Employer Brand Survey – Awareness and Definition

In May 2003, the Economist conducted a survey, in conjunction with TMP, assessing attitudes to employer branding amongst a select panel of readers (senior management/heads of department). The survey achieved a total sample of 937(with a response rate of 54%).

Given that it is still a relatively new discipline, awareness of employer branding was high. Interestingly, while the concept of employer branding was first originated in the UK in 1990, awareness was generally higher outside the UK.

While much current employer brand practice is focused on recruitment, the majority of those claiming awareness defined it in broader terms.





Employer Brand Survey – Responsibility for Development

While awareness was stronger amongst those in HR, there was a clear agreement that employer branding requires a cross-functional approach to be effective. The functions that people expected to be most closely involved in driving a full scale employer brand programme were HR, Marketing and Corporate Communications. This pattern of results was similar across all four regions.





Employer Brand Survey – Expected Benefits

The sought after benefits of developing an employer brand strategy were very similar across all four regions, with higher staff retention identified as the foremost benefit, followed by staff recommendation of the employer as a place to work, employee commitment to organisational goals and reduced recruitment costs.



Employer Brand Survey – Favoured Partner Organisations

The type of partner organisation that companies would consider working with to develop an employer brand also highlights the cross-functional nature of the employer brand task, with HR consultancies most frequently cited as the most favoured partner, followed by Employee Communications Consultancies and Brand Development Consultancies.





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