recruit talent in today’s market how to manage · pdf filein this ebook, created as a...

RECRUIT TALENT IN TODAY’S MARKET

How to Manage Your Employer Brand Through a Corporate Transition

2 | How to Manage Your Employer Brand Through a Corporate Transition

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.; © AIA Worldwide, 2017; © VMware, 2017

Your employer brand is part of your corporate brand. Therefore,

any activities affecting your corporate brand will trickle down

into your employer brand. Mergers, acquisitions, renaming, and

even implementing a logo redesign will inevitably affect candidates

and employees. While many companies create campaigns and

communications plans oriented toward customers and shareholders,

employee needs are sometimes overlooked, or included at the last

minute. In the worst cases, employees find out about major events

after the press, creating resentment and discontent that damages

the employer brand.

When they are not kept in the loop, employees end up voicing their

concerns and frustrations on platforms like Glassdoor. In addition,

if external communications are managed poorly, candidates receive

mixed messages as they research your company.

In this eBook, created as a joint effort from Glassdoor, VMware and

AIA Worldwide, we’ll share real-world insights to help you create

and execute an employer brand transition plan. Carefully considering

the needs and concerns of your employees and candidates will

prevent frustration and confusion, helping you retain and recruit

in the months and years after the transition.

Successfully managing your employer brand through a transition

helps employees integrate changes into their daily life, and gives

candidates and employees alike a consistent message that clearly

demonstrates what’s new while understanding what remains.

Before we show you how, let’s first look at just how important

your employer brand is.

INTRODUCTION

https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/index.htm.

https://careers.vmware.com/

http://www.aia.co.uk



SECTION 1

Value of the Employer Brand



BETTER RECRUITING

Organisations that prioritise employer brand are 250% more likely to rate their

overall talent acquisition efforts as highly effective.1

A strong employee value proposition (EVP) can reduce the compensation premium

needed to hire by 50%, and increase new hire commitment by up to 29%.2

Candidates who saw a positive Glassdoor review formed a better opinion of the

company, were more eager to apply and to recommend it, and said they would ask

for smaller salary increases than participants who saw a negative or neutral review.3

A strong employer brand helps companies recruit

candidates, retain engaged employees, and drive

bottom-line business results. Companies with strong

brands collect positive reviews and receive high

satisfaction ratings on Glassdoor, setting an example

for businesses that seek to improve and communicate

their brand.

Sources: 1 Brandon Hall Group, Understanding the Impact of Employer Brand, Research Brief, November 2014; 2 CEB, Workforce Survey, 2016;3 Glassdoor Economic Research, Why Online Reviews Matter for Employer Brand, January 2017; 4 Glassdoor.com U.S. Site Survey, August 2016

SECTION 1: Value of the Employer Brand

of Glassdoor users are more likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand (e.g., responds to reviews, updates their profile, shares updates on the culture and work environment).4

74%

Strong Employer Brand =



A portfolio of Glassdoor Best Places to Work companies outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.8X

4

Sources: 1 Brandon Hall Group, Understanding the Impact of Employer Brand, Research Brief, November 2014; 2 CEB, Workforce Survey, 2016;3 Glassdoor Data Labs, December 2016; 4 Glassdoor Economic Research, Beating the Market Again, December 2015

HIGHER ENGAGEMENT

Organisations that prioritise employer

brand are 130% more likely to see increases

in employee engagement.1

A strong EVP can decrease annual turnover

by 11% and improve employee commitment

by up to 37%.2

MORE REFERRALS

BETTER COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Strong Employer Brand =

of employees at companies on the Glassdoor Best Places to Work 2017 UK list would recommend the company to a friend, versus 49% of total Glassdoor users.378%




BUILT BUSINESS CASE BASED ON:

28% cost savings relating to recruitment

20% cost savings relating to improved retention

17% business improvement

As these stats demonstrate, the majority of companies have determined that employer branding

is critical for engagement and recruiting, but fewer have tied it to overall corporate reputation

and business success in a measurable way. Keeping a close eye on business performance in

unpredictable times of transition will help you identify problem spots that might stem from

how employees react.

of companies describe their employer brand project as a key element

of their HR strategy. The leading edge 30% of companies see it as critical

to business delivery.1

say that they have developed an

informal business case based around

general aspirations to improve their

reputation as an employer and their

ability to attract the right talent.1

60%

66% }

Sources: 1 CRF Institute and People in Business (a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIA Worldwide), Employer Brand Benchmark Survey, 2013


Competitive Advantage of Employer Branding“Although there is ample data to support the benefits of

a strong employer brand, few companies have been able

to build a business case for investing in employer branding.

Companies that tie their employer brand to business

improvement, recruitment and retention will have

a competitive advantage over those that don’t.



SECTION 2

The Employer Brand in Transition



The impact of a change and uncertainty in the workplace can result in the following:

Impact on EmployeesThe impact assessments done before mergers,

acquisitions, or rebranding focus on maximising

shareholder value, and usually include a deep

evaluation of a company’s product lines and assets,

as well as employee headcount and skillsets.

They may also include an assessment of impact

to customer perceptions, but less often include

impact to employees.

Fear of one’s own job loss

Fear and resentment about colleagues’ job loss

Decreased engagement and/or performance due to fear and

disagreement with company actions

Dissatisfaction with leadership, blaming them for bad/selfish decisions

Divisiveness among employees who favor the transition and those who don’t

Exodus of vested employees receiving large payouts

Management attrition due to redundancy or conflicts with new team

Increased negative reviews on Glassdoor, resulting in lower overall

satisfaction ratings and leadership ratings

SECTION 2: The Employer Brand in Transition



Candidate concerns may include:

Impact on HiringIn addition to the impact on current employees,

mergers, acquisitions or rebrands can affect the

perceptions of potential candidates, impacting

the new company’s ability to hire.

Because a transition can have such far-reaching

impacts to employees and recruiting, it’s important

to engage leadership in setting the tone for your

company’s transition, as well as keeping an eye

on metrics to spot key issues as they arise.

Confusion about the name and/or visual identity of the company

Loss or deterioration of previous employer brand equity

Uncertainty about which company information is current enough to

be trusted, including benefit/salary information.

Confusion about the culture of the new company versus the old

Recruiters and/or hiring managers not equipped to clearly define new

roles and combined culture to candidates

Decreased interest in applying upon viewing a string of negative

reviews on Glassdoor when looking at reviews by date.




Sources: 1 Glassdoor, What Makes a Great CEO, August 2016

Leadership EngagementDuring a company transition, leadership is in the spotlight.

Employees look to leaders and managers for inspiration,

motivation and guidance on how to cope with the transition.

When leaders exhibit a combination of enthusiasm,

practicality and honesty about the difficult parts of change,

employees will feel supported. The positive attitudes of

the CEO, top executives as well as middle managers will

help employees stay engaged, reducing the fallout that

can end up on Glassdoor.


The four factors most strongly correlated to CEO approval on Glassdoor are:1

Employee Satisfaction

Satisfaction with Senior Leadership

Satisfaction with Career Opportunities

Satisfaction with Compensation and Benefits

1

2

3

4



Quantifiable elements of the impact of a merger, acquisition or rebrand on the employer brand include:

Employee turnover

Hiring costs

Engagement survey results

Satisfaction ratings on Glassdoor

Traffic to careers site

Traffic to Glassdoor page

Share key employer brand metrics with company leaders throughout

a transition to celebrate wins and identify opportunities.ACTION TIP

Quantifying the Impact of a Brand in TransitionCompanies that manage a transition well monitor employer brand metrics

to assess the impact of the change and troubleshoot as issues as they are identified.

When you prepare for a company transition by considering its impact to employees and

candidates, getting leaders engaged, and putting metrics in place, you’ll be able to get

started with the communications and engagement plan shared in the next section.




SECTION 3

New Rules for Employer Brand



Years of steady brand equity can be destroyed by a few company missteps — whether it’s

consumer brand, employer brand or a company’s overall reputation. To evolve and strengthen

your organisation’s employer brand during a merger, acquisition or rebrand, consider the

impact of the change long before it’s announced.

Follow these guidelines and learn from VMware examples on how to make the most out of

a major company transition.

If you’ve done the homework of defining an EVP and engaging employees around it, the task

of managing the employer brand through a transition will be much easier. Employees who are

secure in what the company stands for will be much more receptive to the changes and

willing to adapt.

If your employer brand is somewhat undefined, a transition provides the opportunity to look

back at what was working for your employees (brand strengths) and identify how it needs to

evolve given the changes. By observing the positive aspects of how employees adapt, you’ll be

able to uncover key values, and develop an EVP that sets your company up for the future.

SECTION 3: New Rules for Employer Brand Transition

1. Define the Story You Want to Tell



Questions to Ask as You Consider an Upcoming Transition:

What will remain the same for employees? What can we celebrate about our culture and brand even as it changes?

What’s going to be different? This could include practical aspects relating to

processes or work environment, as well as softer aspects relating to a merged culture.

What will it take for us to get there? What mindset shifts do we need to make? What practical steps need to be taken (e.g., new systems training, etc.)?

What can we do to make employees feel supported?

What will employees say? Anticipate their questions and concerns.

What will candidates think? How can we keep our recruiting messaging attractive relative to our competitors?

Do you have a strong content strategy? A partner like AIA Worldwide can

develop, deploy and manage your internal and external content marketing efforts.

Monitoring FeedbackRemember, change is an evolutionary process. By staying tuned into

employee sentiment through feedback mechanisms such as pulse

surveys, employee forums, town hall discussions, candidate surveys,

and/or Glassdoor reviews, employers will be able to evolve their

messaging and communications strategies as issues arise.





The VMware Story

After ranking #65 on Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For” list in Spring 2015, VMware began formally

defining their EVP which was heavily rooted in its employee-defined values, called EPIC2. VMware did this

in conjunction with AIA Worldwide, the company that conducted the global employer brand research,

developed the Employee Value Proposition and created the new talent engagement creative campaign called

“DARE VMware.” However, shortly before the scheduled campaign launch in October 2015, it was announced

that VMware’s parent company EMC would be acquired by Dell Technologies, Inc.

Over a period of three months, VMware’s stock dropped significantly due to the uncertainty of the merger.

Two key executives departed, and the company announced its largest workforce reduction in history.

How could it maintain employee engagement through this turbulent time?

VMware was well-equipped to lead its

employees through this period of uncertainty

because it had already done the upfront

work with its employer branding. Thanks to this

work, VMware could specifically distinguish

its culture, but still align to the values of

Dell Technologies.

To manage the transition, VMware leadership

focused on frequent, transparent communications

and continued reinforcing the importance of its

shared EPIC2 values.


https://careers.vmware.com/





2. Plan Your CommunicationOnce you’ve defined the story, it’s time to plan communications: How will employees and

candidates find out about these changes? How will we reinforce our employer brand strengths during

this transition? An adaptable, yet structured plan is always better than a haphazard, reactive set

of communications that send inconsistent messages.

PHASE YOUR APPROACH Because a transition puts your company into unknown territory, having a defined

strategic direction will allow you to choose the appropriate channels at the appropriate

time. Previously scheduled events and communications plans may need to be canceled,

adjusted or postponed. Remember not to overlook or preemptively shut down

channels where candidates are already going, such as your Glassdoor page.

START WITH INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

Communicate news about merger, acquisition or rebrand to

employees at the same time or before announcing it to the

press. If you’ve done the homework of anticipating employee

concerns beforehand, executives and HR will be able answer

questions and allay fears.

As you roll out external communications, stay true to your

strategic message and pay attention to feedback.

Internal events

(such as company meetings,

functional all hands, town halls,

interactive chat sessions)

Signage

Email/newsletters

Intranet

Executive communications

Social media channels

Glassdoor page

Use these channels to communicate your strategic message:



GLASSDOOR REBRANDING EXAMPLE

For companies that change their names or merge with another company, the example below shows how an

employer can leverage the previous company’s brand equity and redirect traffic to the new company’s Glassdoor

page. ExactTarget was acquired by Salesforce in 2013 and eventually became part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Phase 1: Manage (0 - 6 months)

• Transitional branding introduces job seekers to new brand

• No new reviews from current employees to old profile

• “Jobs” reflect new company branding

Phase 2: Transition (6 months - 3 years)

• Page views continue to decline as job seekers begin to

actively search for new brand

• Presentation

Phase 3: Complete

• Glassdoor can delete old page once page views drop

below 1,000 per month

• Existing reviews tagged as previous brand and moved

under new company

Rebranding on GlassdoorYour pre-existing Glassdoor page provides an opportunity to reach

candidates and collect feedback through a transition process.

Rebranding tools on Glassdoor

allow employers to:

Educate candidates by showcasing the updated

brand on the old page in the cover photo,

social media links, Why Work For Us sections

Direct candidates to a new page

Display available jobs from the new company

Redirect employee and interview reviews




VMware Employer Branding

With the strong partnership with AIA Worldwide, VMware weathered the turbulent time by continually

investing in employee and candidate engagement activities and events. All employees were issued new employee

badge cards that reflected the EVP and EPIC2 values, reinforcing brand ambassadorship and pride at VMware.

In March 2016, VMware was ranked #40 on the ‘Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For’ list. This was

an extremely proud and pivotal moment for the company which culminated with the launch of a new, highly

dynamic and mobile-enabled VMware Careers site powered by AIA Worldwide’s TalentBrew career site platform,

Fortune advertorial, and “Dare VMware” campus shuttle and commuter van wraps. Traffic to the new Careers site

skyrocketed from 20,000 visits per month to over 1,500,000 sessions in the first year since it was launched,

with 528,000 clicks to apply for jobs and over 4,000,000 page views.

As the company doubled-down on hiring efforts, recruiters were given an

interactive brand playbook with FAQs and other useful information to ensure

candidates received a consistent message and understood VMware’s unique

culture and employer value proposition.



https://careers.vmware.com

http://www.talentbrew.co.uk



EMBRACE MANAGEMENT TRANSPARENCY

When company executives and managers are transparent about the difficulties and unknowns even as they

lead employees in the new direction, employees develop trust and tap into leaders’ enthusiasm. Transition is

a shared journey that can bring everyone together.

LISTEN TO EMPLOYEES

Provide internal opportunities for employees to share feedback and ask questions. For instance, after a layoff

is announced by an executive in a company-wide meeting, have smaller team meetings where employees

can pose questions to a manager about how it might affect their own team, or share concerns about what it

might mean for the future of the company. Companies may also choose to let employees write in questions to

management and display responses in an internal forum such as a newsletter or intranet.

Also monitor reviews on Glassdoor, and respond to reviews while highlighting new positioning.

For more on responding to reviews, read Glassdoor’s eBook Responding to Glassdoor Reviews.

CELEBRATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In order to prevent the transition from being a distraction from getting the work done of shipping products

and serving customers, regularly celebrate employee accomplishments. Engage employees through

storytelling about individual and group wins, large and small. Create channels to share individual stories

|such as customer service triumphs or group stories such as team product launches.

These stories will foster a shared sense of purpose, focusing attention on the company’s mission and keeping

productivity high. And don’t forget to celebrate the transition team’s accomplishments after the dust has

settled from the merger, acquisition or rebrand.


3. Engage EmployeesFostering employee engagement is crucial to managing a successful transition. The influence

of positively engaged employees is exponential as they share their experiences with outside

friends, on social media, and make referrals.

Keys to engaging employees through transition:

http://resources.glassdoor.com/responding-to-glassdoor-reviews-what-why-how.html



VMware Engagement StrategiesVMware’s robust engagement programs focused on uncovering and promoting

real employee stories that reinforced its core brand values. Two examples include:

The EPIC2 Achievement Awards celebrate exceptional

employee achievement aligned to VMware’s shared values.

In 2016, the company utilised AIA Worldwide and its

creative teams to develop and deploy a storytelling campaign

featuring each of the seven winners from around the world.

To support its VMinclusion diversity and inclusion initiative,

the company ran a “Dare to be Yourself” campaign to

encourage leaders and employees to share their authentic

selves through video interviews and quote walls.

The content from these employee engagement initiatives

was then externalised via the VMware Careers site,

Career Hub talent community, blog posts, and social media

to showcase life at VMware to prospective candidates.

VMWARE RESULTS

In September 2016, VMware became part of the Dell Technologies family, the largest technology

acquisition in history. VMware continues to partner with AIA Worldwide to maintain its focus on

its people, its unique “culture of possibility” and a heightened emphasis on its core values and driving

social impact initiatives that support innovation, inclusion, philanthropy, and sustainability. The results

speak for themselves — the stock price has rebounded, the company reached 20,000 employees and

$6.5B in revenues, and its Glassdoor ratings have returned to their original high.

1

2




Companies take on major change efforts

to improve business results. To ensure

a merger, acquisition, or rebrand moves

in the direction of growth for both your

company and its employees, carefully

consider and manage for its impact

to your employer brand. By defining a

story that reinforces values, planning

communications with employee needs

in mind, and engaging your employees to

celebrate accomplishments, VMware’s

example proves you’ll be able to come

out of a major change with brand that’s

stronger than ever.

CONCLUSION



About Glassdoor

With millions of company reviews, salary reports, interview reviews and benefits

reviews on more than 700,0001 companies worldwide, Glassdoor is a trusted and

transparent place for today’s candidates to search for jobs and research companies.

Glassdoor helps employers across all industries and sizes advertise their jobs and

promote their employer brands to a well-researched, highly selective candidate

pool. By advertising jobs via mobile devices, email alerts and throughout Glassdoor,

employers influence candidates at the moment they’re searching jobs and making

decisions. This results in more-informed candidates that require 50% fewer CVs to

find a quality hire at a fraction of the cost of traditional job boards.2

About AIA Worldwide

AIA Worldwide is a global leader in talent acquisition technologies, committed

to finding new ways to leverage software, strategy and creative to build talent

and enhance our clients’ employer brands — across every connection point.

From healthcare to government to retail to technology and everything in

between — we’ve revolutionised the way companies and candidates connect.

About VMWare

VMware, a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, helps

customers accelerate their digital transformation. VMware enables enterprises to

master a software-defined approach to business and IT with VMware Cross-Cloud

Architecture™ and solutions for the data center, mobility, and security.

Subscribe to Employerbrand.com blog

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Start a discussion with us to build your brand

Unlock your free Glassdoor employer profile

To get involved in the conversation on Glassdoor and start managing and promoting your employer brand,

email [email protected], call +44 (0808) 134 9950 or visit www.glassdoor.co.uk/employers.

For the latest in recruitment marketing tips, best practices and case studies, follow us on Twitter: @GDforEmployers.

To learn more about AIA Worldwide, please call +44 (0)20 7993 1300, email [email protected] or visit www.aia.co.uk.

To learn more about our TalentBrew career site platform, please visit www.talentbrew.co.uk.

For thought leadership and strategies in employer branding, attraction & engagement,

and trends, follow us on Twitter: @aiaworldwide

Sources: 1Glassdoor Internal Data, March 2017; 2As measured by application-to-hire ratio compared to other job sites based on a study of 2015 hiring data for 30 million applications

http://employerbrand.com/

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/employers/blog/

https://www.aia.co.uk/brand-activation/

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/employers/index.htm?source=uk_mktgasset&utm_source=b2b-fea&utm_medium=asset-b2b&utm_campaign=b2b-fea-mktgasset-fea

mailto:employers%40glassdoor.com?subject=

http://www.glassdoor.co.uk/employers

https://twitter.com/gdforemployers?lang=en

mailto:Kathryn.Kempster%40aia.co.uk?subject=


http://www.talentbrew.co.uk

https://twitter.com/aiaworldwide?lang=en

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