Master’s Thesis
Employer brands coming to life through recruitment videos: Replicating prior research Neha Khanduri
Student ID: 10915761
University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Communication Master’s Programme Communication Science Supervisor: Lise Van Oortmerssen
Abstract
The growing popularity of videos make them a perfect weapon in the arsenal of recruiters to showcase the best aspects of their firm’s culture and value system. This thesis is an attempt at applying existing research to categorize the content of recruitment videos and understand their role in the recruitment process with respect to employer branding. It also aims to explore if there are any differences between industries in the portrayal of their employer brands using recruitment videos. The findings show that to establish their employer brand firms give great emphasis on employer-employee relationship with greatest focus on showcasing their supportive work environment. Firm attributes, advancement opportunities available to its employees as well as the challenging and exciting nature of their work life also are important categories in recruitment videos. Also, firms are more keen on providing a holistic picture of their work environment and culture rather than allowing a single element of their brand dominate their videos. Finally, implications of the research in terms of which areas should managers focus on when producing videos, limitations of the study and future research directions suggested.
Keywords: Employer branding; recruitment videos; content analysis; job attraction; retention
Employer brands coming to life through recruitment videos: Replicating prior research As per the Cisco Visual Networking Index, (2006), globally, video traffic will be 82% percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2020, up from 70% in 2015 and will grow fourfold from 2015 to 2020, a compound annual growth rate of 31%. The most popular video content channel, YouTube, has “over a billion users–almost a third of all people on the Internet–and every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos and generate billions of views. Also, the number of people watching YouTube each day has increased by 40% y/y since March 2014”. (“Youtube Statistics,” n.d.). With such growing popularity of videos, recruiters have been quick to jump on the band wagon and leverage this creative medium to execute their employer branding more strategically. With the social networking revolution growing stronger, HR professional are redefining the recruitment practices and accordingly the direction and format of delivering their employer brand message. According to Sambhi (as cited in Srinivas, n.d.), effective ways of using social networks such as
Facebook, Bing, LinkedIn & Twitter and media tools such as YouTube and Blogger are not just for posting upcoming job opportunities, but creating viral effects by posting videos which help the user to have frequent communication with the recruiter which in turn help to recruit efficiently and effectively. Social media platforms have served as a perfect stage for recruiters to spread the employer’s brand message among potential applicants by showing vividly shot videos that go further than plain text. With videos they can showcase not just their company, products, services, and career opportunities but also the underlying character of their brand through the faces of their employees; how your company looks and feels; the passion, authenticity, enthusiasm and culture that lives inside your company.
Other features for which videos trump other traditional recruiting methods such as newspaper classifieds, job fairs and employment exchanges, include ease of development, low production costs, and ease of multiple sharing on social media without incurring
additional cost. Also, videos can go viral and improve brand awareness and create
engagement even among passive job seekers. This growing popularity of videos gives rise to the question such as what makes a video effective and how should brands go about
elaborating their brand’s story through this rich medium. Should they equip all their
employees to shoot mini clips from their work day and call them recruitment videos and what should they talk about? In this study we attempted to answer these questions by analyzing how recruitment videos are being incorporated by firms in their employer branding strategy to showcase their winning features in order to attract and retain the best talent.
As we turn to academic research, we find limited efforts at deciphering what makes some videos stand out and even fewer studies that focus on the content of these videos. A few initial studies have analyzed the content of videos such as college image/recruitment videos to determine the overriding visual content and structure of the videos to test for their overall effectiveness in visual rhetorical power and message retention (Fielder et al., 1993; Head, 2005). Other studies from advertising, communication and organizational learning have focused on assessing the potential of using rich media formats (e.g. audio/video testimonials) to communicate identification with consumer products, to increase attraction to a product (Appiah, 2006), and to transfer trust and knowledge (Wathne, 1996). However, no attempts have been made to link the content of the videos and its potential relation to important recruitment related aspects such as job attraction, retention etc. This reflects the gap in the academic literature and the need for research specifically focusing on content of the recruitment videos used by corporates.
As videos are an extension of traditional recruitment text presented in a more entertaining way but with the same intent of job attraction, a methodology previously used for categorizing recruitment text material has been applied to the study of recruitment videos. This thesis builds on a previous research by Backhaus (2004) that explored corporate
descriptions provided to job seekers by firms advertising on the Internet site, Monster.com. The study also explored elements of corporate image presented in the text based recruitment descriptions and the way in which firms market their employer brands. The findings
demonstrated how analysis of corporate descriptions reveals interesting insights into organizational recruitment tactics. Results suggest that firms focus predominantly on firm attributes and secondarily on employee advancement. Few firms in the study presented a distinct employer brand but tend to cluster together in brand types (Backhaus, 2004). By reusing the same methodology, interesting contrasts were found as well as few similar patterns between text based corporate descriptions and recruitment videos in terms of the description of a firm’s work life. The findings can be used for further research to analyze relation between the emphasis paid to these categories and resulting impact on perceptions of employer attractiveness and other recruitment related areas.
Theoretical Framework
To understand how videos employ information about their work culture, attributes etc. to establish their brand among potential job applicants, we first establish the concept of employer branding and its different elements. The position of videos is also strengthened as a suitable format for presentation of various aspects of a firm’s reputation and work life. For this, previous research within the fields of advertising, communication and organizational learning is discussed that have shown the positive potential of using rich media formats (e.g. audio/video testimonials) compared to text based formats.
Employer Branding
Early works on employer branding practice have focused on the importance of the practice in generating human capital for a firm. Ambler & Barrow (1996, p. 187), defined the employer brand as “the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided
by employment, and identified with the employing company”. The authors highlighted that the employer brand concept is potentially valuable for organizations and that applying brand management to the HRM function reinforces the strength of and adds value to corporate equity from a customer perspective (Aggerholm, Andersen, & Thomsen, 2011). Backhaus and Tikoo, (2004), also posit that the practice of employer branding is predicated on the assumption that human capital brings value to the firm, and through skilful investment in human capital, firm performance can be enhanced. Similalry, Priem & Butler, (as cited in Sorko 2012,), supported the notion that human capital has been shown to operate as an important resource creating competitive advantage besides plant, equipment and capital as resources that create competitive advantage. The underlying assumptions in the above statements seem to be guided by the classical branding paradigm, which is static, sender focused and independent of any relational influences, and furthermore framed in relation to obsolete organizational contexts and challenges (Aggerholm et al., 2011). Here, the goal is not to ensure quality in employer-employee relations, but rather to secure a quality in
building and sustaining long-term brand-consumer relationships by leveraging employees as channels to customer experiences (Aggerholm et al. 2011).
Shift towards fair employer-employee relations. Recent research in the field of employer branding, however, signals changes in the focus of the practice. Martin, Gollan and Grigg, (2011) state that until quite recently, most practitioner- oriented work in the field focused on the attraction of new talent, largely because of the ‘talent wars’ that were claimed to characterise much of the 1990s and millennium until the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007–2008. Barrow and Mosley (as cited in Martin et al., 2011) add that due to this
employer branding remained limited to external labor market application of marketing and communications tools (e.g. recruitment advertising, publicity, events) to attract potential
employees. It was only after recession that the focus on employer branding gradually shifted to improving levels of employee engagement
Priyadarshi (as cited in Sorko, 2012) makes similar observation about the changing trend stating that the concept of employer branding is becoming especially critical as new technology; globalization and the rising power of international brands are changing the way we work and fuelling the competition for talent. Sorko, (2012), adds to this argument stating that “in order to survive, large employers need to make a radical shift away from traditional thinking about employment and work to build more diverse career partnerships with different individuals and groups. In the current labor market, more and more employees are including such aspects as work/life balance and a company’s commitment to the community among the values they seek in their employer. Competition among employers is intense in this market, with many job seekers able to be more discerning in their choice of an employer. Individuals and corporations are re-evaluating their priorities in this new environment, and the result is a new definition of a successful organization - an organization that includes the social
dimension of their workforce as an attribute of their success.”
Although attraction and retention of talented people continues to be the essence of employer branding, Aggerholm et al., (2011), introduce a shift from a product-oriented perspective to a process-oriented perspective to re-conceptualize employer branding as a communicative, relationship building and cross-disciplinary process, which creates, negotiate and enact sustainable employer-employee relationships, i.e. long-term relationships between an organization and its potential and existing employees. They add that elements such as dialogue, trust and transparency are crucial to ensure strategic, sustainable relationships between employers and employees/potential employees. Also, the change in market
dynamics can be seen as potential driver in reshaping the employer branding strategies. The market is becoming a forum for conversation and interactions between consumer, consumer
communities, and firms (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004, p. 5). “From an employer
branding perspective, this translates into a shift from a linear, communicative transmission of employment propositions and exchange of employer brand benefits within working hours into a process of dialogical co-creating not only economic and organizational value, but also a preoccupation of what is valuable and meaningful for the employee as a human being and corporate citizen through dual citizenship in a corporation and society as a whole”
(Aggerholm et al., 2011). Thus, employees are no longer just targets for a firm’s branding messages but also play an active role in the ongoing dialogue that constantly recreates a brand’s identity.
Martin and Hetrick (2009), applied the signaling theory, which is concerned with the honesty of signals, especially interpreted by receivers, the cost associated with
communicating honestly and the possibility of faking honesty, to the concept of employer branding to assess the employer brand signals. “These signal comprise points that senior management intend to send to the existing and potential employees about the package of extrinsic functional and economic benefits and intrinsic psychological benefits on offer. The most powerful source of brand signals are the messages employees communicate to the outsiders and new recruits about the reality of working in the place, and their views of the honesty of the signals” (Martin and Hetrick , 2009). Also, increased stakeholder pressures and demands have reformulated the famous statement “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profit” into “the business of business is value creating”, thus claiming
businesses to move beyond profit maximizations and economic precedence and instead to make equal priorities among all stakeholders, including the employees, thus, making them the centre of any sustainable business model (Aggerholm et al., 2011).
Furthermore, Aggerholm, et al., (2011), argue that “it is also important to consider that the employer branding processes are continuously influenced by the varying societal
contexts facing organizations-in-society. Contexts such as societal prosperity, stability and recession underline how the employer brand is created, enacted and negotiated under the influence of societal changes. Worded differently, the varying contexts influence stakeholder goals, needs and expectations and thus the nature of the psychological contract and the employer-employee relationship. Organizations must continuously address these contextual challenges and associated questions and reflect on the strategic employer brand management across differing strategic contexts, i.e. does the organization brand itself as employer with one voice at all times or does the voice change depending on the differing strategic contexts?”
The studies elaborated so far highlight the changing approach to the employer branding strategies, even though the intent remains attraction and retention of the best available talent. In the next section, uses of external and internal branding in a firm are elaborated along with how recruitment videos aid in this process.
Effective external branding through recruitment videos. External marketing of the employer brand establishes the firm as an employer of choice and thereby enables it to attract the best possible workers, whereas internal marketing helps create a workforce that is hard for other firms to imitate (Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004). In both the cases, the value proposition of the firm has to be conveyed to the target audience. This is where videos can effectively bridge the gap between the firm and its audience. Videos can present the value proposition, which is an amalgamation of its culture, management style, qualities of current employees, current employment image, and impressions of product or service quality (Sullivan, 2002), in an authentic and entertaining manner.
As it has been established employer branding strategies ultimately aim to enhance an employer’s attractiveness, which is defined as the envisioned benefits that a potential
of the more general concept of employer brand equity. Customer based brand equity relates to the effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the product (Keller, 1993). In terms of employer branding, brand equity applies to the effect of brand knowledge on potential and existing employees of the firm. Employer brand equity propels potential applicants to apply and encourages existing employees to stay with, and support the company. Advertising and recruitment research has provided support that videos can aid in enhancing the positive perceptions a product brand and can do the same for an employer brand as well. For instance, Appiah (2006), found that the use of rich media may enhance the customer experience and lead to satisfied customers who have more favorable attitudes toward the product and the site. Similarly, Belch and Belch (as cited in Appiah, 2006), state that unlike simple text-only or text-picture appeals, video commercials can be better used to convey a mood or image for a brand as well as to develop emotional or entertaining appeals that help make a dull product appear more interesting. Extending this product related
approach to the concept of employer branding where the employer is considered as the brand (Ambler & Barrow, 1996), it can be said that videos will be more successful in creating positive persuasion among employees towards the employer brand leading to stronger attraction and brand equity. Collins and Stevens (2002), confirming prior research, suggest early recruitment-related practices and job seekers’ application intentions and decisions are affected by the two dimensions of employer brand image (attitudes and perceived job attributes). Research focusing on cognitive elaboration and vividness effect of
communication mediums highlight that videos with the virtue of engaging with more number of senses can lead to higher persuasion among audience, thus potentially swaying general attitude. Kisielius and Sternthal (as cited in Appiah, 2006), provide further support stating that with greater richness in cues in audio-visual messages, there should be greater cognitive elaboration, resulting in more opinion change for the individual processor and creation of
favorable image. This image will influence the perceived worth of the product and will increase its value to the customer (The Economist, 1988). Similarly, in the case of the employer brand, it can be said that recruitment videos will be able to increase brand loyalty.
Workers today are demanding more from their employers than they ever have in the past, not just in terms of salaries and perks, but also in terms of the work experience itself and the cultural context in which it occurs (Earle, 2003). Cable and Judge (as cited in Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004) state that organization culture is important to applicants in making a job choice and their beliefs about the firm’s culture affect the validity of self-selection decisions and affect their post-entry performance (Schein, 1985). A similar study on elements of employer attraction by Saini, Rai, and Chaudhary, (2014), also found that development value (which comprises recognition/appreciation from management; a great start for future
employment; feeling good about yourself as a result of working for a particular organization; feeling more self-confident as a result of working for a particular organization; gaining career-enhancing experience and social value (representing a fun working environment; having a good relationship with your superiors; having a good relationship with your colleagues; supportive and encouraging colleagues; happy work environment) are the main drivers of employer attraction. This thesis argues that this manifestation of a firm’s culture, working environment and treatment of employees can be better showcased by videos as several studies support that viewer’s perception to vivid multimedia communication are more positive compared to less vivid communication (Chaiken and Eagly, 1983; Coyle and
Thorson, 2001; Li et al. 2002).
Firms can leverage videos as they seem to enhance not only the salience of
communicator-related information such as the firm’s attributes but also the social richness of the endorser (Appiah, 2006). Thus, strengthening the positive perceptions about its culture and treatment of employees. Several studies have shown that videos with the virtue of their
vividity can enhance the sense of connection with the characters in the testimonials as vividness contributes to the amount of socially rich interpersonal interaction a medium can deliver (Lee, 2004; Short, Williams, and Christie 1976; Steur 1992). According to Short, Williams, and Christie (as cited in Appiah, 2006) “multimedia testimonials therefore enhance the feeling of “social richness”, which is defined as the salience of the other person (e.g., the communicator) and the consequent salience of interpersonal relationships, among browsers by making them feel more connected to both the characters in the testimonial ads and the website. Thus, generating stronger beliefs of being the target audience of a site with multimedia features and perceiving more identification with characters on a site with multimedia testimonial ads compared to a site without multimedia testimonial ads.” Firms leverage these virtues of social richness by incorporating employee testimonials, view of the workplace, employees performing daily tasks etc, thus opening up the internal functioning of a firm leading to more identification and connection with the characters in the video.
Person-Organization Fit. Bergstrom & Anderson, (as cited in Backhaus, 2004), state that another effective driver of employer attraction using employer branding techniques is to help applicants screen companies for the correct match between their values, priorities, and work styles and those of the organization. Here, videos can serve as a perfect tool to bring a company’s culture and values to life by employing a combination of visuals and sounds to help job seekers assess the fit. Videos give employers a better chance of explaining not just about their employee friendly work culture or their position in the market, but also talk about the kind of talent they are looking for. This information can facilitate a direct analysis of one-on-one fit by future employees. Moreover, videos are used to showcase exciting projects, work locations as well as how a firm’s work is making a difference to the community at large. It can be assumed that elaboration on such topics might lead to higher attraction and engagement among audience. Ashforth and Mael (as cited in Backhaus, 2004) add that the
person- organization fit literature is suggestive of the concept of identification, that is, the extent to which employees identify strongly with their organization. With the growing
popularity of videos over text based descriptors, we can assume that in most cases videos will either serve as the first touch point between an organization and a potential employee or supplement text based material. A study by Andersson & Sandgren (2012) supports this notion stating that rich media employee testimonials embedded in a firm's website increase potential job-seekers perceptions about a firm in terms of both social value and identification with the firm. These findings suggest that firms should rely more on using recruitment videos on their career websites as an alternative to the more commonly used poor media written descriptions.
Internal branding and retention. Just as external marketing of the employer brand enhances initial employer attraction, internal marketing of the employer brand aims to develop a workforce that is committed to the set of values and organizational goals established by the firm. Employees today refuse to be treated as channels to customer experiences and sustaining long-term brand-costumer relationships (Aggerholm et al., 2011) and are choosing to work for reputable organizations that are concerned with the fair
employee/employer relationship (Sorko, 2012). The employee is judicious about the company's employee experience policies and inquires hard about the reality of this experience. These demands necessitate work environment that is socially rich and
psychologically empowering (Sorko, 2012). Under valuing these psychological benefits can be perceived by employees as lack of concern for their well being and may lead to employees losing faith and eventually quitting the firm. According to a new international report, The Retention Dilemma, by Hay Group (2002), significant factors in employee turnover include lack of advancement opportunities; under appreciation of employees’ skills or talents or when managers fail to take an interest in their career development; lack of clear direction on the
part of management and failure to implement internal branding. Similarly, a perceived lack of work-family balance and its corresponding reduction in job satisfaction is assumed to
produce other negative job behaviors such as absenteeism, impaired performance, and turnover (Families and Work Institute 1998a; Ford Foundation 1997 as cited in Saltzstein, Ting & Saltzstein, 2001). The Hay report also warns employers against strategies too heavily based on pay as it is not the major factor underlying employee dissatisfaction. Sorko, (2012) highlights this need for good employer-employee relations and states that a powerful method of retention is simply to ensure that people feel they are valued. “Also, many employees feel trapped in a narrow job function with no scope for development and one way to nurture good people is to recognise that high achievers require a job that stretches their talents. New job assignments are a great means to develop people. Cross‐functional moves, profit‐and‐loss responsibility, the chance to start a new business activity, and participation in high‐profile task forces all place employees in unfamiliar territory where they can develop new skills and grow. Other actions that can improve retention levels include recognizing training as a core way to keep staff to broaden experience, rather than reinforcing old skills (Hay, 2002)”. Research also shows that corporate social performance initiatives may heighten the feel good factor among employees encouraging them to continue with their employment (Backhaus et al., 2002; Greening & Turban, 2000; Turban & Greening, 1997).
Sorko, (2012), has highlighted similar factors that contribute to becoming an employer of choice that engenders intentions to stay with a firm: provision of a reasonable degree of security; enhanced future employability because of the reputation of the
organization as one that employs and develops high quality people, as well as the learning opportunities it provides; employment conditions that satisfy work- life balance needs; a reward system that recognizes and values contributions and provides competitive pay and benefits; interesting and rewarding work; and opportunities for learning, development and
career progression. All the above factors add up to a suitable employee value proposition which, as a means of attracting and retaining high potential employees, recognizes that they will be looking for strong values and expecting to be well managed, to have freedom and autonomy, high job challenge and career opportunities (Sorko, 2012). Similarly, the Hay report sums that employees respond particularly well to consistent, fair and comprehensive management of their performance and development. Adding that fair treatment, recognition of their success, freedom of action and a challenging, varied role are going to be increasingly more important to them (Hay, 2002). This value proposition can be conveniently showcased using recruitment videos by showcasing employee testimonials narrating their experience of fair treatment and growth opportunities in the firm.
Although, studies concerning social richness, media richness and vividness are in favor of videos being and effective mode for portraying employer brand, there is very little research analyzing the impact of the content of videos on perceptions of employer attraction and retention. Some initial studies that analyzed the content of videos include a study of collegiate recruitment videos to determine the overriding visual content and structure of the videos to test for their overall effectiveness in visual rhetorical power and message retention. (Fielder et al., 1993; Head, 2005). However, to analyze videos and their impact on employer-employee relations, first there is a need for a methodology for analyzing the content of videos and understanding how they are being used by organizations to portray their brand image.
To this end, this thesis used the same ten job attraction and retention related
categories used by the Backhaus (2004) in her research to classify recruitment text, and apply them to the content of recruitment videos. The first five categories of job choice and
attraction were supportive work environment; firm attributes; advancement opportunities; challenging work; and location. Backhaus, (2004), defined supportive work environment as warmth and concern for employees; firm attributes as size, growth-rate, and profitability of
the firm; and advancement opportunities as possibilities of career growth. The other five categories used were corporate social responsibility, or the extent to which the organization emphasizes its responsibilities to multiple stakeholders; customer orientation, the extent to which the firm focuses on customer satisfaction; climate, the everyday work environment; work/family balance, the ways in which the firm assists workers in meeting extra-work responsibilities; and compensation/benefits. To compare the trends between recruitment text and recruitment videos, this thesis utilises the same research questions as done by Backhaus (2004). The first research question which aimed to present a classification scheme for recruitment text will be used to analyse videos based on the above mentioned categories. In response to the above question, the Backhaus study found that firms largely focused on their firm attributes to impress prospective employees, followed by employee advancement and compensation/benefits. However, as this thesis was conducted 12 years after these findings were published, it was assumed that the recent emphasis on the employer-employee relations in literature would encourage employers to rethink their brand portrayal and give center stage to employer friendly policies. Similar pattern for emphasis on other retention related policies such as employee advancement was also expected. The second part of the research question analysed differences among messages conveyed among 12 industry groups, such as Help Supply, Info Technology, Business Services, Manufacturing etc. However, as the sample used for this thesis did not cover as many firms as used by Backhaus, (2004), the industry grouping was restricted to analyzing differences shown in the portrayal of their brand image between product manufacturing firms and service providing firms. Thus, a comparison of patterns with the Backhaus results would not be possible, however, it assumed that products based companies would focus more on using the popularity of their products to attract employees than service based firms.
categories of job attraction? Are there any differences in the usage of these categories between product based and service based firms?
The second research question analysed if firms were successful in creating a unique employer brand through their videos by emphasizing on certain categories than others in a bid to stand out among competitors. Here, also
RQ 2: Are firms able to deploy a unique employer brand through their recruitment videos to distinguish themselves from the completion?
Keeping with the firm centric view, the largest number of firms analysed in the Backhaus study were in product/service-centered, followed by balanced-scorecard brand category (organizations that provided a balanced picture of them- selves as employers as well as producers of products or services), culture-centered cluster, compensation-centered cluster with only two firms being able to uniquely portray themselves using CSR approach and employee advancement (Backhaus, 2004). This thesis assumed that firms will use combination of employer attraction and retention categories to portray their brand. Also, firms will refrain from focusing on single categories to keep their message appealing to different kinds of job seekers.
Method
To establish themselves as the employer of choice, firms try to use their recruitment videos to execute their employer branding strategy and establish the first link to appropriate potential employees. As mentioned earlier, to establish a link between recruitment videos and job attraction, this study applied the categorization framework created to analyze recruitment text on job portal Moster.com by Backhaus (2004) to achieve similar categorization of recruitment videos. These 10 categories were exhaustive in covering the recruitment themes found in the videos, and also capture the themes established in the recruitment literature.
Design
Sampling procedure. The research material comprised recruitment videos (n=50) taken from salary comparison and job search site, Glassdoor's, annual Employees' Choice Awards for 2015 and 2016. The award honors the 50 Best Places to Work across North America and parts of Europe. Winners are determined by the people who know these companies best—their employees (“Glassdoor - Best Places to Work,” n.d ). To keep the sampling scope manageable, but still capture a reasonably representative set of companies, a restricted time frame of the year 2015-2016 was used. The duration of the videos ranged from 2 minutes to 5 minutes. For the purpose of this study, a recruitment video was
considered as any video posted by an employer on their careers website, corporate website or Youtube channel and targeting existing or potential employees.
Coding Procedure. To begin, we checked for published recruitment videos from the 50 firms from the Glassdoor list in the US. We started with the 2016 winners but since ten of the firms listed did not have any type of recruitment videos available, ten more videos were chosen from the winners from the 2015 Glassdoor list from the US and the UK. To begin the coding each of sentence spoken in the videos was transcribed (n=744). Then each of it was mapped to one or more of the ten categories (for ex, if the term employee growth is used along with compensation then it would be mapped to both the categories). If a sentence did not fit any category, it was coded as NA.
After mapping of all the sentences was completed, each video received a ratio score for each category, based on the number of times the category appeared in relation to the total number of sentences in the video. For instance, if the entire video was predominantly focused on the category supportive work environment (for example, warmth and concern for
employees) then it would receive a score of 100% for the supportive work environment category and zero for all other categories. Lastly, to distinguish between the different industry
type and see if any differences emerge in the themes used in videos depending on the type of industry, we marked each firm as per their primary focus, for example, management
consulting, retail, food and beverages, construction. However, as the sample contained only 50 companies, there were not significant number of groups in each category. Thus, we chose to breakdown the analyzed firms as as either a product manufacturer or service provider, this helped divide the firms in two almost equal groups.
Reliability and validity. To increase the reliability of the interpretations made during the coding process and limit researcher bias, a second coder was invited to code 10% of the transcribed text population to test the inter-coder reliability. All 10 categories reported a satisfying inter-coder reliability of above α = 0.60. The category, location, reported the highest Krippendorff’s Alpha score, α = 1. The alpha scores for the other categories are: supportive work environment, α =0.89; firm attributes, α =0.85, advancement opportunities, α =0.96, challenging work, α =0.88, corporate social responsibility, α =0.79; customer
orientation, α =0.71; climate, α = .90 compensation/benefits, α =0.79, and work/family balance, α = .97
Results
In this section we will discuss the findings related to the two research questions. To answer the first research question of how is information in the recruitment videos distributed among the categories of job attraction, means of the proportions for each category were calculated i.e. the average amount of space allocated to each category by the firms.
The highest proportion of text in the videos was devoted to highlighting the
supportive work environment in the firm with an average of 26% of the text devoted to this category. Fifteen of the 50 firms studied used more than an average of 35% of their videos to establish this category. The high focus on this category was seen irrespective of the type of industries that the firms operated in. For example, world renowned producer of consumer
electronics, computer software, and online services, Apple Inc, devoted 77% of its text to this category, with focus on building camaraderie between team members and non-hierarchical nature of work. Following Apple, in this category was Vivint Solar, Inc. an American solar energy company, with 77% of its video comprising statements that showed complete support to employee betterment, such as favorable HR policies, open door policy of management and employee contribution in policy decisions. AirBnB, from the travel industry, used an average of 63% of its text showcasing the collaborative and supportive nature of everyday work environment and importance of happy employees feeding positively into the company culture. People have smile on their face. The most prominent focus of the category was essentially the “employee first” spirit. Phrases such as “Often the best ideas come from employees”, “the biggest resource is definitely the people”, “We are not a company, we are family”, “Adobe is a place where talent is revered, recognized and compensated”, “People are what makes this such a wonderful place” are seen in abundance scattered all around the category. Several mentions were made to the non-hierarchical nature of work conducive to learning and personal growth, trust in employees to take ownership of even challenging projects, value systems encouraging and adopting creative ideas of employees etc. Only four firms completely omitted this category and eight devoted less than 5% of their text to it.
The second biggest proportion of text was used by firms to establish their company using the category firm attributes, which refers to descriptions of the products, processes, size, scope, profitability, and success of the company. An average of 16% of the text comprised this category, with thirteen firms devoting more than 25% of their text to it. The firms that pulled the highest use of this category include, Bain & Company, a global
management consulting firm, with 67% of text devoted to it, followed by Expedia UK, online travel company with 59% and Bosch, a German multinational engineering and electronics company, allocating 55% of its text to talk about itself and its products.
To establish their reputation in the market and influence the perceptions of potential employees, firms referred to their global presence using words such as
international/multinational, their international reach in terms of projects, and number of years in operation, national awards and turnover in million/billions. The most repeated references were made to their position in the market, for example, “nation's largest human capital management providers”; “world leader in online travel”; “we are at the forefront of digital technology”; “Facebook is not just a website it in next phase of communication”; “We are the biggest health and wellness company in the world”; world leader in the field. Also, to
establish the superiority of their products and services, firms used phrases such as exceptional, unique and innovative products, large projects, complicated projects, iconic projects, ground breaking technologies and breakthroughs, impact on the market, for example, “revolutionizing travel with the use of technology path breaking cutting edge
solutions”, continuous innovation in technologies. Other recurring themes included being part of the Fortune 500 list and having clients from the list, expertise in most challenging
technologies, employee strength in numbers and their varied skillsets. Seven firms in the sample made no reference at all to their firm attributes whereas 9 firms devoted less than 5% of their space to this category in their videos.
Two categories, advancement opportunities and challenging work, ranked the third highest in terms of proportion of text allocated with 13% devoted to each of them.
Advancement opportunities are defined as possibilities of career growth and to highlight this aspect 15 of the firms devoted more than 25% of the space to this in their videos, with Accenture, a multinational management consulting firm, devoting 40% of its video to it. The most recurring themes appearing in the text under this category included, management trainee programs, opportunities to take over big projects independently, creative and intellectual freedom, investment in time and effort on employees, opportunities to create global impact
and learning from brightest minds in the industry, collaboration opportunities with the management, learning environment allowing people to grow professionally and personally, scope of international experience and working in different domains; opportunities to move up the hierarchy as well as within different departments; access to learning tools, establishing clear link between employee growth to company growth, opportunity for international assignments, and clear career paths etc. Seventeen of the firms made no mention of this category at all.
Overall 35 firms described the nature of their work and the hardships involved under the challenging work category with the highest two allocating as much as 67% of their videos to it. On the other hand,15 firms completely avoided any reference to this category, whereas 16 firms devoted under 10% of their text to it. Firms used references to their harsh working environment with respect to weather, technological challenges, absurd timings and shifts; challenge to take over roles that impact millions of people, challenge to cope with high pace environment in an ever evolving industry and working with CEO and other top management, need to stay alert and attentive to customer’s needs, lack of personal time, need to handle multiple customers and projects simultaneously.
Trailing the top four categories with 8% text allocation was the category of customer orientation, which showed a firm’s focus and concern towards serving the best interests of their customers. Out of the 50 firms analysed only 13 firms devoted more than 10% of their text to this category. On the other hand, 20 companies completely ignored this category, while 17 used only under 10% of their space to talk about this. The categories corporate social responsibility and compensation/benefits, were devoted an average of 6% of text each, whereas the category of climate received an average of only 4% of mentions in the sample. Work life balance was the least used category in the text with only 1.56% of text allocated to
it and 40 of the firms completely neglecting this category. Table 1, below presents the distribution of content among the various categories.
Table 1
Content distribution among categories
Categories Mean Highest average % of text Number of firms omitting the category Supportive Work Environment 26 77 4 Firm Attributes 16.30 67 7 Advancement Opportunities 13.32 42 17 Challenging Work 13.10 67 15 Location 3.40 23 34 Corporate Social Responsibility 6.04 45 28 Customer Orientation 8.22 45 20 Climate 4.60 33 32 Work/family Balance 1.56 25 40 Compensation/benefits 6.78 38 28
Next, we will discuss the second component of our first research question, whether industry types influenced the representation of the different categories by firms in their recruitment videos. Literature supports the notion that industries might differ in their
variance showed that in our sample significant differences were not found in any of the category analyzed. But it is interesting to note that, even though insignificant, product based companies allocated an average of 31% text to the theme supportive work environment category compared to an average of 21% text only among service based category. Product based companies also allocated slightly higher proportion of text in the firm attributes and advancement opportunity categories.
The second research question explored whether firms’ recruitment videos were able to depict unique employer brands to distinguish themselves from the completion. According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is defined as “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them which is intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Building Brands, 2003). A unique identity is essential for a firm to stand tall in a crowded marketplace particularly among competitors. We checked whether firms were able to distinguish
themselves using the methodology of categorization into the ten categories. Manual
observation of the data showed little variation in terms of usage of the categories indicating that most firms try to incorporate all the discussed categories to present their employer brand. For further analysis, K-means cluster analysis conducted to understand the grouping of different firms as per categories.
Figure 1. Categories based clustering of firms.
Attempts were made at dividing the firms into 4 and then 5 clusters, but each of their results tested in two or three member clusters. After repeated analyses, the differences were most meaningful with 3 clusters. The largest cluster contained 25 firms that marketed themselves most highly by giving maximum focus to the supportive and nurturing nature of their work environment with less than 20% of space allocated to the rest of the categories. The second and the smallest cluster contained only two firms, Bain & Company and
LinkedIn, both belonging to the service providing industry. The primary focus of this cluster was highlighting their challenging work environment with secondary focus on the firm attributes category. The third cluster contained 23 firms, which mostly talked about
themselves in their videos by highlighting their firm attributes and less than 20% of space allocated to the rest of the categories. Figure 1, showcases the membership of the three different clusters. The cluster analysis indicated that none of the firms were too keen on establishing a unique employer brand and instead tried to provide a balanced picture of their firms by talking about several aspects of their work life to inspire and attract potential job applicants.
Conclusions & discussion Conclusions
With the help of the classification methodology developed to analyze recruitment text by Backhaus (2004), this thesis was successful in uncovering the most recurring categories of job attraction in recruitment videos. Ambler & Barrow (1996, p. 187), defined the employer brand as “the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company”. To this end our research found that firms chose to emphasize on supportive work environment, firm attributes, employee advancement as well as challenging work to establish their brand and attract new talent from the job market. A comparison between the recruitment texts analysed by Backhaus and recruitment videos, highlights interesting variations and some points of agreements in the composition of these two mediums. The next section will discuss comparisons and the theoretical implications of the finding of this thesis.
Comparison between the two studies and theoretical implications
In the Backhaus study, to market themselves as potential employers, firms in the study tended to focus squarely on firm attributes, followed by employee advancement, compensation or benefits and supportive work environment (Backhaus, 2004). In contrast, recruitment videos dedicated most of their space to highlighting elements of supportive work
environment. The difference in space allocation in this category between the two studies can be linked to the shift in employer branding practices in the last decade from employer focus to employer-employee relation focus. The emphasis on employees can also be seen as an indication that firms are getting used to the idea that employees can be the source of innovation and competitive advantage. Also, the change in market dynamics have
strengthened the role of employees in creating positive portrayals of the employer’s brand image among external stakeholders, thus encouraging firms to ensure employee satisfaction to generate positive work of mouth. All these factors support why firms have been so vocal about their supportive employee treatment policies.
However, despite the shift towards supportive work environment, firm attributes remained to be the second most used category, highlighting that products, services, stature of the firm and its net worth help firms make a positive first impression and positively affect employer attraction and retention. Thus, it is beneficial on the part of the firms to emphasize these areas as employees across all generations are concerned with the reputation of their organisation because they feel it ultimately says something about themselves (Earle, 2003). In this context, this thesis supports the finding of the Backhaus study, which concluded that “individuals may be attracted to organizations that they perceive as large, well- known, and prestigious because they feel that as members of such organizations, they, too, gain
credibility and prestige. The grandiose descriptions that organizations present may satisfy a recruit’s desire to embark on a career that will make him or her a respected member of society” (Backhaus, 2004).
Similar to the findings from Backhaus, this thesis also found that employee
advancement was a significantly used categories in videos also, thus supporting Backhaus as well as several other researchers claiming that this category is an important driver of
needs within an organisation, providing them with well thought career advancement plans will increase their faith in the firm which would reflect in their performance as well as in interactions with other stakeholders. Also, in the ever evolving world of technological changes, keeping employees trained on the most recent technologies will not only enhance the human and intellectual capital of the firm but also give them a competitive edge.
However, unlike the Backhaus findings, this thesis did not find compensation/benefits as a popular element of job attraction. This finding is supported by job attraction and
retention researchers who claim that organizations can no longer solely rely on monetary benefits to lure employees as they are more interested in becoming corporate citizens that are valued by the organizations as individuals. Challenging work environment was also
frequently highlighted in the videos, but was not seen as an important category in the recruitment texts. Creation of a challenging work environment through introduction to new technologies and work streams, projects and holding people accountable will showcase the trust that the firms puts in employees’ leading to brand loyalty. Also, constant new
opportunities will fuel employees’ desires to innovate and excel leading to a more dedicated workforce.
Contrary to the assumptions, an industry-based comparison, showed that there were no significant differences in brand portrayal in the videos of service providing firms and product manufacturing firms, with both providing almost equal importance to the most important categories mentioned above. The limited sample size can be seen as a deciding factor here, as with a wider sample it would have been possible to achieve an industry grouping as done by Backhaus and possibly uncover significant differences.
Keeping with the firm centric view, the largest number of firms analysed in the Backhaus study were in product/service-centered, followed by balanced-scorecard brand
category (organizations that provided a balanced picture of themselves as employers as well as producers of products or services), culture-centered cluster, compensation-centered cluster with only two firms being able to uniquely portray themselves using CSR approach and employee advancement (Backhaus, 2004). As per the finding of this thesis, supportive work environment and firm attributes waere predominantly used in the biggest clusters,
showcasing continued emphasis to these categories. Only two firms tried to differentiate themselves with highest emphasis on advancement opportunities. As assumed the analyzed firms did not let any single category dominate their videos, hinting at trying to create a holistic picture of their work life, culture and emphasis on employees that make them an employer of choice to all kinds of job seekers.
Another interesting similarity between the two studies was the disregard shown to some crucial elements of corporate image such as corporate social performance and work-family balance that literature supports as drivers of employer attraction. Research shows that being socially responsible increases positive perceptions about the firm in the society and can encourage job seekers to associate with such as firm. Similarly, the concept of work-life-balance has been shown to decrease stress levels and dissatisfaction with work leading to more loyal workforce. It is interesting that even after 12 years since the Backhaus study was conducted the trend of usage of these categories has not shown any significant changes. Firms need to pay immediate attention to these areas to further strengthen their brands.
Also, even though social media is being leveraged to distribute recruitment videos, contrary to the assumption there was no call to action made in the videos to join the firm on their various social media outlets. Bringing together current as well as potential future employees as an online community can serve as an avenue to have discussions about the brand to increase its popularity and reach, spread the brand message and build its reputation
through positive word of mouth. Presence in social media as well as making online
connections has become an important part of today’s generation and since firms in our study have shown a great inclination to highlighting areas that directly concern their employees, the lack of effort in this area shows that firms are yet to utilize the complete potential of
recruitment videos and social media. These findings have important theoretical implications as they show that firms have already begun to incorporate fair treatment of employees, which has been highlighted as an important driver of job attraction, into their employer branding strategy as reflected in the videos. The subsequent sections present the limitations of this thesis and future directions for research related videos and their role in employer branding as well as practical implications.
The finding of this thesis mark the initial attempts at deciphering recruitment videos and help us understand the existing trends in videos and areas of emphasis in terms of information about a firm.
Limitations & Future Research
Like all field research, the present study has limitations. The biggest limitation of this research is the unitary source of list of employers. Although the Glassdoor awards are based on the employees ranking their employers, the selection did restrict the sample scope to US and UK. Future research in this area should cover more cultures and nationalities to
understand region specific patterns of job attraction among the local population. The limited sample size also made it impossible to analyze industry wise differences. Furthermore, the sampling period of one year also posts a limitation on the findings as research claims that employer branding strategies evolve based on contexts and may differ during periods or prosperity, economic downturn and other societal contexts. A longer sampling period may highlight interesting insights into the context based changes reflected in an employer brand.
As the emphasis in the majority of the videos was on the human capital and how employers can meet their needs, future inquiries into recruitment videos can leverage an experimental set up to assess the perceptions of potential and incumbent employees. In-depth analysis can be done to analyse the limited attention paid to topics such as CSR and work-life balance, which have been proven in previous research as important factors of job attraction. Also, as videos are perched to be the communication tool of the future, research can also be done to classify the different type of videos produced by employers for the purposes of internal or external marketing of the employer brand. Different formats and content of videos such as micro videos currently published on Twitter as well as differences among videos featuring top management or other employees also can be an upcoming area for research.
Practical implications
With multiple information avenues fuelled by the world wide web, firms can no longer control the information available to job seekers. However, they can leverage their employer branding strategy to create their image as an employer of choice through the entertaining and informative mode of recruitment videos. Recruitment videos can be used as an efficient mode of electronic word of mouth. Just like user reviews for products are
considered more reliable, the same can hold true when potential job seekers hear great things about an employer from employees they can identify with.
Managers can use the elements of employer branding as guiding stars for developing an effective recruitment videos. Keeping in mind the studies discussed and the findings of this thesis, employers should pay heed to the most popular categories of job attraction and retention. As employees become more knowledgeable and discerning about associating with a firm, firms should focus on encouraging engagement and identification with them through their videos. They should use the persuasive powers of videos to drive their point home.
These efforts can be supported by trying to impress job seekers with the size and success of the firm and encouraging them to be a part of it. They should try to breed familiarity through employee testimonials by employees at different positions. Also, to provide a holistic picture of the work-life they should allow employees to explain the most important psychological benefits of being with the firm. Social responsibility initiatives should also be part of videos as they help establish a company’s role in making a change in the society, which may encourage people to look at the job opportunity with a sense of purpose beyond work. Thus, recruitment videos should serve as an embodiment of all the aspects of a firm that makes it unique, attractive and a great place to work and grow.
References
Aggerholm, H. K., Andersen, S. E., & Thomsen, C. (2011). Conceptualising employer branding in sustainable organisations. Corporate Communications: An International
Journal, 16, 105-123.
Ambler, T., & Barrow, S. (1996). The employer brand. Journal of Brand Management, 185– 206.
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. A. (1989). Social identity and the organization. Academy of
Management Journal, 14, 20-39.
Backhaus, B. K., (2004). An exploration of corporate recruitment descriptions on monster.com. Journal of Business Communication, 115-136.
Barney, J.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of
Management, 17, 99-120.
Bergstrom, K., & Anderson, M. (2000). Delivering on promises to the marketplace: Using employment branding to build employee satisfaction. Journal of Integrated
Communications, 52-56.
Chaiken, S., & Bagly, A. (1983). Communication modality as a determinant of persuasion: The role of communicator salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 241- 256
Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2015–2020. (2016, June 1). Retrieved June 19, 2016, from
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html.
activities and the application decisions of new labor-market entrants: a brand equity approach to recruitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1121–1133, DOI: 10.1037//0021-9010.87.6.1121.
Coyle, J. R., & Thorson, E. (2001). The Effects of Progressive Levels of Interactivity and Vividness in Web Marketing Sites. Journal of Advertising, 30, 65-77.
Earle, H. E. (2003). Building a workplace of choice: Using the work environment to attract and retain top talent. Journal of Facilities Management, 2, 244 – 257. Families and Work Institute. (1998a). The 1997 national study of the changing workforce,
executive summary. New York: Families and Work Institute.
Ford Foundation. 1997. Relinking Life and Work: Toward a Better Future, executive summary. New York: Ford Foundation.
Glassdoor - Best Places to Work. (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2016, from
https://www.glassdoor.ca/Award/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.html.
Greening, D., & Turban, D. (2000). Corporate social performance as a competitive advantage in attracting a quality workforce. Business and Society, 39, 254-280.
Hay, M. (2002). Strategies for survival in the war of talent. Career Development
International, 7, 52-55.
Head, F. J. (n.d). Collegeiate telecounselling and recruitment videos. In Swann, C. C., & Hendersosn, E. S., (Eds.). Handbook for the college admissions profession. Connecticut, Greenwood Press.
Hairong, L., Daugherty, T., & Frank Biocca. (2002). Impact of 3-D Advertising on Product Knowledge, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Presence.
Journal of Advertising, 31, 43-57.
John, S., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications, London: Wiley.
Jonathan, S. (1994). Vividness and Source of Evaluation as Determinants of Social
Responses Toward Mediated Representations of Agency. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University.
Lee, K. M. (2004), Presence, Explicated. Communication Theory, 14,27-50.
Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/en- GB/statistics.htm.
Martin, G., Gollan, P. J., & Grigg, K. (2011). Is there a bigger and better future for employer branding? Facing up to innovation, corporate reputations and wicked problems in SHRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22:17, 3618-3637, DOI:10.1080/09585192.2011.560880
Martin, G., & Groent-in’t Woud, S. (2011). Employer branding and corporate reputation management in global companies –a signaling model and case illustration. In Scullion, H., & Collings, D. G. (Eds.), Global talent management (pp. 87-100), Newyork; NY, Routledge
Martin, G. and Hetrick, S. (2006), Corporate Reputations, Branding and Managing People: A Strategic Approach to HR, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
Saltzstein, A. L., Ting, Y., & Saltzstein, G. H. (2001). Work-family balance and job
satisfaction: the impact of family-friendly policies on attitudes of federal government employees. Public Administration Review, 61, 452-467.
Sokro, E. (2012). Impact of employer branding on employee attraction and retention. European Journal of Business and Management, 4, 164-173.
Saini, G. K., Rai, P., & Chaudhary, M. K. (2014). What do best employer surveys reveal about employer branding and intention to apply? Journal of Brand Management, 21, 95-111
Issue.
Swenson, M. J., & Herche, J. (1994). Social values and salesperson performance: An empirical examination. Academy of Marketing Science Journal, 283-290.
Turban, D. B., & Greening, D. W. (1997). Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 658-673.
Wathne, K (1996). Chapter 3; Roos, J & Von Krogh, G (1996) Managing knowledge; Perspectives on cooperation and completion. SAGE Publications ltd.
Appendix
Firms appearing in the Glassdoor 2015-16 list of top 50 employers analysed for the thesis:
1. AirBnB
2. Bain & Company 3. Guidewire
4. Hubspot 5. Facebook 6. LinkedIn
7. Boston Consulting Group 8. Google
9. Nestlé Purina PetCare 10. Zillow
11. Eastman
12. In-N-Out Burger 13. MINDBODY
14. Power Home Remodeling 15. Expedia US
16. HEB 17. Adobe
18. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 19. Delta Airlines
20. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 21. Protiviti
22. QwikTrip 23. Apple 24. Twitter 25. Vivint Solar 26. Paycom
27. Wegman's food market 28. Slalom Consulting 29. Akamai 30. Expedia UK 31. Oxfam 32. Microsoft 33. Starbucks 34. BOSCH 35. REI 36. Solar City 37. GE Aviation 38. Chevron 39. Genentech 40. Workday 41. Turner Construction 42. Gensler 43. Southwest Airlines 44. Stryker 45. Gartner 46. Concur Recruitement
47. McKinsey & Company 48. Accenture
49. Nestle 50. P&G
