Europe at 6.5 per cent. For other regions, the forecast from highest to lowest is 10.1 per cent for the US, 9.7 per cent for Asia and finally 6.8 per cent for Nordics.

The forecast of higher attrition rates can be seen as evident. Staff turnover between organisations is known to naturally increase once employment markets improve. For this reason, companies are concerned about the impact that this year has had on employees and the subsequent consequences for the near future. What this means is that companies are focusing more and more on understanding the current needs and expectations of their current employees so they can devise their retention strategies. Most of these strategies will go through compensation packages and other benefits, but also through their internal employer brand – making their employees feel the pride of working for the organization.

With these new challenges ahead, how are companies devising their strategies?

From what we have seen in this latest research is that the inputs vary. While 80% of the American managers will rely on input for their Management, only 59% of the Asian managers will take into account the Management’s vision, goals and objectives. Even though this situation may not represent a problem in itself, HR managers should ensure that their employer brand reflects also the vision from the top management.

Interesting to notice is the predominance for Asia managers to base their strategies in research from the talent market, 53%, and they also create strategies to address internal issues and opportunities. These are good news, since as we just mentioned before, attrition rates will increase and companies will have to be ready to respond.

When it comes to communicating the employer brands, what trends do you see per region?

Again we see different trends in the regions analyzed. While almost all the managers that participated in the latest study agreed that the corporate website will be of high importance, it’s the US and Asia that will focus the most on on-campus activities, with 96% and 91% respectively. While comparing the differences in strategies, it’s clear that Asia will be the region focusing more on online media, with 79% of the participants revealing that they will be using this communication channel. By contrast, only 27% of the managers from Asia have stated that they will focus on direct e-mail communications. The lack of focus in this strategy might, in fact, be an opportunity for those that take advantage of this direct communication channel, provided they know who they are reaching out to.

Also interesting to reveal is the usage of employer videos. When asked “what type of videos have you used that generate more interest among the students?” 80% of the participants revealed that they are using insider stories or interviews with employees. The way that these employers later use their videos vary, but 83% are using it on their corporate websites and 65% also use these videos during on-campus presentations.

Finally, any last recommendation for 2010?

If the companies have not yet clearly defined their recruitment targets or if they are unsure regarding what to communicate or how to communicate to their target, then it’s time they do something about it. What we are seeing all around the world is that the companies which have created their employer branding strategies based on market knowledge are achieving better results with a lower budget.