Working consumes the majority of our adult lives, and while not everyone is lucky enough to have a career they love, everyone should have the security of a job, and a work environment that supports their mental and physical wellbeing.

In the past, both large and small companies have been criticised for placing ‘profit over people’, resulting in poor working conditions and employees being overworked and underpaid. Thankfully, this appears to be a declining trend as workplaces become more competitive in their talent recruitment.

Although we are unlikely to see a world where the ‘profit over people’ mentality is completely absent in our lifetimes, we are seeing strong employer brands emerge. This powerful employer branding serves to realign expectations, drive change and create better opportunities for work-life balance within their organisations.

How to prevent burnout and stress

A company’s operational and organisational structure plays a key role in the level of burnout found within a business. Levels of stress are perpetuated by lack of planning, management, staff and organisation, and will impact your employee retention levels.

Preventing burnout and stress is an ongoing effort, but here are 3 powerful strategies for prevention: 

#1 Have regular project planning meetings. Attend these meetings with a full understanding of team capacity. When booking time in, ensure you leave room to allow for ad hoc tasks.

#2 Put regular task management reviews in place, alongside quarterly team structure meetings. Determine the full remit of responsibilities for each team member and ensure they are communicated, this way they can flag any requests coming to them outside of their duties. This will also help you identify talent acquisition needs.

#3 Create a culture of ‘working smarter not harder’. Encourage employees to find new and innovative ways to do their job to improve employee retention. This could be anything from investing in tech and software to hiring interns and this will go a long way to fostering employee engagement.

Flexibility and work-life balance

Trying to attain work-life balance shouldn’t be an extreme juggling act. Working weeks that consist of over 40 hours have long been seen as the ‘standard’ to earn a decent living, but this perception is changing.

While not everyone can offer reduced hours, offering flexibility in terms of when and where an employee works as part of your company culture could make a huge difference to their quality of life.

Remote work may cut hours off a commute each day. This could be the difference between someone seeing their child before they go to bed or not. Flexi-hours may also allow employees to leave for work later, creating space for some quality personal time working out in the gym before heading to the office. Flexibility at every level offers benefits to employees, and in the long-term will help enrich their lives and make them less likely to take time off due to mental or physical health issues, and will ultimately reduce employee turnover. 

Team leaders and management can help encourage a greater work-life balance by:

• Discouraging working at weekends
• Encouraging taking full lunch breaks 
• Ensuring annual leave is taken in full 
• Leading by example by adopting healthy at-work habits

Not only will teams be more happy, engaged and productive, they will begin to build an emotional connection to your company, which will help towards employee attraction, as they will become advocates for potential future hires

Financial security and benefits

Financial stress can affect mental and physical wellbeing on a range of levels.

Fair pay and performance-based increases will keep employees feeling appreciated and motivated. But financial security can extend far beyond this. Offering attractive employee benefits are another way employees can be supported, such as:

• Access to financial support and advice
• Share and ownership options
• Life assurance policies
• Health insurance for employees and their families 
• Assistance with retirement and pension planning

Relationships, workplace dynamics and leadership styles

The way colleagues interact with each other can have a far-reaching impact on the company culture, general happiness and day-to-day atmosphere within the business. 

For example, a secretive closed-door environment could encourage rumours to spread or end up ostracising employees, resulting in high levels of stress, low mood and the development of a toxic work setting. Strict rules and micromanagement could also see employees become stagnant, stressed or nervous when they come in each day.

Here are 4 ways to develop good workplace culture and how you can keep your employees comfortable with their working relationships:

#1 Foster a workplace culture where autonomy is encouraged by managers, and employees are empowered to make decisions within their remit. Anything out of a worker’s control should be highlighted early on in employment, with boundaries firmly set and understood.

#2 Open-door policies or regular one-to-ones give employees the chance to speak about how they’re feeling, and can help discourage gossiping within teams. By encouraging active conversations, problems can be listened to and addressed before they escalate.

#3 Communication should be frequent and ongoing. Regular team meetings and updates on the company as part of your company culture will help employees feel included and in-the-loop. 

#4 A clear, formal route for escalating problems to HR should be in place. If someone is being bullied, experiences inappropriate behaviour or has witnessed something immoral, they should feel safe and confident in reporting it through the official channels.

So how do you motivate staff and improve employee engagement

Money might help the world move but it doesn’t always take employees where they want to go. It’s so important for individuals to be seen as just that, themselves, and never just another cog in the machine.

With the right career development path and ongoing Continuing Professional Development, employees will begin to appreciate your interest in them and this will enhance your employer brand. Likewise, understanding their personal goals can help you build a better picture of their career path and what motivates them.

For example, if they want to buy a bigger house, the incentive of a pay rise will drive them. Or, if they plan to have a family, a more flexible work schedule would be more appealing for some.

In sickness and in health

While not every company can offer the best health insurance policy, it’s important that some kind of investment is made into employee wellbeing, for attracting and retaining talented employees. Whether that’s a basic health plan for all, an upgrade to safety equipment, the introduction of regular exercise clubs or free access to mental health therapy, as well as considering diversity and inclusion in your policies — there are so many ways organisations can support teams in these modern times.

Health, safety and wellness needs to be of paramount importance for employers. If it isn’t, employee turnover will be high – people will leave their positions in droves, in search of greener pastures with competitors.

Managing a strong employer brand with our brand management platform

The foundations of a strong employer brand lie within you, your team and what your company stands for. Ultimately, you can’t build a desirable company to work for if employee mental and physical health aren’t looked after.

Managing communications for your internal teams and externally to prospective candidates can be time-consuming, confusing and costly. At Papirfly, our all-in-one brand management platform is central to any employer branding strategy and helps to bring your employer brand to life. It puts the power of creation back into your hands, and gives teams autonomy to build all the assets they need – without needing to be designers.

So, whether you need to get a video promoting a role out in the next half hour, artwork created and printed for a recruitment fair or employee comms made and distributed urgently, you can do all of this and more with our brand management platform.

Find out more about Papirfly for employer branding teams or book your demo today to see our brand management platform in action.

Generation Z is doing a lot to shape the future of work. And for recruitment and employer brand teams within the Millennial category and beyond, it can be hard to pin down exactly what’s needed to nurture this current and future talent pool.  

In terms of generational shifts and experiences, they’re the most unique of the century, having grown up with internet connection as standard.

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the mindset of Gen Z in the context of employment and recruitment. 

Don’t have time to read the whole article? Download our concise whitepaper for your key insights and action points. 

Who is Gen Z?

Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z aren’t the mystery that the media portrays. In fact, their motivations, wants and needs are very reasonable. They are also paving the way for raised workplace expectations and improved benefits packages for every generation. 

Gen Z’s ideal workplace looks vastly different to those of some earlier generations. Having a family isn’t the top priority. Work-life balance is key. Salary is only one of many other critical factors. 

They are the generation causing waves not seen before in the world of work, and now employers are having to quickly learn how to attract and retain this all-important workforce of the future. With Gen Z accounting for around 30% of the world’s population, they are predicted to represent 27% of the entire workforce by 2025.

What makes Gen Z different?

Working conditions across the world have greatly evolved over the years, reforming through both legislation and the needs of the global population. While many prior generations have been exposed to very distinct periods of time, and have seen the gradual progression of society and technology, Gen Z has been raised in a world that centres around technology in almost every aspect of life.

The older portion of Gen Z has been witness to the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Gen Z places salary as a lower priority than other generations, and are not worried about taking risks despite the financial turmoil of these events.  

Gen Z wants to be challenged, nurtured and pursue interesting work that means something to them. Unless they have the job of their dreams or are working for a company that has a mission to do great things in the world, without purpose, Gen Z is likely to move on from one role to the next, until they are able to find the right fit. 

They know they can’t undo the damage that has been done to the environment and the world, but by working for a company that has sustainable and ethical CSR and ESB policies, it can help to shine a positive light on their employer. 

Additionally, diversity and inclusion have become deciding factors of whether a Gen Z candidate feels comfortable working for an organisation, something that has had much less focus in older generations.

Insights on Gen Z attitudes

The unique circumstances that Gen Z experienced as they made their journey to the workplace have not only given them a distinct set of priorities but have also shaped their attitudes at work.

Their lives are wholly integrated with technology

To Gen Z, being connected to what’s going on in the world and the people they care about is a must. They are more likely to be receptive to new tools and software, and could help companies find more digital ways to reduce manual processes.

They are always learning

As one of the most formally educated generations to date, Gen Z thrives on learning new information in engaging ways. If they don’t know how to do something, they’re more likely to find the answers on Google or watch a tutorial on Youtube first than ask peers. 

If they’re not learning or bettering themselves, they can feel stagnant, restless and unfulfilled so it’s important to keep professional growth and gaining skills a high priority within their working hours.

They won’t stick around just for financial security

We’ve seen a seismic shift in the rights of workers over the last half a century. But to this day, there are still employees who find themselves stuck being unhappy in roles where they aren’t treated correctly. This is often because they are responsible for their families or have other financial commitments.

If a Gen Z employee is unhappy, they won’t stick around and hope that things will improve – regardless of whether they are in a good financial position or not. Their entrepreneurial spirit will carry them off to the next opportunity or they will start up a venture on their own in a freelancing capacity. It’s important that a company’s culture, values and mission align with a Gen Z employee’s expectations, as well as the perks and benefits.

What are Gen Z’s needs, wants and expectations in the workplace?

To capture the attention of burgeoning Gen Z talent, it’s important employers are doing all they can to satisfy the needs, wants and expectations of this savvy new wave of workers.

What does Gen Z need?

• To have interesting and fulfilling work 
• Financial stability but not at the expense of their mental health
• A supportive culture where work-life balance is appreciated
• Flexibility in how, when and where their work is delivered 
• To continually learn and grow, professionally and personally

What does Gen Z want?

• To work for an environmentally conscious company
• To have shared values and attitudes with their employer
• The opportunity to give back to their community or causes they care about
• Logical pay progression based on merit, skill and contribution
• Trust and freedom to earn more holiday or prolonged periods of leave

What are Gen Z’s expectations?

• Inclusion and diversity to be a priority for their employer, who can effectively demonstrate their commitment
• A personalised employee experience and journey, based on individual goals as well as their wider team’s 
• Incentives for pay rises, progression and improved quality of work 
• Transparency and openness within the workplace environment
• Having the option of hybrid working, but having the opportunity to regularly meet with colleagues in-person – face-to-face interaction is still important to Gen Z

Discover Gen Z’s needs, wants and expectations in our handy whitepaper and distribute it to your team as a learning tool. It’s full of tangible ways to make your employer brand more appealing to the next-generation workforce.

How to recruit and retain Gen Z

While we can’t generalise an entire generation, recruitment experiences have seen the etiquette between candidates and potential employers change somewhat with the Gen Z population. Here we explore what this change could mean for your recruitment strategies…

Move fast, communicate often

They are keen to move fast and don’t want to be sitting around waiting for responses from interviewers. If your interview process is unclear, long or multi-staged, your Gen Z candidate will disengage and move on to the next opportunity. The key here is to keep communication clear, consistent and frequent.

Highlight support network

While one of the most educated generations, Gen Z is acutely aware of the knowledge and skills gaps they may need for roles. If the training and support they’ll receive on-the-job aren’t made clear from the outset, they are also likely to disengage.

Opportunities to go global

A desire to travel is something that has been strongly ingrained in most generations, but Gen Z is set to make it more commonplace than it has ever been before. If a global company firmly aligns with their mission and values, another big plus would be opportunities to transfer to other disciplines in different parts of the world – exposing them to new cultures as well as new areas of the business.

Put mentorship programmes in place

Training and routes for progression are valuable to Gen Z, but having someone they can go to with any questions or advice is invaluable. Gen Z has incredible gratitude for someone that takes the time to help them, so having a dedicated mentor will both be beneficial for them and for succession planning within the business.

Regular recruiter training

The employer brand experience starts with your recruiter, whether that’s an in-house person or an external company. If they aren’t receiving regular training or check-ins, there could be something going wrong at the very first hurdle.

Gen Z is the future – is your employer brand ready for the change?

Employer brand teams have a big mountain to climb when it comes to realigning recruitment strategies to meet the needs of Gen Z – though many are already making the changes. It’s important to get real-world feedback on your campaign ideas and approaches, whether that’s through market research or internal surveys with existing Gen Z employees.

In order to support an agile approach to brand content production, a tool such as BAM by Papirfly™ can play a big role in meeting the demand for marketing materials. It provides a central place for teams to create infinite digital, video, social, print, email assets and more. No design experience is needed and there’s no danger of assets going off-brand. 

Intelligent templates ensure teams stay totally aligned, and that marketing can be quickly adapted for different markets and cultures.

To learn more about BAM for yourself, view our dedicated BAM for employer branding teams page, or book your demo today. 

It may sound obvious to say that it pays to hold on to your best talent, but you may be surprised at just how big of an impact it makes. A recent study of more than 600,000 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and athletes found that high performers are 400% more productive than ‘average’ ones.

Over the last decade, there has been a widening skills gap across all sectors and a growing trend in changing jobs much more frequently. According to research by McKinsey, nearly a third of senior leaders cite finding talent as their most significant managerial challenge. Be sure to read our previous article, ‘Employer branding – how important is your employer brand?’ to gain some expert tips on navigating today’s unique recruitment landscape.

The gap in skills is largely due to a gap in experience. We are at a time when many baby boomers who have developed their skills at a company over a long period of time are beginning to retire — taking decades of knowledge and experience with them. 

On top of this, millennials tend to be less loyal towards their workplace. In their report, ‘How Millennials Want to Work‘, Gallup found that one in five millennials have changed jobs in the last year and two in five are currently looking for a new job.

What does it take to attract and retain talent in 2022?

Remote-friendly interviews and onboarding

65% of candidates say that bad interview experiences will make them lose interest during an application process. Hindered by technical issues, a lack of face-to-face interaction and not being able to convey the atmosphere of the office can make it difficult for employers to make the best first impression.

“Trust has to exist from day one. When you’re remote you don’t have the opportunity to lean into someone’s cubicle to see how they’re doing. You have to get creative about ways to nurture that relationship.”
Chloe Oddliefson, Head of People Operations at Dribbble
(via Miro)

How a company supports employees working remotely will also have an effect on how long they decide to stay at a company. This all starts with a well-thought-out onboarding process that accounts for the challenges of not being in the office. If you want to retain great candidates from the get-go, using a digitised version of your onboarding document and omitting anything in-office related won’t cut it.

When new starters aren’t able to meet their team in person, onboarding is even more important for sharing elements that will help them learn all they need to know to become a successful addition to the company. Depending on the role, a comprehensive onboarding process may last around three months and cover these five areas:

1. Pre-onbording by HR, line manager and recruitment team
2. Onboarding by HR, line manager and payroll team
3. Orientation by line manager, colleagues and senior management
4. Feedback on first tasks and assignments by line manager
5. Ongoing support into their new role by line manager and colleagues

Promoting health and wellbeing

For obvious reasons, health and wellbeing has taken the spotlight over the last year. After companies saw first-hand the effects of employees suffering from poor physical and mental wellbeing during the pandemic, this will be an important value in employer branding going forward.

Many companies already offer health and wellness benefits like gym memberships, cycle to work schemes and free healthy snacks. However, these make no difference when your employees are working unreasonable hours or are not getting the right kind of support.

More than creating a more enjoyable place to work, addressing employee wellbeing issues at their root cause will help reduce burnout, increase productivity and retain employees for longer. Consider initiatives like:

• Allowing flexible hours
• Organising social activities
• Regular employee check-ins

Empowering employee growth

Companies that leave their employees’ career growth stagnating have always been more likely to lose their most enthusiastic people more quickly. 

In fact, 70% of high-retention-risk employees say they’ll be forced to leave their organisation to advance their careers.

A focus on offering opportunities for personal and professional development will be a key factor in facing the current global retention crisis. These are especially important for retaining new talent at the beginning of their careers who are looking to learn fast and constantly improve. Some of these opportunities could include:

• Internal learning and development programmes
• Access to online courses 
• Room to grow within roles
• Mentorship from senior employees
• Opportunities and encouragement to put ideas forward

Internal comms is key

Internal communication is often one of the most overlooked areas of an employer brand proposition, yet it’s evident in the employee experience every single day. Part of making it a positive one is determined by building a connection and maintaining engagement. 

Too often, internal comms is kept to the bare minimum and lacks the personality and culture traits that a company’s employer value proposition is centred around. Focusing more attention on what’s relevant and interesting to employees helps make them feel more engaged with the goals of the business. This not only instils more purpose in their role, but builds more loyalty too.

If you are keen to tackle work-related challenges that might encourage team members to look beyond your company, download our handy checklist outlining what you can do to address these issues and make a positive difference to your employees’ experience.

While email, surveys and text messaging are an essential part of the day-to-day running of a business, there is nothing stopping you from exploring other channels for more engaging communications. Video, social media posts, podcasts and blogs are a great way to share information, invite discussion and garner enthusiasm about what’s going on in the office and the wider business.

With BAM by Papirfly™ you can streamline your internal asset creation with easy-to-use templates that help teams produce studio-quality materials in minutes. It also gives you a bird’s eye view of your campaigns and makes it quick and easy to share relevant and on-brand assets within your organisation.

Here are some great examples of companies that got it right:

The NHS
To make sure that all their employees were getting their flu jab, the NHS used the power of video to create these engaging posts for their social media channels.

Waitrose
UK supermarket, Waitrose, created a digital suggestion box to help all employees make their voices heard.

Pizza Hut
At the beginning of the pandemic, Pizza Hut acted fast to create a two-way conversation between staff, franchises and restaurant managers. Using the simple medium of WhatsApp, they helped employees feel valued in their role in feeding Britain during a challenging time.

Back to contents

How to revitalise your talent retention methods

Improve personalisation

A more personalised approach shows a company’s ability to listen to the individual concerns of their employees. To retain the best talent, companies need to ditch the ‘one solution fits all employees’ approach.

Develop retention strategies that…

• Understand the different visions and goals of their staff – both professional and personal
• Allows employees to make their voices heard
• Provides opportunities to take on new challenges and steer their own path

“Personalisation for millennials in the workplace is about them seeing their work and organisation as a projection of themselves, and that drives loyalty.”
Felicity Furey, Founder of the Professional Leaders Institute
(via The CEO Magazine)

Be more flexible

When workplaces were plunged into lockdown, some were more prepared than others to support their employees to do their jobs effectively from home.

The most successful strategies included…

• Adopting the hybrid working model
• Testing out the four-day week
• Investing in technology that makes remote collaboration possible

Go further than raises and bonuses

Higher salaries and monetary rewards are one of the first considerations for an employee thinking of leaving an organisation. But they aren’t the only deciding factor. While having a competitive salary is undoubtedly a good thing, it does nothing to make a company stand out from the competition.

Establish a remote interview processes

Even if you have no immediate plans to bring in new talent, having a remote hiring strategy in place is vital for future-proofing your turnover, which is likely to increase going forward in 2021.

What should the remote interview process achieve?

• Can assess a candidate’s ability to work independently
• Reviews their proficiency communicating via digital channels
• Highlights their ability to collaborate remotely

Discover more insights in our Ultimate Employer Brand Checklist — download for free here!

To learn more about how BAM by Papirfly™ can help you attract and retain the world’s best talent in 2021, and beyond, book your demo today.

The world of work has been turned on its head several times over in the last few years. The roles of HR, recruitment and talent acquisition teams have been especially challenging as they’ve worked to navigate the complex nature of the pandemic and other changes taking place across the globe.
While the basic principles of your EVP won’t have shifted miles from where it was, there will be new considerations and an element of realignment that needs to take place as part of your employer brand management.

Whether you are continuing in a similar vein to pre-pandemic strategies and trying to realign your team, or have completely transformed the way you work over the last couple of years, revisiting your EVP is an important step.

Why is an EVP 2.0 so integral?

The purpose of your employee value proposition is to align the company’s offering to your employees’ needs, wants and expectations. Employees and companies have seen some unprecedented events take place, but many have thankfully made it out of the other side. This leaves your recruitment colleagues and employer branding team with the following challenges:

• Understanding the mindset and priorities of existing employees
• Discovering what’s motivating top talent 
• Differentiating your EVP from others in your industry

Your EVP 2.0 essentials

Take your purpose even further

It’s one thing joining a company because of its values, it’s another taking action to support those values. As people become more personally purpose-driven, it’s important that the brand they work for matches this.

For example, if your brand is known for its green credentials and helping the world become more sustainable, there should be an internal scheme that rewards ‘green’ behaviour – it’s all about building a great place to work. This could be vouchers towards owning a bike to encourage people not to drive to work, an internal recycling scheme, or special funding for sustainability projects (with additional holiday allowance to accommodate this).

Whatever your purpose, ensure you create a good workplace culture that is reflected in everyday working life as well as your initial promises – this includes ensuring that your internal communications are on-brand to show you’re committed to delivering them. 

Benefits that go beyond just the individual

Family and personal goals are a key career driver, but often employees spend so much time at work that these goals can be hard to fulfil. Explore benefits that will build a greater emotional bond with your employees to foster a positive and supportive  work environment.

This could be providing private health insurance for immediate family members or a training allowance to help the employee achieve new skills.

Get more flexible than ever before

If working from home mandates proved anything, it’s that employees can be trusted to work when and where they want or need to. Many companies are taking this one step further, and we’ve seen a range of working options and employee benefits including:

• Working from home permanently
• Hybrid working
• Flexible start and finish times
• Early closures in the summertime 
• Unlimited holidays (providing that work is completed)
• Extended maternity/paternity leave
• Paid sabbaticals after a specified amount of years

Prioritise mental health support

A supportive company culture will help instil positive mental attitudes, but that alone isn’t enough to ensure your employees remain happy.

Create a forum that encourages open conversations – this could be through the acquisition of a digital mental health platform that employees can engage with as and when needed, regular mental health workshops, the introduction of wellbeing champions, and training for existing managers to effectively support someone who is struggling. There are lots of mental health awareness courses that can be taken, including mental health first-aid.

EVP 2.0: Company culture checklist

Ensuring all bases are covered

Our hierarchy of needs as humans is different in employment than it is in everyday life. Your EVP will be unique to your brand – hopefully including many of the initiatives mentioned already – but there are four basic boxes that your EVP 2.0 needs to tick. If lacking in one of any four areas, you could see your brand lose good talent to competitors and increase your employee turnover. To become an employer of choice, consider the following:

Physical needs

• Health incentives such as gym memberships or on-site classes 
• Partner with apps that can support sleep and wellbeing, such as Calm or Headspace
• Provide access to private healthcare or nutrition services

Emotional needs

• A supportive and open work environment
• Access to therapy tools if needed
• Offer coaching for high-stress positions
• Conduct employee surveys to understand how people are feeling and what improvements could be made
  

Social needs

• Regular meet-ups virtually or in-person to ensure teams feel connected
• Embrace diversity
• Encourage cross-department collaboration
• Encourage giving back and volunteering days in line with your brand purpose

Financial needs

• Offer employees access to financial advisors where possible
• Provide interest-free loans for medium-sized purchases such as annual travel tickets, holidays or cars
• Ensure peace of mind for employees’ families with life assurance
• Conduct regular pay reviews

Communicating your EVP with Papirfly

A creative brand management solution can help to support the good workplace culture you are aiming to build. The platform we offer at Papirfly is used by some of the world’s most notable employer brand teams including Unilever, Vodafone and more. Teams are able to own and control their EVP in every aspect of marketing.

This gives your employer brand team the freedom to:

• Create an infinite amount of on-brand digital, print, social, video and email assets in a matter of minutes – no design skills are needed. These documents are stored in a centralised system and you can manage all campaign
• Store, edit, find and share every asset created in a centralised DAM system
• Access all educational brand and employer brand documents 
• Manage all campaign timelines, briefs and assets from a single portal. On the go. Anywhere in the world. 

So if you need agile talent acquisition, a brand management platform can help you keep consistency throughout your campaigns.

Discover our brand management platform for employer brand teams, check out our customer brand stories or book your demo today.

The global talent market has seen one of the most volatile few years in recent history. And while many are busy speculating that AI will mark the advent of job shortages, the reality is much more unexpected.

A recent study found that by 2030 there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people – which equates to around $8.5 trillion (€7.4 trillion) in unrealised revenue.

While it’s highly unlikely that education systems will adapt quickly or dramatically enough to fill this void, not all hope is lost.

The employees already at your company are brimming with potential. Many organisations are turning to the internal talent marketplace solution to develop existing employees and match them to roles and projects that can harness their skill sets.

While this AI-driven tech is becoming the go-to strategy for many big firms, it’s not something that can happen overnight, nor is it a magic pill to cure all your recruitment headaches.

In order for the internal talent marketplace to be a true contender in your quest for great talent, an internal mobility strategy is key.

Planning your internal mobility strategy

The phrase internal mobility has been around for a while now, but its usage has been wildly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the world having changed so quickly and unexpectedly, it’s caused ripples in the supply and demand of talent globally.

This is partly why we’ve seen more organisations than ever move their existing employees to new internal opportunities, roles and projects inside of their company. It could be in the form of a promotion, and taking on a bigger responsibility, or moving to a different role at the same seniority level to develop new understandings of the business, while bringing transferable skills.

Benefits and salary are always going to be one of the key motivators for recruiting candidates in the first place, but retaining them involves upskilling and development throughout their careers. Internal mobility allows employees to take a new step in their role, or a new one, while helping to fill a critical gap for the company.

The challenges of internal mobility strategies 

A traditional company structure is built around hierarchy, and leadership typically trickles down from the top of the pyramid. Other companies work in a more flat structure, while retaining very exact roles and responsibilities.

In order for an employee to climb the career ladder, they typically spend years in the same role, trying as and when they can to get the recognition they need. When this goes unnoticed, they can become discontented and choose to move on.

Internal talent marketplaces and mobility strategies allow for employees to access opportunities more easily, with many firms using AI to match people to the right ones. So whether there’s a remote role in Vancouver perfect for a team member in Beijing, or a new role needed in Amsterdam that an existing team member at that office can fulfil, management can have eyes on the extent of their internal skills, talent and opportunities in one central place.

While not everyone will have this tech in place, it can help management to have more visibility of people or locations they wouldn’t ordinarily be involved in. It sounds like the ideal scenario – and it can be – but it can’t happen overnight. There’s a huge job of skills mapping an entire organisation, but there are tools that can help assist with and automate this through tests and other means. 

The foundations of success

Every organisation and its recruitment needs are different, so your way of working will be unique. What you can do though is think of the 4 Ps as your starting point – no matter how big your company is, the fundamentals always need to happen.

Are internal talent marketplaces the future?

If the last 12 months are anything to go by, the answer is yes. With companies such as Unilever having implemented the technology and infrastructure in 2019, some global brands are already far ahead of the curve. For those playing catch-up from the chaos of the pandemic, it’s going to take time and substantial time investment to get the internal mobility strategy off the ground.

One of the most important things to remember is to stay agile, knowing that the minimum viable product is going to change with the needs of the business. But the sooner you can start, the better.

BAM by Papirfly™ is supporting world-leading employer brand teams across the globe 

Want to know more?
Discover how we’re helping Unilever deliver on their own employer brand strategy

Learn more about employer brand industry topics from our expert team

See BAM in action – book your demo and get access to real-world brand portals

Understanding how to promote employee engagement starts with a simple question…what does employee engagement really mean? 

At its most basic level, it is a set of strategies that creates a working environment and atmosphere where employees feel they are empowered to do their jobs effectively, work towards personal and common goals, and have a general sense of satisfaction and happiness. 

There is never a one-size-fits-all approach to employee engagement, as each organisation and their employer branding stands for very different things. However, these strategies do tend to achieve many of the same objectives.

These objectives can be broadly categorised as follows:

• Unification – Creating a ‘one team’ spirit, ensuring teams are aligned and making employees feel part of something bigger 
• Embracing purpose – Instilling the same values, standards and expectations in employees across every level of seniority 
• Driving the brand vision – Ensure that teams are motivated to work towards long-term goals, growing professionally and personally in the process 
• Promoting a positive culture – A working environment that is enjoyable, inspiring and encourages development, trust and autonomy 
• Creating strong leadership – Respectful, knowledgeable and supportive leadership encourages feedback and channels of open communication 
• Building the ideal workforce – Engaged employees are happier and more productive, likely to form an emotional connection with your brand/their workplace and are less likely to leave 

The importance of employee engagement 

While employee engagement can be hard to measure, the short and long-term benefits are very tangible. If an individual feels nurtured and supported, while being surrounded by a like-minded team, they are likely to thrive in their working environment. 

When they feel trusted, they are more likely to bring ideas to the table, and this is where innovation within the business can stem from. 

It’s no longer enough for employees to just feel satisfied in their workplace – they want to excel. When people are proud of the work they do, they will shout about it. When they are proud of the brand they work for and the way they are treated, they will become advocates. This creates a positive cycle within the business, as this encourages and drives successful recruitment. 

While high employee retention is sometimes a result of high employee engagement, just because an employee has been retained a long time doesn’t always mean they are actively engaged. There are plenty of businesses and brands out there who have had employees with them since their inception, but they have become stagnant or comfortable in their positions. 

All of these benefits will have a direct impact on the day-to-day of your business. Here are the topline benefits of employee engagement, and how they can be loosely categorised when putting together your business case…

• Increase the productivity of your employees
• Higher quality of output
• A positive workplace atmosphere
• Greater client satisfaction
• Increased profitability

The list goes on. No matter how intangible employee engagement may feel at the beginning, investing the time and effort will positively affect your bottom line.

4 employee engagement strategy examples 

In Daniel H. Pink’s book ‘Drive’, he combines research from MIT and other universities to lay out what really motivates us as humans and professionals. While we will explore 4 proven employee engagement strategies in more detail, we wanted to touch upon some of his core findings as they really help to give the strategies context. 

The conclusion that the book reaches is that employees need 3 things outside of pay progression and benefits to be fulfilled in their roles: purpose, mastery and autonomy. 

These 3 short words hold a lot of power in the workplace – if you can enable every employee to feel as though these have been achieved, you will be in a good position. 

Now you understand some of the underlying desires of the individual, let’s discuss how we can make these a reality…

#1 Open communication and feedback

While the benefits of open communication and feedback are far-reaching, one of the main benefits is that psychologically employees feel they can speak openly and feel comfortable enough to offer input without fear or dread of ridicule. 

There are a number of great ways to foster this level of communication:

• Encourage questions, feedback and insight from employees at all levels of seniority
• Provide feedback in a constructive way and avoid overly critical language
• When negative feedback is given, ensure there is clear support to help the individual address the issue
• Give employees a platform for anonymous commentary, such as through a suggestion box or employee engagement survey
• When a decision about the company is made, or there is big news to announce, make sure an effective communication strategy is put in place to avoid hearsay, gossip and confusion 

#2 Professional development

Part of nurturing good employees means bringing them into your brand’s growth mindset. If you want an individual to invest their time and effort into making your brand more successful, you need to invest in them, and the skills they will need in order to make this possible.

Here are some of the different ways you can promote CPD within your organisation…

• Create a training bursary so that employees can ‘apply’ for course funding that will help them in their job role
• Create an in-office library space or set an annual personal book/kindle allowance 
• Find industry-relevant webinars (paid for or free) and create an employee newsletter to inform them of upcoming courses and lectures 
• Introduce a ‘lunch and learn’ or give employees a shot at a ‘Whiteboard Friday’ style CPD session. Encourage different individuals to come forward and share their skills and what they do with other team members or departments.
• Bring in industry experts a couple of times a year to give tailored sessions on subjects employees are keen to learn about. You could put together a list of desired individuals and put it out to a vote on who comes in. 

#3 Set out clear expectations and progression

There’s not much worse than the first day at a job and not understanding what you’re supposed to be doing. Too often people are left to their own devices, so having proper training and support in place is crucial to getting off on the right foot. 

At the very minimum, each recruit should have:

• A job description of their expected duties
• A handbook or welcome pack that tells them everything they need to know about the company 
• Who they should go to if they have a problem related to the work they are delivering
• Goals they should work towards in the next quarter or within another specified timeframe
• Regular one-to-ones and conversations about progression

#4 Social events

Many companies plan lots of wonderful days and nights out, without implementing the 3 prior strategies first. While social events and team bonding is very important, communication, development and clarity are the critical foundations for strong employee engagement.

Social events play their part too, but only work to support everything else. Here are some ideas to ensure your team gets to enjoy some fun outside of the office:

• Introduce Friday drinks with a weekly debrief and chat 
• Plan summer and Christmas socials well in advance 
• See if any willing employees are up for creating their own initiatives, such as a book club or team lunches 
• While not a social event, having social areas within an office for breaks can provide a welcome space to unwind and mingle with colleagues during lunch 

Barriers to employee engagement

While budget, time and lack of know-how will affect the level of commitment you can provide, there really is no just reason to avoid implementing some kind of employee engagement strategy. 

Lack of budget? 

Look for free courses online. Encourage a book sharing club internally. Get employees to skillshare on dedicated days. Instead of fancy nights out, have a takeaway and boardgames night in the office. Likewise, communication doesn’t need to cost the earth. A quick weekly standup on a Friday to share what’s going on is a great starting point. 

Lack of time? 

First you need to identify what you need to do and see if there are people already in the business who would have the skill-sets to drive initiative forward. This in itself could act as motivation. Alternatively, if what you need to do is an administrative nightmare, it could be worth exploring digital employee engagement tools that take care of a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff, keep you updated and send out calendar reminders on your behalf. 

Lack of know-how?

If you haven’t gleaned enough from this article, there are lots of useful resources online. Or why not consider a brainstorming session with some of your team members? Conduct a survey and see how people are feeling, and hear their ideas first-hand. 

Is an employee engagement strategy worth it? 

While measuring employee engagement can be difficult, the results will speak from themselves in terms of employee satisfaction, happiness, retention and the new and improved way your business operates. 

If you have highly-skilled employees and you want them to stay put, your team will need to put in the effort to keep them engaged. It’s not about providing ‘fluffy’ benefits, it’s giving individuals and teams the tools and support they need to grow. As a result, your business and brand will benefit.

Discover more about our employer branding marketing solution and how it can support your employee engagement strategies. 

For today’s job seekers, there’s no such thing as ‘just a job’ anymore. The average person spends over a third of their life at work and people are now demanding more from their employers than ever – and many would argue rightly so. 

Employee retention is harder than it was even 5 or 10 years ago. What were once seen as ‘solid’ benefits – competitive salary and holiday allowance – are now seen as the bare minimum. And big brands are increasingly competitive when it comes to talent acquisition across the globe. 

This article will cover the key milestones in the employee journey, highlighting the importance of employer branding and delving into some of the lesser considered areas within each area. With this under your belt, you’ll be confident that you can push your employee experience to the next level.

The hiring stage

Role advertising 

An employee’s experience starts far before they get through the door – it begins as a candidate. And even if they are unsuitable for a role, or aren’t going to apply for your vacancy, to build a strong employer brand you need to cover all bases.

This is because potential employees might become suitable or interested in the future. If their initial perception of your employer brand is a positive one, they are more likely to consider you the next time they are thinking about career development. 

Here are some must-haves to ensure your advertising and career site attracts top talent:

• Post clear information on what the role is and how to apply
• Don’t be coy about the wage – people deserve to know what their prospective salary could be
• Use honest and diverse imagery in your campaign
• Be clear on your employee value proposition – what your company can offer them

Role consideration

When job seekers show interest in a role, a lack of time or resources in your office could leave them feeling a little unloved. While having too many tasks to complete may have an impact on candidate communication, it is important to ensure consistency is as smooth as possible. 

Here are some easy ways to make that happen:

• If you don’t have time to respond to all applications, make this clear on the job role itself 
• Ensure your career site includes additional details about the role put together in a nicely presented yet simple PDF – that way if a candidate calls to speak to someone about the role, but the team are all busy, the PDF will make them feel like their questions have been answered
• When candidates enquire why their application was unsuccessful, it’s best to give as tailored feedback as possible – if you’re too short on time, compose a generic response as the bare minimum (this means the candidate will still consider you a strong employer brand, should they be more suitable for another role in the future)

Pre-interview and interview

When a candidate is invited for an interview, there are lots of ways it could go wrong if they are not properly prepared. While some bad employers might see this as the candidate’s fault, often it’s because people in charge of people management have not properly briefed them. 

We’ve put together our tips to keep everyone on the same page:

• Determine whether an in-person or virtual interview would be better
• Ensure the candidate is aware of all the stages in the interview process
• Provide an agenda for the interview beforehand 
• If the interview is being carried out via video conferencing, ask the candidate which tool they prefer to use 
• During the interview, ensure the candidate is welcomed properly and full introductions are made 
• Give them plenty of time to talk about their experience and their hopes for career progression, but also include some time to talk about themselves as a person – get to know them and put them at ease
• Be open and honest when giving responses to candidate questions (for example, if they ask for a higher salary and you know this isn’t possible, don’t set false expectations)

Post-interview

The period after an interview can be one of the most nerve-wracking times for prospective job seekers. If your talent acquisition efforts don’t involve keeping in touch post-interview, candidates may lose interest, react negatively towards your company or take an offer elsewhere. 

These are our suggestions when trying to keep talent on the hook while you make your final decision:

• Give an estimated timeline of when candidates can expect to hear from you – it will put them at ease and prevent them from chasing you
• If the candidate is unsuccessful, detail why this was the case in an email
• Offer a follow-up call to chat through the feedback 
• If a job offer is made, give the candidate time to read through their contract and to ask questions to relevant people
• If any benefits are subject to specific circumstances (such as years of service), make sure this is outlined before the candidate takes the job offer, or they could end up feeling misled
• Once contracts are signed and a start date agreed, give your new employee a timetable or agenda of what their first few weeks will look like – they will feel much more confident on their first day when they know what they’re walking into

The onboarding stage

Your employer branding team needs to be ready to deliver what your company has promised. Onboarding can literally make or break a new employee’s perception of a company. It’s where they discover if your employee value proposition was sincere, or a lot of hot air. 

If they aren’t made to feel welcome, they feel abandoned or they are overwhelmed with tasks that haven’t been properly explained, they will be out of the door before they have had a chance to shut it on their way in. And that’s not to mention what they might say to people in their network or on social media about their experience.

Going the extra mile at this stage will give your new employee the welcome they crave and set them off on the right path. These are our tips for making it as smooth as possible:

• Put together a welcome pack for the new employee – stationery, water bottles, notepad, sweets – anything that will make them feel appreciated
• Give them information on their colleagues, such as names and job titles – you may want to include a welcome card with messages from their team and their photos (to help them get to know people better)
• Buddy them up with a colleague for lunch so they don’t have to sit alone (ask them if they would like this before committing to it as some people may prefer to spend lunch on their own)
• Set out their training schedule and what kind of tasks they will be expected to complete week-by-week – this will help them understand how long they have to get up-to-speed
• Give them a company handbook that instils your core values, mission, etc.
• If applicable, make sure they know about remote work arrangements and expectations
• Ensure they know who they should go to if they have any concerns

The progression stage

There’s little worse than being in a role and feeling like you’re not going anywhere. Just because you put in a lot of effort to build a strong employer brand at the onboarding stage, that doesn’t mean a new employee should be left to just get on with it. 

The Employee Retention Report from the Work Institute found lack of career development was the number one reason for employees leaving a company – and this has been so for over 9 years. From the perspective of people management, this is crucial to understand and plan around. 

Employee retention can be improved by following some simple but vital steps:

• Set out clear KPIs for your employee and if these KPIs are linked to pay rises or bonuses, ensure that these KPIs are achievable – you can do this by presenting the goals to your employee and giving them the opportunity to provide feedback
• A dedicated learning and training allowance will show you care about your employee’s growth and career development – you could let them choose which course they want to take, ask them to select them based on a predefined list or link the courses with KPI improvements that are needed 
• Even if an employee is working exceptionally well and hard, performance reviews are still just as important – positive employee engagement matters, and people need to know that they’re appreciated on a regular basis 
• Consider introducing a dedicated career management conversation, this provides a chance for employees to reflect on your employer value proposition, feedback on THEIR goals and gives you a chance to shape their KPIs accordingly

The ‘moving on’ stage

It can be devastating when an employee leaves a company – whether they’ve been there for 10 years or 10 months. The time and commitment invested will always leave a hole in their department until you can get someone else in and up-to-speed.

However difficult it is, it’s important to have processes in place to ensure the transition is smooth and that you learn from their experience. This will improve your ability to understand and attract top talent in future, and might also help with existing employee retention.

When someone quits…

• Conduct an exit interview and give the employee time to vent their issues
• Ensure you let them know how much you value them and their time at the company
• Ask them if they would like to make an announcement along with management about them leaving, or if they would prefer just a member of management to communicate this
• Give them a ‘phase out’ agenda of when they can hand things over to other colleagues
• Throw them a leaving event or provide a card and gift

When someone retires…

• Give everyone the opportunity to show their appreciation for the colleague – this could be at a social event or through a gift
• Ensure they are involved in training the next generation to take on their role
• Ask them if they would like to make a speech before they leave

Day-to-day extras to consider

Receiving a payslip

With a little effort, a simple gesture that happens once a month can become a great way to cement a strong employer brand. A generic or personalised message from the CEO or manager to show appreciation for all the hard work completed in the month will help employees associate their pay with being valued, beyond just financial remuneration.

Calling in sick 

People get sick, and it can’t always be helped. If an employee is nervous about calling in sick, reassure them about their performance, and advise them you hope they get better soon. If their sickness is particularly low, you could specifically mention this to help put them at ease.

Birthdays

Companies with hundreds of employees may struggle to keep on top of birthdays, so if you’re in the position to do so, an extra day off on your birthday can serve as a powerful reminder to your employees that their work is appreciated. If an extra day off isn’t on the cards, you could make sure they get a cake, card and small present to make their day at work feel special.

Company updates

When meetings take place behind closed doors, speculation can run rife in an office and even virtually. Where important company updates are available, ensure that employee engagement is prioritised – this could be in the form of a quarterly newsletter or quick announcement on Friday afternoons.

Show off their expertise 

Give employees the chance to share their knowledge with colleagues and the world. If there are events they can be guest speakers on, podcasts they can get involved in, or even internal CPD sessions they can hold, asking them to take part will give them a confidence boost in their abilities and help with their career development.

Working environment

Consider the physical environment your team operates in. Are the chairs comfortable enough? Are there enough breakout areas? Do they have a quiet space to go to when they need to concentrate? Is there enough fresh air? Do you give them options for remote work?

Not only will a properly considered environment make working a more pleasurable experience for employees, but it will also help them be more productive and deliver their best work.

Raising issues/improvements 

Introduce both an open-forum style meeting to do this and an anonymous route, as this will help cater for every type of employee. Many talented people have ideas about diversity and inclusion, sustainability and employee wellbeing, and it’s important to find ways to listen to and act on what they have to say.

Feedback surveys can also help you gauge answers to exact questions you may have.

Enhance the employee journey with brand management tools

We hope you’re feeling inspired and that we’ve opened your eyes to just how broad the employee journey can be. To assist your talent and acquisition team in all of these areas, see how Papirfly’s brand management platform supports employer branding teams.  

To build a brand that consistently attracts top talent, be reassured that Papirfly’s brand management platform already helps huge brands like Vodafone, Unilever and IBM. Discover the brand stories from these enterprises, including how Papirfly helps deliver infinite employer brand assets every month. Videos, social, emails, print and more – all made possible with on-brand templating tools as part of our platform.

When you’re scouring the globe for the world’s best talent, you may be looking for similar combinations of skill sets and attributes that make up the perfect candidates for your company. However, it’s important to remember that every one of them is an individual and will very likely respond differently to your employer branding depending on where they are in the world.

In this article, we’ll be exploring the trends, challenges and opportunities for employer branding in six of the most prominent talent hotspots across the globe:

• The U.S.
• Australia
• Europe
• Canada
• UAE
• Hong Kong/Singapore

Why global brands need to be local

To reach the best candidates in your chosen pocket of the world, your employer brand marketing needs to adapt and change in accordance with the recruitment processes, cultures and priorities that are unique to specific locations. 

At the same time, your employer brand value proposition must shine through consistently. No matter where your employees are based, it’s crucial that they feel aligned with the core values and goals of your business as a whole.

An increasing number of companies are seeing the benefits of looking for the skills their businesses need in different countries. With the recent and widespread uptake in remote or hybrid working, candidates are able to expand their search for opportunities, with location less of a constraint.

Every culture has its own way of doing things and that extends into their recruitment and hiring practices. Without being tactful in your hiring approach, you run the risk of missing out on so much of the amazing talent the world has to offer. This may mean a complete change in approach, or simply dialing certain aspects of your company culture up or down to suit expectations in different countries. In all cases, thorough research into the local employer brand landscape is key.

Local employer brand insights

Below, we’ve compiled some of the location-specific trends, insights, cultural nuances and potential challenges that will come into play when localising your employer brand in six standout markets:

The U.S.

Top insights and trends

A millennial workforce
Across America, millennials make up 35% of the workforce at 56 million, with that number projected to grow rapidly over the next few years.

Candidates live online
Hiring is more online-dependent in The U.S. than in Europe. Candidates are social media savvy and are used to communicating with potential employers via LinkedIn which now has 194 million users in the country.

Cultural nuances
With individual ability and leadership skills playing a bigger factor for candidates, managing styles in America are one of its most notable differences from Europe, where emphasis is based on the performance of teams as a whole.

Potential challenges

Companies in the U.S. are under less pressure from governing bodies to provide benefits like fully paid parental leave (something that many employees in Europe have long been used to). In fact, The U.S. is the only advanced economy that does not have mandated paid leave for employees. This makes perks and benefits of greater value to potential candidates who will be looking more closely at what your company can offer aside from a salary.

Australia

Top insights and trends

A shortage of recruitment consultants
According to the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association of Australia and New Zealand (RCSA), recruitment consultants have become one of the country’s most difficult positions to fill.

Remote staffing was already well underway pre-pandemic
The recruitment industry has become used to using remote consultants from abroad to fill Australian positions and train Australian consultants.

Cultural nuances
Word of mouth can play a big role in recruitment in Australia with employee referrals one of the top sources of finding great talent.

Potential challenges

Work-life balance has long been one of the top priorities for employees across Australia. According to research by Randstad, the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced this position with more focus on working for an employer that makes them feel valued. In their survey of more than 10,000 Australians, 76% said they want an employer who puts their health and safety first.

Making employees feel valued should be one of the key elements of any employer brand proposition, but in a post-pandemic world, candidates will expect to see tangible evidence of this from potential employers.

Europe

Top insights and trends

LinkedIn
LinkedIn usage is widespread across The U.S. and Australia. While it continues to pick up momentum in Europe, many countries still favour platforms such as Xing (in Germany and Austria) and Viadeo (in France).

CV or résumé?
Made a little confusing by its French pronunciation, a ‘résumé‘ is something that candidates and recruiters will be more familiar with in America or Australia. The CV, meaning ‘curriculum vitae’, is the European equivalent. The documents are both very similar in style and purpose, with the key difference being that many countries in Europe expect an accompanying photo.

Perks and benefits
In most of Europe, candidates have come to expect a longer list of benefits such as; better-paid maternity/paternity leave, more paid time off, and better unemployment perks compared to the average American job seeker.

Cultural nuances 
Europe has a plethora of different cultures, languages and dialects to be found — especially when compared to Australia and the U.S. The starkest differences tend to be in the attitudes to work between North, South, East and West.

For example, almost 50% of people in southern European countries, such as Italy and Portugal, consider the loyalty of their colleagues more important than their personal goals. Whereas in Northern Europe, only 22% of people in Norway and just 16% in Lithuania feel this to be the case, stating personal goals to be of greater importance.

Attitudes to work differ between Western European countries including Austria and Germany where work-life balance is far more important compared to employees in eastern European countries such as Greece, Romania and Croatia.

Even so, European countries tend to work less hours than the U.S. on average. Although French employees generally end up going over their traditional 35 hour week, they are still well under the American average where, in many industries and regions, a 60 hour week has become the norm.

Further evidence of this can be found in the length of lunch breaks, the number of national holidays and working overtime. European countries including parts of Spain, France and Greece have become famous for their traditional extended lunches, which can be between 2 – 3 hours long. In comparison, the average worker in the U.S. takes just 36 minutes. 

Similarly, workers celebrate 13 public holidays in Austria, whereas Australians have only 7. As well as affecting the expectations of employers and employees, this makes keeping track of contactable times a challenge, even without the timezone.

Potential challenges

While states in the U.S. and Australia have their differences, potential candidates in these locations tend to be more closely linked. Covering more than 40 countries with different cultures, customs, laws and working practices, Europe is an incredibly diverse place to look for talent. This is undoubtedly a good thing for business, but it means that your employer brand needs to have the flexibility to change as it crosses from country to country.

Canada

Top insights and trends

They want to know why they were chosen
When you reach out to a potential recruit, a core priority for 75% of these is to find out why you believe they are a good fit for the role.
Cultural nuances 
Similarly to the U.S., there is a firm focus on healthcare and similar insurance policies among employees and candidates. As a result, making sure that these are positioned prominently as part of your EVP and any recruitment campaigns you produce is key to capturing their attention.

Furthermore, Canada both English-speaking and French-speaking inhabitants – around 23% of the population have French as their first language. Therefore, to best engage candidates from across the country, it is beneficial for your employer brand content to be presented in both languages, to ensure you don’t alienate a percentage of your potential workforce.

Potential challenges

Hybrid working has become an increasingly important priority for Canadian workers in recent years. According to Robert Half, 51% of employees prefer a hybrid style of working, splitting their time between home and the office. In fact, only 19% of those surveyed advocated for a full in-office approach.

Consequently, when attracting employees, it is crucial to showcase the flexibility and adaptability of your organisation to suit their needs. Highlighting features such as remote working opportunities, flexible hours, relaxed dress codes and more can help endear you to this evolving talent base. Emphasising this by extending the possibility of remote interviews and onboarding can demonstrate that you practice what you preach.

Another potential challenge for employer brand specialists is the shifting attitudes of younger recruits and where their motivations lie. While mature professionals value salary and benefits above everything, 18-to-24-year-olds are more interested in work-life balance.

So, it is therefore imperative that your employer brand, while consistent at its core, is malleable in what benefits it immediately presents to recruits depending on their age profile.

UAE

Top insights and trends

Diversity is a growing priority
57% of employees in the UAE say that diversity is a major initiative in their workplace, with 74% of women aspiring for senior leadership roles.

Companies are switching to flatter structures
There is a growing preference among the UAE workforce for closer collaboration and interaction across the various layers of companies, rather than a rigid, traditional hierarchy.

Cultural nuances
It is hard to nail down any standout cultural trends in the UAE as the population is so incredibly diverse. Close to 90% of the population are non-nationals, with up to 200 different nationalities represented, with different cultures and backgrounds. Recruits from Asia and MENA are primarily employed in low-skilled and semi-skilled jobs, while an increasing number of people from Europe and North America are sought out for high-skilled roles.

This makes it difficult to nail down a consistent cultural message for candidates, so it is important your branding can be quickly adapted to meet the unique needs, motivations and nuances of those living in the country. At a bare minimum, materials should be translated into both English and Arabic.

Additionally, this focus on international recruitment means that there is a big window of opportunity to prioritise Emirati talent. It is estimated that only 28% of UAE companies actively work to attract Emirati recruits – creating campaigns strictly built around their values and ambitions could help you stand out to these home-grown nationals.

Potential challenges

Alongside the cultural variation across the UAE, the biggest challenge facing employers in relation to talent acquisition is actually staff retention. Around 57% of working professionals in the region intend to switch employers at some point during a year, making it challenging for companies to maintain a steady, consistent workforce, and to present that image to candidates who are seeking a stable environment.

Consequently, to both encourage employees to stick around and to attract recruits with true staying power, it is beneficial for your EVP to contain initiatives such as:

• Training and development opportunities
• Employee mentorship programmes
• Potential for employment progression
• Performance and time-based incentives

Furthermore, showcasing signs of strong company culture on social media platforms – a channel that is widely underutilised in the region despite an increasingly tech-savvy population – can also help you stand out to candidates seeking long-term opportunities.

Hong Kong/Singapore

Top insights and trends

Flexible working is becoming the norm
While many organisations in the region have resumed office-based working, 20% have adopted hybrid models, while 50% have adapted to flexible hours so employees can avoid peak traffic and take care of their families.

Cultural nuances

Working hours in Hong Kong and Singapore are notoriously long and demanding. In the UBS 2016 survey, Hong Kong employees averaged 50.1 hours a week – the longest in the world and 38% more than the worldwide average.

However, this has helped contribute to Hong Kong being the fifth-most stressed population on the planet. As Western influence has helped encourage a greater appreciation of work-life balance in the region, companies that are able to offer a better balance will gain a stronger foothold with younger candidates.

The region is also fiercely family-orientated. As a result, presenting financial incentives and benefits in your EVP that relate not only to the candidate themselves but their wider family, such as healthcare or life insurance, will also give you considerable drawing power.

Potential challenges

There is a growing demand for flexibility in how people work across Hong Kong and Singapore – employees want to have a greater say in their workplace experience and more freedom of choice than in decades past.

Companies based in the area can support this trend in several ways, including:

• Placing a firmer priority on good culture and associated perks, such as paying for taxis after overtime or providing meals
• Presenting flexible hours and hybrid working opportunities, which are more sought-after than ever before
• Being flexible over how candidates are paid (base salary, stock options, commissions), as this can especially appeal to older, more experienced candidates
• Offering chances to work in other global locations or instituting international rotations, with more professionals in the region looking further afield for opportunities

Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, finding ways to streamline and accelerate the recruitment and hiring process will help you stay in employees’ good graces. This could involve offering a mix of in-person and Zoom interviews to make these more available, or making onboarding material digital so potential recruits can be sent this immediately after your reach out.

Adapt your employer brand to local trends

With the subtle, and not so subtle, differences listed above, how do you keep your employer brand marketing in line with your value proposition, while making sure that it ticks all the right boxes to roll out in a particular country?

Know your candidates 
Before you expand your recruitment efforts into a new location, it’s vital that you find out what potential candidates value most and refresh your employer brand accordingly. Use your knowledge of the local market to tailor your strategy, approach and messaging.

Localise your marketing materials
Even the smallest things, like switching UK spellings for American, can make a big difference in showing candidates that your brand understands the needs and requirements of their local market. The key to getting this right is to create country or region-specific marketing materials that feel like they have come from a local team.

Use BAM by Papirfly™ to take your global brand local

With its seamless language and localisation features, BAM by Papirfly™ can make global employer brand governance a reality for your company. Your teams will have everything they need to create on-brand, market-ready assets with no outside help needed.

You predefine the templates to ensure consistency with your brand guidelines, and our software instantly tailors your campaigns to countries across the world.

Capture local nuance
Ensure that your assets only contain culturally relevant imagery, colours and logos.

Speak any language
Translate your marketing materials into multiple languages and dialects.

React to recruitment demands
Bring fast asset creation in-house and be ready to snap up top talent before the competition.

Learn more about these localisation features and the benefits of BAM for employer branding by booking your live demo today. 

The pandemic has been a bumpy ride for employer brand teams. Long-standing employer value propositions suddenly needed a rethink. Candidates turned their priorities upside down. In some countries, remote working became mandatory overnight. 

Alongside the personal worries of COVID-19, there were unexpected challenges for employer brand teams. Making it through unscathed meant devising new strategies to take on a different and highly unstable recruitment landscape.

Such a monumental cultural shift has changed employer branding and our attitudes towards work in general. The first responses from industries, sectors and individual companies have already become permanent fixtures.

Recruitment then and now

There have been countless world-changing events and employment crises that came before COVID-19. Lockdown was not the first time that employment took a sudden and unexpected turn. Recruitment has been around since some of the earliest human civilisations. It has changed and evolved with the world and played a significant role in shaping society.

Despite its very early beginnings, the world of recruitment that we know today only really began to take shape after The Second World War. There had been a huge employment gap as people left their regular jobs to contribute to the war effort. This created an urgent need for recruiters to help fill empty roles during the war, and after it to find jobs for the returning soldiers.

Events that shaped recruitment as we know it

Recruitment in wartime

• Recruitment agencies began taking out newspaper adverts to fill jobs left by those serving in the war.

Post-war employment

• To help those returning from the battlefields, businesses began working more closely with recruitment companies to advertise their open positions.

The resume

• As recruitment companies became more focused on efficiency, they began using resumes to match candidate’s unique skillsets with the most suitable roles. By the 50s, resumes had become essential for applying for most jobs.

Recruitment on the rise 

• Recruitment agencies continued to thrive throughout the 1960s, and got even busier in the 70s. In a time of economic growth, more businesses than ever were outsourcing their recruitment.

Read all about it!

• Previously, community bulletin boards had been the main space for promoting jobs. In the 80s however, this shifted towards newspapers which – by then – had dedicated sections for job seekers.

Recruitment gets connected

• In the 1990s, processing large numbers of applicants went up a gear. The invention of email meant that recruiters no longer had to sift through applications sent by post, fax or delivered by hand.

The digital revolution

• As computer software and social media improved throughout the 2000s, searching for jobs and processing applicants changed forever. This transformed the way recruitment worked and opened the doors to new tools and online hiring processes that made matching candidates and jobs much faster and much more accurate.

How did 2019/20 transform employer branding and recruitment?

Employees gradually return to offices. Lockdown restrictions are easing. We can cautiously say that we’re seeing the tailend of the pandemic. However, the world of employer branding is never at a standstill. Here are four trends that have emerged as a result of the pandemic:

#1

Whether it’s having time to think while on furlough or seeing their work-life balance from a new perspective, the pandemic gave employees the chance to reconsider their current roles. Hiring managers need to understand the needs and wants of their ideal candidates. Time to get your recruitment campaigns ready before the best talent is snapped-up.

#2

Flexibility will be a must-have for the post-pandemic candidate. If they haven’t already, companies need a way to align remote and on-site staff with their EVP. This might include remote on-boarding, flexible working hours or new employee benefits schemes focused on work-life balance.

#3

Work-life balance. Employee wellbeing. Preventing burnout. These were already hot topics in marketing pre-pandemic. Skip forward a year, and lockdown restrictions have only made things worse. Employees in improvised home offices have been juggling childcare, higher workloads and concerns about their own health. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that candidates and employees want to see the wellbeing initiatives your company has to offer.

#4

With hybrid working here to stay for many, creating a unified sense of belonging has become even harder. At the same time, a tough 2020 for everyone has made it an even higher priority for employer brand teams.

The first place to start is with your EVP. Does it resonate with staff across the globe? Does it take remote working into account? Are there advocacy programmes that all employees can get involved with? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, then you may have some work to do.

Brands that embraced opportunities from the pandemic

A strong brand purpose and globally recognised EVP makes it easier for entire corporations to react to new challenges. With a single company-wide goal, the world’s largest global brands have been able to steer their employer brand in a positive direction through the pandemic.

In fact, many had already been working towards better work-life balance, more staff flexibility and hybrid working models long before the pandemic hit:

IBM embraces flexibility

• Most corporate organisations still have their hesitations about the hybrid working model. IBM has it set in place for the long-term.

TikTok tries its hand at recruitment

• Funny clips and fast-paced dance routines couldn’t be further from the corporate formality of traditional job sites. Nevertheless, TikTok is working on a recruitment feature aimed at young adults. Could videos replace resumes in the not-so-distant?

Chipotle acts on its words

• California-based Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle had made some big claims on employee benefits, promotions, and inclusion. Even when lockdown restrictions hit the hospitality sector especially hard, it kept its promises. After adding mental health programs to its benefits in 2019, Chipotle went on to bolster its parental leave program smack bang in the middle of the pandemic.

Prepare your employer brand for the future with BAM

It’s clear that the employer brand landscape is still undergoing some important changes. To help you stay relevant in the post-pandemic workplace and be ready for whatever is around the next corner, BAM by Papirfly™ has everything you need to: 

• React fast to shifting priorities 
• Achieve global EVP consistency 
• Empower your teams to create the assets they need for specific campaigns

See everything BAM can do for your employer branding by booking your demo today.