Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Employer Branding - Marketing The Company As An Attractive Employer

Module: Marketing
Assignment: No. 1/2

Author: Arend Grünewälder

1st academic semester Summer 2007

Neuss, 12th of July 2007

Executive Summary

Employee attraction and retention will continue to play an important role for companies. Vacancies needs to be filled with qualified and flexible talents which are limited available on the HR market. Thus companies have to create effective instruments for fighting for talents. Before compiling a strategy for initiating an Employer Branding development, this working paper analyzes the needs for Employer Branding as well as the elements influencing the attractiveness of an Employer. According to surveys mentioned in the following chapters, it is proven that a strong Employer Brand has a significant influence in the employees performance and that a strong product brand can essentially support the development of the employment brand. The attributes playing highest role in Employer Branding importance are reputation of products and services, corporate culture and work environment.

The practical roadmap for initiating an Employer Branding strategy consist of a four step system. Embedded system elements are (1) assess, (2) construct, (3) implement and (4) measure. In the phase of setting up an Employer Branding strategy as well as measuring its effectiveness, a benchmarking with other company′s efforts and best practices can be helpful. Some sources and success stories are listed later in this assignment.

A number of examples and numerous researches reflected in this paper allow to state that an investment in a strong Employer Branding is a good investment in the company′s future.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 2
Table of Contents 3
List of abbreviations 4
List of figures 5
1. Introduction 1
2. Definitions 1
2.1 Brand Identity 1
2.2 Employer Branding 2
3. Why a company needs Employer Branding? 3
3.1 Attract and retain talents 3
3.2 Effect on employee performance 4
4. What influence Employer Branding? 5
4.1 The Product and Employer Brands 5
4.2 Elements to define Employer Branding 7
5. The Employer Branding process ­ a practical roadmap 8
5.1 Process of Employer Branding development 8
5.2 Internal marketing 10
5.3 Challenges & critical areas 10
5.4 Employer Branding success stories 11
5.4.1 Award for Excellence in Employer Branding 11
5.4.2 Most attractive European employers 12
6. Conclusion 13
Bibliography 15
ITM Checklist ­ 360° Analysis 17
Declaration 19

List of abbreviations

HR - Human Resource
PR - Public Relations
M - million
DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid

List of figures

Figure 1: The Brand Pyramid
Figure 2: The connection between a company′s Product Brand and Employment Brand
Figure 3: The most attractive Employer in Europe