List of Illustrations xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Preface xv

Part I: The Rationale for Change 1

1 Birth of an Idea 3

2 The Changing Needs and Aspirations of Employees 13

3 Investors Awaken 21

4 The People Management Challenge 37

5 The Role of Leadership 45

Part II: The 'How To' Guide 55

6 Brand Fundamentals 57

Functional Benefits 58

Emotional Benefits 58

Higher Order Benefits, Brand Values and DNA 59

Brand Personality 60

Brand Positioning and Differentiation 61

Brand Hierarchy 63

Brand Vision and Brand Reality 64

Brand Management and Development 65

Brand Consistency and Continuity 65

Brand Development 67

Summary 68

7 The Business Case 69

The Major Benefits of Employer Branding 69

Lower Costs 69

Customer Satisfaction 71

Financial Results 72

Summary 74

Life Cycle Benefits 74

Young, Fast Growing Companies: Attracting 'The Right Stuff' 74

Coming of Age: Capturing the Organisational Spirit 75

Going International: Translating the Employer Brand into New Contexts 75

Merger and Acquisition: Forging a Shared Sense of Identity and Purpose 76

Corporate Reinvention: Refreshing the Self-Image 77

Revitalizing the Customer Brand Proposition: Living the Brand 77

Burning Platform: Re-instilling Fresh Belief 78

Functional Benefits 78

Benefits to the HR Function 78

Benefits to the Internal Communications Function 79

Benefits to the Marketing Function 80

Winning Support from the Top 81

Summary 83

8 Employer Brand Insight 85

Employee Insights 86

Employee Engagement and Commitment 88

Benchmarking 89

Correlation Analysis 91

Continuous Research 92

Culture Mapping 93

Brand Roots 95

Projective and Enabling Techniques 96

Observation 99

Segmentation 100

Communication Audits 102

Additional Sources 103

Labour Market Insights 104

Clarifying the Target Market 104

Needs and Aspirations 105

Employer Brand Image 106

Summary 108

9 Employer Brand Positioning 109

Brand Identity 109

Monolithic 109

Parent 110

Subsidiary 110

Brand Integration (Customer and Employer Brands) 110

Corporate Brand Hierarchy (Parent and Subsidiary) 111

The Key Components of the Positioning Model 113

The Brand Reality Model 113

The Brand Vision Model 116

Target Employee Profiles 116

The Employer Brand Proposition 117

Values 119

Personality 122

Benefits 123

Employee Value Propositions 125

Reasons to believe 126

Summary 126

10 Employer Brand Communication 129

Identity 129

Internal Launch 130

Rational Understanding 132

Emotional Engagement 135

Employee Commitment and Behaviour Change 141

Summary 144

11 Employer Brand Management 147

Big Picture: Policy 149

External Reputation 149

Internal Communication 151

Senior Leadership 152

Values and Corporate Social Responsibility 152

Internal Measurement Systems 154

Service Support 154

Local Picture: Practice 155

Recruitment and Induction 155

Team Management 156

Performance Appraisal 157

Learning and Development 157

Reward and Recognition 159

Working Environment 159

The Key Responsibilities of Employer Brand Management 160

Summary 161

12 The Durability of the Employer Brand Concept 163

Part III: Appendices 165

Appendix 1: Reuters Case Study 167

Appendix 2: Tesco Case Study 185

Appendix 3: Extract from Greggs Development Review 197

References 201

Index 207