Your vibe attracts your tribe : an experimental research into what attracts young talented millennials in job advertisements

(1)

Your vibe attracts your tribe

An experimental research into what attracts young talented millennials in job advertisements.

Master thesis

Maxime Reinders Folmer 10334512

27th of June 2017

Corporate Communication Graduate School of Communication Supervisor: Irina Lock Word count: 6.859

(2)

Abstract

Given the critical imperative to attract top-quality employees in the years ahead, increasing awareness of the potential contribution of employer branding in job advertisements is of high value. This study is conducted in light of the millennial-generation seeking fulltime

employment and the increased competition between organisations to attract young talent. This study builds on prior research into the influence of Employer branding on organisational attractiveness. It explores the possibilities of incorporating CSR initiatives and an Employee story in job-advertisements in order to increase employer attractiveness and intentions to apply. For this purpose an online experiment (N = 129) was conducted in which participants were randomly assigned to one of four fictional job-advertisements. Firstly, results revealed that the employer attractiveness is a strong predictor of the intention to apply. Secondly, this study found that overemphasis of characteristics of an organisation communicated in a job advertisement decreases employer attractiveness. Therefore, the focus of the communication should be on either CSR initiatives or an employee story but not both. Thirdly, millennials with a high social consciousness place increased importance on the person-organisation fit. This means that organisations wanting to attract talented millennials that fit the organisations’ culture they need to clearly communicate their companies’ character. Show your vibe to attract your tribe. The present study confirms the importance of incorporating company characteristics in job-advertisements in order to attract talented millennials.

(3)

War for Talent

Organisations need employees who are skilled, creative and driven to differentiate the company from its competitors. With a finite number of extraordinary employees to go around, competition is fierce. Moreover, since employees are no longer recruited solely for their functional knowledge and skills but compatibility between the employee and the organisation is becoming equally important (Elving, 2012), the recruitment process is becoming more complicated. This adds to the challenge of attracting high-quality employees to the organisation. On the other side it’s the job seekers that ultimately decide whether they apply for a position based on the organisations’ perceived image as an employer (Highhouse, Zickar, Thorsteinson, Stierwalt, & Slaughter, 1999). Therefore, in order to attract the right talented employees the company must establish potential compatibility by communicating its culture and values.

In addition, the process of attracting employees with high potential is changing. By 2025, millennials (born after 1980) will represent 75% of the global workforce (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). Members of the millennials-generation have different demands on their employer than previous generations. For instance, they are more focused on whether the organisation supports an individuals’ personality (Elving, 2012). Being an attractive employer has become a challenge for organisations since they need to create and change their employer image to attract the right talent, a process called employer branding (EB) (Aggerholm, Andersen & Thomsen, 2011). The employer brand consists of both instrumental functions and symbolic meanings. Instrumental functions are for instance the tangible attributes like salary and symbolic meanings are the intangible attributes like company values (Lievens, 2007). Previous research has shown that organisations are better differentiated from competition based on symbolic meaning than on basis of instrumental attributes (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003). Whether this focus on symbolic meaning also leads to a higher

(4)

attractiveness and intention to apply is unknown but in order to attract talent organisations have to stand out from the crowd.

Your vibe attracts your tribe

One way of differentiating the organisation from competition is by communicating its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the job advertisement. When implementing symbolic meaning the values of the organisation are revealed in ways other facets of a job-description cannot (Judge & Cable, 1997). A lot of research has been done on the effects of CSR on organisational effectiveness mostly focussing on enhancing financial performances (Kim, Lee, Lee & Kim, 2010). Whereas, little research has been done so far on how communicating CSR initiatives can have potential to attract future employees via employer branding (Greening & Turban, 2000). However, previous empirical studies found that perceptions of positive CSR performance can enhance the organisational attractiveness too (Greening & Turban, 1997; Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002).

Another way of incorporating symbolic meaning is by implementing employee stories in job advertisements. Employee stories let candidates hear from future co-workers in their own words about their career experience at the organisation. For employee stories to be meaningful, they should be level appropriate and framed around experiences they had when they were at the same level as the candidate (Ready, 2002). Moreover, stories “proactively” told by employees are found to be more attractive than stories told by the organisation itself (Sullivan, 1999). Therefore, implementing an employee story in a job-advertisement could increase the employer attractiveness.

This research is built upon the social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and person-organisation fit theories (Judge & Cable, 1997) and adds current insights into the possible moderating effects of the social responsibility attitude and social identity consciousness of millennials on employer attractiveness and their intention to apply for a job.

(5)

Given the critical imperative to attract top-quality employees in the years ahead, increasing awareness of the potential contribution of employer branding in job advertisements is of high value. Communicating CSR initiatives show the values of an organisation and employee stories create accurate expectations of what working at the organisation is like. However, when it comes to the perspective of the millennials it is unknown whether these symbolic elements truly increase employer attractiveness. Whether this attractiveness of the organisation leads to a higher intention to apply. Lastly, when it comes to their preferences are millennials more attracted by purpose-driven values i.e. CSR initiatives or do they prefer to know what an organisation is like when you work there. As such, understanding the decision-making processes from the millennials’ perspective is crucial to improve recruitment efforts (Hausknecht, Day & Thomas, 2004). This leads to the following research question:

RQ: What symbolic elements do millennials perceive as more attractive in job-advertisements and therefore increase intentions to apply?

Literature review

Challenges of employers with millennials entering the labour market

Generation Y, the Internet Generation, the Nintendo Generation, Generation Me, the Trophy Kids and Millennials have all been used to identify a group born between roughly 1980-2000 (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). Millennials are a polarizing generation that exhibit a number of contradictory attitudes and behaviours. On the one hand they are known for being a self-absorbed generation of which “It’s all about me” seems to be a mantra. While on the other hand they have been praised for being a purpose-driven generation with a commitment to make the world a better place (Alsop, 2008).

(6)

When it comes to job searching, millennials are known for stressing a high importance on personal growth opportunities and the right person-organisation fit (Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002). Whereas, for organisations it is hard to differentiate themselves from competition since job-related factors within the same industry are similar (Van Hoye, Cromheecke & Lievens, 2013). Millennials identify with an organization based on the values of the organisation and information describing what it would be like to work at the company (Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002). This idea is supported by similarity attraction or person-organisation fit (p-o fit). The p-o fit indicates that potential employees compare the employers’ characteristics to their own needs, personality and values. The better the match,

the more likely the individual is to be attracted (Judge & Cable, 1997). By using symbolic meaning in job advertisements and thus highlighting unique aspects of the culture and environment it is suggested that new talent can be better attracted. Perceptions of attractiveness predict an individuals’ job application intention (Saks, 1995), therefore it is assumed that the employer attractiveness is of direct influence on an individuals’ intention to apply. This leads to the following hypothesis:

H1: The more attractive the employer is perceived, the higher the intention to apply for a job at the organisation.

However, the Employer Attractiveness can also serve as a mediator between the CSR initiatives and Employee story on the Intention to Apply. This leads to the following hypotheses:

H2: The Employer Attractiveness mediates the effect of CSR initiatives on the Intention to Apply.

H3: The Employer Attractiveness mediates the effect of Employee story on the Intention to Apply.

(7)

Collins and Stevens (2002) suggest that organisations that understand how their job descriptions match the needs of employees, and further communicate the value of their jobs, will have a better chance of attracting young talent. Therefore an exploratory research question has been added to get more insights into what millennials find attractive organisational benefits. This question is not part of the hypothesis or the conceptual model and is only used to explore which benefits they place value on. The benefits can either be tangible (competitive salary, comfortable workplace) or intangible (supporting causes you care about). The tangible benefits would impose a more personal gain focus and the intangible benefits are more purpose-driven. Based on the different opinions on millennials it is interesting to see which benefits are found more valuable and enhance attractiveness.

Attracting new talent with job advertisements

Organisational identification literature suggests that in order to start the process of identification there should be a value match between the person and the organisation (Edwards, 2005). The communicated organisations’ identity and specific characteristics (vibe) will decide whether the potential employee (tribe) identifies with the organisation (Dutton, Dukerich & Harquail, 1994). But in order for this to happen the organisation needs to communicate their characteristics. When organisations do not supply sufficient information, applicants are more likely to disregard the organisation as a company they want to work at. Moreover, applicants pay more attention to messages that convey personally relevant information and the messages are found to be more attractive (Chaiken & Strangor, 1987; Barber & Roehling, 1993). As mentioned before, one way of showing characteristics and values is by communicating the organisations’ CSR initiatives.

Firstly, engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is of growing importance across the (Western) world and previous research has shown that perceptions of positive CSR

(8)

performance enhance the organisational attractiveness (Turban & Greening, 1997; Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002). Therefore communicating CSR initiatives as a way of differentiating the organisation from its competitors can create an advantage for organisations when attracting new employees (Turban & Greening, 1997).

Although CSR is just like employer branding about values, sustainability and social responsibility, it is still often ignored in human resource management and thus in employer branding (Preuss, Haunschild & Matten, 2009). CSR describes the relationship between an organisation and the larger society. CSR has been broadly defined as “actions that appear to

further some social good beyond the interest of the firm and that which is required by law” (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001).

Studies suggest that millennials are aware of five dimensions of CSR in particular: local community relations, diversity practices, employee relations, product quality and environmental impact (Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002; Behrend, Baker & Thompson, 2009). When it comes to initial attraction to the organisation the first three dimensions are of most influence (Cable, Aiman-Smith, Mulvey & Edwards, 2000). These workplace conditions and practices may be inherently more meaningful for job seekers since they provide information of what it would be like to work at the organisation (Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002). Using CSR initiatives as unique selling point can possibly create a situation in which a potential employee is more inclined to choose one company over the other. Therefore, communicating CSR initiatives in job advertisements will positively influence a job seekers’ decision. This leads to the following hypothesis:

H4: Millennials are more likely to be attracted by organisations that communicate CSR initiatives in their job advertisements than organisations that do not communicate CSR initiatives.

(9)

However, it is necessary to take into account that not all individuals are actually interested in CSR, or might even see CSR initiatives in a negative context. Scepticism can arise when companies overemphasize CSR activities, “they just do so to improve their image and do not really live up to those messages” (Philips, 2006). Every individual has different values and

even though millennials are known for an increased interest in social and environmental issues this doesn’t count for everyone. Some millennials are not attracted by CSR activities,

as they do not want to work for a charity or don’t see the usefulness of promoting CSR. Therefore it is expected that the prior social responsibility attitude can have a moderating effect on the relationship between the CSR communication and employer attractiveness. Therefore, it is important to identify how the individual perceives social responsibility. This leads to the following hypothesis:

H5: Millennials with a high sense of social responsibility are more likely to be attracted by organisations that communicate their CSR initiatives in their job advertisement than millennials that have an average or low sense of social responsibility.

Secondly, employees nowadays are seen as representatives of an organisation and, therefore, have a great impact on outsiders’ perceptions of the organisation (Harris & de Charnatony, 2001). Using current employees to lure potential employees can also be seen as a form of employer branding. By offering a highly relevant employee story, a company creates an identifiable situation. Essentially, the employment brand in this case reduces the risk for a job seeker to make a bad decision, attempting to convince young talent that they will not go wrong if they seek employment here (Ewing, Pitt, de Bussy & Berthon, 2002). The assumption is that by providing ‘personal employee experiences’ organisations clarify and manage their “employment experience” which helps to create value. More importantly, these

(10)

employee stories are unique to the organisation providing differentiation from competitors (Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004).

Clearly people will differ in what they search for and enjoy when working at an organisation. However, in this research it is assumed that when an organisation puts effort in providing a personal employee story the more attractive it is perceived (Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004). This leads to the following hypothesis:

H6: Millennials are more likely to be attracted by organisations that communicate an employee story in their job advertisements than organisations that do not implement an employee story in their job advertisements.

Based on findings in previous research and the hypothesis mentioned above, it is expected that job advertisements that contain both CSR initiatives and an Employee story will have the most positive effect on the Employer Attractiveness (Collins & Stevens, 2002; Chaiken & Strangor, 1987; Barber & Roehling, 1993; Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004) . This leads to the following hypothesis:

H7: Millennials are most attracted by organisations that communicate CSR initiatives and an Employee story in their job advertisements than organisations that do not communicate CSR initiatives or an Employee story.

Millennials find working is a vital part of once life. Organisations, therefore, are said to serve as a part of one’s identity and the organisation is thus an important type of social group i.e.

tribe. The social identity theory posits that people affiliate themselves with organisations that have socially favourable characteristics (Highhouse, Thornbury & Little, 2007). Social

(11)

identity concerns have been conceptualised in two specific needs: the need to impress and the need to express (Highhouse, Thornbury & Little, 2007).

Figure 1. Relation of symbolic inferences to self-presentation goals and employer attraction.

The need to impress is the social adjustment concern (SA) and the need to express is the value expression concern (VE). Individuals that are predominately concerned with impressing others are high in SA concern, whereas those high on VE are concerned with socially approved or ‘good’ values. Based on the needs of millennials it is expected that they

are attracted by socially responsible attributes of an organisation. Communicating CSR initiatives as well as communicating an employee story is both a form of expressing values. Whether millennials are actually more attracted by these values is unkown. This again stresses the importance of gaining more insights into the possible moderating effect of social identity consciousness. In the end, understanding the relation between organisational values and employer attractiveness requires an understanding of millennials’ standing on the social-identity consciousness dimensions (Highhouse, Thornbury & Little, 2007). This leads to the following hypothesis:

(12)

H8: Millennials with a higher social identity consciousness are more likely to be attracted to organisations communicating their CSR initiatives in their job advertisements than millennials with an average or low social identity consciousness.

H9: Millennials with a high social identity consciousness are more likely to be attracted to organisations that implement an employee story in their job advertisements than millennials with an average or low social identity consciousness.

The following conceptual model (Figure 2) is developed based on the presented theoretical background and hypotheses.

Figure 1. Conceptual model. H7 + CSR initiatives Employee story Social identity consciousness Employer attractiveness Intention to apply Social Responsibility Attitude H4 + H8 + H5 + H9 + H6 + H1 + H2 + H3 +

(13)

Method Participants, Procedure, and Pretest

This study employed a 2 (CSR initiative) x 2 (Employee story) between-subjects factorial design. The original sample consisted of 136 millennials that started the survey. After deleting drop-outs the final sample consisted of 129 Millennials between 18 and 34 years old that participated in the experiment (M = 25.2, SD = 3.52). 75% of the participants were female and 25% were male. The majority of the millennials were Dutch (96%) but also other nationalities such as American, Canadian, Luxembourg, French and German were mentioned (4% international). The sample comprised of mostly highly educated millennials of which had a Master (30%), Bachelor (30%) or Applied Sciences (27%) degree. 53% of all the participants are currently fulltime employed (N = 68) of which 22% will search for a new job within the next 12 months (N = 22). Moreover, 48% of all participants will search for a fulltime-job within the next 12 months (N = 61). The experiment was made with Qualtrics and was spread via the Internet while using a convenience sample. Due to financial and time restricted reasons, the questionnaire was spread via social media, i.e. Facebook, email, peers, friends and family. It took two weeks to get enough participants. There were only two criteria to enter the experiment and that was that you had to be a Millennial (born between 1980-2000) and at least 18 years old. Due to the age minimum of 18 years the Millennials born in 2000 could not participate in the research. If one of the criteria were not met, participants were automatically directed to the end of the survey.

The participants were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. First, the participants were asked about their Social Identity Consciousness to prevent the possibility that they were influenced by the CSR initiatives in the vignettes. After exposure to the manipulation material the questionnaire continued with statements that measure the constructs: Organisational Attractiveness, Intention to Apply, and the Social Responsibility

(14)

Attitude. Followed by the additional question asking to value eleven organisational benefits. The questionnaire ended with questions regarding the demographic characteristics, i.e. gender, education, current employment. In order to increase the response rate these confidential questions were asked at the end of the survey (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). All responses were processed anonymously. An overview of all variables, their measures and measure levels can be seen in appendix B.

For the purpose of the research a job advertisement was created (see Appendix A). The job advertisement comprised a traineeship for a fictional company named “The AMS Chocolate Company”. Keeping in mind that most Millennials are recently graduated or fairly

new to the job market a traineeship was seen most appealing and suitable. The content of the traineeship was based on actual advertisements from different chocolate companies and other Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies based in Amsterdam. Four different advertisements were created based on including and excluding CSR initiatives and including and excluding an Employee story.

According to a recent market study on the Millennial employee engagement (2016) high involvement and local community activities were found most appealing. Moreover, according to Backhaus, Stone & Heiner (2002) impactful CSR communication consisted of elements describing the environment, local community relations and high involvement activities. Therefore, these topics were used to describe the companies “Social Responsibility vision” based on activities done every day, month and year.

Regarding the employee story material the choice was made to be as authentic as possible. Therefore an existing employee story from a similar company was translated into English and slightly adjusted towards this research. The overall traineeship description and qualifications needed were broadly defined to be attractive for a wide range of study backgrounds. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions and asked to read the job

(15)

advertisement carefully. To prevent respondents from skipping or not reading the job advertisement a timer was placed on the page. After ninety seconds participants were able to continue to the next questions.

In the pretest among 10 people, participants were asked to read and give feedback on the questionnaire. Averages were calculated and analyses showed that the two manipulations differed in the attractiveness (CSR initiatives M = 6.2, SD = 0.49 versus no CSR initiatives M = 4.8, SD = 1, t(10) = 9.25, p < .05 and Employee Story M = 5.9, SD = 0.6 versus No Employer story M = 4.9, SD = 1.3, t(10) = 3.2, p < .05). Therefore, these vignettes were used in the main study as the manipulation material.

Measurements

Organisational attractiveness

The organisational attractiveness was measured by five items on a general organisational attractiveness 7-point Likert scale (Highhouse, Lievens & Sinar, 2003). All items measured an attitude or expressed intention towards the organisation. Examples of these items were “A job at this company is very appealing to me” or “This company is attractive to me as a place

for employment”. One item “I would not be interested in this company except as a last resort” had to be rescaled in order to measure the same direction as the other items. Items scores were averaged to create a single measure of organizational attractiveness (Cronbach’s alpha = .80, M = 5.1, SD = 1.02). The variable “Organisational Attractiveness” (minimum score 2.2 and maximum score 7) implies that the higher the score, the more attracted the millennial is to the company.

(16)

Intention to apply

The intention to apply was measured with five items from the Intentions to Pursue scale on a 7-point Likert scale (Highhouse, Lievens & Sinar, 2003). These items comprised more active statements that measure an intention and imply a further action. Examples of these items were “If this company invited me for a job interview, I would go” or “I would accept a job offer from this company”. Items scores were averaged to create a single measure of

organizational attractiveness (Cronbach’s alpha =0.91, M = 5.11, SD = 1.07). The Intention to Apply variable (minimum score 2 and maximum score 7) implies that the higher the score, the higher the millennials’ intention to apply for a job.

Moderating variables

Social Identity Consciousness

The Social Identity consciousness was measured by the Concern for Value-scale on a 7-point Likert scale (Highhouse, Thornbury & Little 2007). This value expression-scale is derived from the distinction between ‘expressing’ and ‘impressing’. For the purpose of this research

only the items measuring the Value Expression are used. An example item for this scale is “It is important to work for a company that is scandal free”. Items scores were averaged to create

a single measure of organizational attractiveness (Cronbach’s alpha =0.67, M = 5.4, SD = 0.82). The Social Identity consciousness variable (minimum score 1.8 and maximum score 7) implies that the higher the score, the higher the social identity consciousness.

Social Responsibility Attitude

The social responsibility attitude was measured with the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility (PRESoR) on a 7-point Likert scale (Singhapakdi, Kraft, Vitell & Rallapalli, 1995). This scale is adjusted to the specific intentions of this research. The PRESoR-scale is normally used for long-term organisational effectiveness (Singhapakdi, Kraft, Vitell &

(17)

Rallapalli, 1995) but it can be used for ethical judgements and intentions too (Vitell, 2003). Items scores were averaged to create a single measure of organizational attractiveness (Cronbach’s alpha =0.79, M = 5.2, SD = 0.79). The Social Identity consciousness variable

(minimum score 3.11 and maximum score 6.78) implies that the higher the score, the higher the social responsibility attitude.

Data analysis

To test the hypothesis several statistical analysis were done. Firstly, to test the hypothesis regarding the influence of Employer Attractiveness on the Intention to Apply (interval/ratio level) a regression analysis is done. The second and third hypothesis concerning the mediating role of Employer Attractiveness is tested by several simple linear regression analyses. All other hypothesis can be tested with one Two-way ANOVA analysis of variance (Field, 2009). The Two-way ANOVA makes it possible to test the main effects of CSR initiatives and Employee Story, the interaction between CSR initiatives and Employee Story and test the moderating effects of Social Identity Consciousness and Social Responsibility attitude on the main effects. To answer the exploratory research question about organisational benefits the mean scores were calculated per benefit (Field, 2009).

Results

Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the manipulations. However, before testing the hypothesis the sample was checked for equal demographic characteristics between the groups. Analysis showed that the people in all four experimental groups did not significantly differ with respect to their average age, gender, and education. The respondents were also asked whether they currently have a fulltime job (minimum of 32 hours per week) and if they are likely to start searching for a new job within the next 12 months. These two variables could be of influence on whether they find a job advertisement attractive and their intention to apply. These variables did not significantly differ between the four groups. Therefore, the

(18)

sample is equally divided and any significant results cannot be derived from sample differences but are due to differences in the manipulation material. No variables needed to be included as covariate. Three hypotheses were supported (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Standardized path coefficients for the final model. Note. *p < 0.01

Testing the hypothesis

To test H1 a simple linear regression analysis was done to see whether the independent variable Employer Attractiveness is a valid predictor of the dependent variable Intention to Apply. The regression model showed that the Employer Attractiveness is a significant predictor, F(1, 127) = 324.39, p<0.001. The Employer Attractiveness is a useful strong predictor of the Intention to Apply: 71% can be predicted based on the Employer Attractiveness (R2 = 0,71). Employer Attractiveness, b* = 0.85, t = 18.01, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.79, 0.99]. When the Employer Attractiveness rises with one point, the Intention to Apply

H7=0.01* CSR initiatives Employee story Social identity consciousness Employer attractiveness Intention to apply Social Responsibility Attitude H4= 0.08 H8=0.12 H5=0.69 H9=0.01* H6=0.67 H1=0.00* H2=0.12 H3=0.61

(19)

will rise with 0.89. Therefore, the first hypothesis is accepted and significant effects on the Employer Attractiveness automatically imply for the Intention to Apply too.

The second and third hypothesis tested whether Employer Attractiveness mediates the effect of CSR initiatives and Employee story on the Intention to Apply. To test H2 and H3 four simple linear regression analyses were done (see table 1). None of the results were significant. Employer Attractiveness does not mediate the direct effect of CSR initiatives nor the direct effect of Employee story on the Intention to Apply.

Independent Dependent (df) F Sig. R2

CSR initiatives Employer attractiveness 1, 127 1,80 0,182 0,01 CSR initiatives Intention to Apply 1, 127 2,43 0,121 0,02 Employee story Employer attractiveness 1, 127 0,86 0,354 0,01 Employee story Intention to Apply 1, 127 0,26 0,612 0,00

Table 1. Results simple linear regressions for the mediation analysis.

For the other hypothesis a Two-way ANOVA analysis of variance was done. The Levene’s test of Equality of Error Variances is not significant. Therefore, it can be assumed

that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal across groups.

The fourth hypothesis is rejected. The Two-way ANOVA shows no significant difference for the main effect of independent variable CSR initiatives on the dependent variable Employer Attractiveness F (1, 105) = 3.12, p = 0.08. The presence of CSR initiatives in the job advertisement does not have a significant effect on the Employer Attractiveness.

(20)

The fifth hypothesis is rejected. The Two-way ANOVA shows no significant difference for the interaction effect of CSR initiatives*Social Responsibility attitude F (2, 105) = 0.55, p = 0.69. The Social Responsibility attitude doesn’t increase the effect of CSR initiatives on the Employer Attractiveness.

The sixth hypothesis is rejected. The Two-way ANOVA shows no significant difference for the main effect of independent variable Employee Story on the dependent variable Employer Attractiveness F (1, 105) = 0.18, p = 0.67. The presence of an Employee Story in the job advertisement does not have a significant effect on the Employer Attractiveness.

The Two-way ANOVA shows a really weak but significant interaction effect of CSR initiatives*Employee Story F (2, 105) = 6.95, p <0.01, η2 = 0.05. The seventh hypothesis is rejected. The Millennials that read the CSR initiatives but did not see an Employee story score most positive on the Employer Attractiveness (M = 5,45, SD = 0,16). The Millennials that did not see CSR initiatives nor an Employee Story score lowest on Employer Attractiveness (M = 4,66, SD = 0,19). The other conditions score in between (See Figure 4).

Figure 4. Interaction graph CSR initiative*Employee story.

The eighth hypothesis is rejected. The interaction effect of the Two-way ANOVA shows no significant difference for the interaction effect of CSR initiatives*Social Identity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 No CSR initiative CSR initiative Emp loy er a tt ra cti ven ess No Employee Story Employee story

(21)

Consciousness F (2, 105) = 2.13, p = 0.12. Therefore, Social Identity Consciousness does not increase the effect of CSR initiatives on the Employer Attractiveness.

The interaction effect of Employee Story*The Social Identity Consciousness shows a weak but significant difference F (2, 105) = 3.5, p <0.05, η2 = 0,05. The last hypothesis is rejected. The Millennials that did not see an Employee story but have a high Social Identity Consciousness score most positive on the Employer Attractiveness (M = 5.81, SD = 0.26) the Millennials that didn’t see the Employee Story and have a low Social Identity Consciousness

have the most negative Employer Attractiveness (M = 4.62, SD = 0.22). Millennials that didn’t see the Employee Story and have an average Social Identity Consciousness score in

between (M = 4.84, SD = 0.20). The Millennials that were shown the Employee story and have a low Social Identity Consciousness score most positive on the Employer Attractiveness (M = 5.26, SD = 0.28) the Millennials that have an average Social Identity Consciousness have the most negative Employer Attractiveness (M = 5.05, SD = 0.21). Millennials that have a high Social Identity Consciousness score in between (M = 5.21, SD = 0.22) (See Figure 5).

Figure 5. Graph interaction effect Employee story and Social Identity Consciousness on

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Geen Employee Story Wel Employee Story

Emp loy er a tt ra cti ven ess Low Social Consciousness Average Social Consciousness High Social Consciousness

(22)

The post-hoc multiple comparisons test showed that the difference between Millennials that didn’t see the Employee Story that score high on the Social Identity Consciousness

Identity-scale and Millennials that score average (Mdifference= 0.96, p < 0,05) and Millennials that score

low (Mdifference= 1.18 p < 0,001) is significant. There is no significant difference between the

Millennials that were shown an Employee story and their low, average, or high scores on the Social Identity Consciousness -scale.

Discussion and implications

The research showed that the Employer Attractiveness is a strong predictor for the Intention to Apply. The more attractive an employer is perceived, the higher a millennials’ intention to apply. This finding is in line with prior research done by Backhaus, Stone and Heiner (2002) and Tickoo and Backhaus (2004). This stresses the importance that employers should focus on increasing their employer attractiveness in order to attract new talent.

The next step comprised of researching whether the employer attractiveness besides predicting the intention to apply also mediated the direct effects of CSR initiatives and Employee story on the intention to apply. This was not the case and can be explained by the fact that there were no main effects found from neither CSR initiatives nor Employee story on the employer attractiveness nor the intention to apply. Even though all significant results had a very weak effectsize some conclusions can be drawn from this research.

A key finding of this study is that for both CSR initiatives and Employee story no main effects were found but only an interaction effect. Strikingly, this interaction effect showed that the job-advertisements containing only CSR initiatives or an employee story were found most attractive. Based on prior research it was expected that advertisements containing both elements would be found most attractive (Collins & Stevens, 2002; Chaiken & Strangor, 1987; Barber & Roehling, 1993; Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004). The control advertisement was found least attractive which is in line with what was expected based on

(23)

prior research (Backhaus & Tickoo, 2004). A possible explanation is that if both elements, CSR initiatives and an Employee story, are combined in a single advertisement it is perceived as ‘overdone’. Millennials are saturated by more than 20,000 commercials a year, which leave them with low tolerance levels (Syrett & Lamminman, 2004). As a result they are well versed to quickly figure out when corporate do-gooding is being misused for the sole purpose of enhancing an organisations reputation (Syrett & Lamminman, 2004). Therefore, when positive characteristics of an organisation are overemphasized in job-advertisements scepticism arises (Elving, 2013). The idea that the organisation cannot live up to the information mentioned can negatively influence the organisational attractiveness (Philips, 2006).

Collins and Stevens’ (2002) suggest that organisations that understand how job descriptions match the needs of employees have a higher chance of attracting young talent. Since understanding and matching needs and expectations of millennials is important an exploratory research question was placed in the study. Eleven organisational benefits were tested (see Figure 6) and researched to establish what millennials find attractive organisational benefits. The exploratory question showed that most value is awarded to tangible benefits like job training and career development, comfortable workspace, and flexibility in hours and workplace. The least important benefits are the once that are purpose-driven and intangible benefits like matching gifts or paid time off to volunteer.

(24)

Figure 6. Means organisational benefits (7-point Likert scale).

This question helped to identify if intangible i.e. purpose-driven benefits are prioritized above tangible i.e. personal-gain employment attributes. The graph shows that job training is found more valuable than opportunities to support a good cause, but it does not

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

MEAN (N = 129)

(25)

automatically imply that millennials do not want meaningful work. The one does not necessarily exclude the other.

However, when comparing the mean scores on the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility in this research to previous studies containing other generations (Singhapakdi et al., 1995; Andersson, Giacalone & Jurkiewicz, 2007; Vitell & Hidalgo, 2006) millennials do not have a higher awareness for social responsibility.

This and other findings might suggest a mind-behaviour gap between what millennials desire and what they put into practice (Boulstridge & Carrigan, 2000; Sheeran, 2002; Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). This gap might be explained by two reasons. For starters, millennials might not have the experience (yet) to know what aspects in organisations are valuable to them. Secondly, millennials are in the ‘young adult-phase’ in which they foremost

focus on establishing a firm basis, such as home and income, before shifting to thinking about their contribution to society (Erikson, 1994).

Another key finding of this study is that the social consciousness did not have any influence on the main effect of CSR initiative but the research did show that it moderates the main effect of employee story. Based on prior research of Tajfel and Turner (1979) it was expected that people that score high on the social consciousness would find it beneficial to read an employee story to see whether they identify with the organisation and match the values. The fact that the highest attractiveness scores came from the millennials that did not read the employee story may be explained by the fact that the employee story did not match their expectations. In other words, the person-organisation fit did not fit. Nevertheless, these findings suggest that an employee story actually works when it comes to attracting the right people for the job.

As mentioned before employees are no longer recruited for their functional knowledge and skills but the person-organisation fit is becoming equally important (Elving,

(26)

2012). The p-o fit works both ways; the organisation wants the best employee for the job but millennials stress the importance on working at a company that matches their own values (Collins & Stevens, 2002; Judge & Cable, 1997; Elving, 2012). The results of this study fall in line by showing that millennials that scored high on social consciousness are less attracted to the organisation. This can be derived from the fact that they stress a higher importance on the p-o fit, due to their high social consciousness, and are therefore pickier about what organisation they want to work at (Elving, 2012). An important realization is that when organisations communicate their characteristics in job-advertisements this could lead to a lower amount of applicants but the applicants that do apply have a higher p-o fit. This reduction in quantity and simultaneous increase in quality is of value to the company as well as the job seeker.

Limitations and directions for future research

This study is subject to several limitations that provide avenues for future research directions. First of all, the Cronbach’s alpha of the social consciousness scale i.e. value-expression scale is rather low (0.67). Normally a minimum of 0.7 is maintained but in other studies the scale has a low alpha too (Highhouse, Thornbury & Little, 2007; Lievens and Highhouse, 2003). Another limitation is the sample size used in this study; the cohort of 129 recruited participants is small but sufficient. With four conditions the study has a minimum of 30 participants per condition what makes the samples relatively small. A third limitation is the demographic constitution of the participants: the majority of millennials were Dutch, highly educated and female. In this context, a more heterogeneous sample when it comes to gender, education and nationality would have improved the external validity. The online experiment was distributed in English and, while 96% of the participants is Dutch, the English language might have caused problems understanding questions. This can be considered as a limitation.

(27)

Another limitation of this research is the rather short timeframe. For future research it could be interesting to do a longitudinal study that follows a group of millennials during their job seeking-period. This way the research is not only establishing attraction and intend to apply but researches whether they actually do apply for a job. Increasing the length of the study would make it possible to see where the young millennials finally end up and not only speculate about it. Another way of implementing these findings is creating a new research that works together with an actual rather than fictitious organisation. Several job advertisements with different employer branding elements could be distributed to see which ones attract the millennials with the best person-organisation fit. Lastly, it would be interesting to see how the demands of millennials change when they move out of the young adults-phase into the middle-aged adult-phase. This phase is known for creating a shift towards finding purpose and contribution to society (Erikson, 1994).

Conclusions

The aim of the research was to provide insights into what millennials perceive as job-advertisements that increase employer attractiveness and therefore the intention to apply. To accomplish this, an experiment was conducted by presenting a hypothetical job choice scenario that sought to understand millennial’ attitudes. The job-advertisement either contained CSR initiatives, an employee story, both or none. From the results of the research a few conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, this study confirmed that the job seekers intention to apply automatically increases when an employer is found attractive after reading a job-advertisement. The study also found an adverse effect of over-emphasising characteristics of the organisation in the job-advertisement. The potential decrease in employer attractiveness makes a case to be not only accurate and straightforward but also restrained. This leads to the conclusion that organisations can best include either CSR initiatives or an employee story in their job advertisements, but not both.

(28)

Secondly, millennials with a high social consciousness place increased importance on the person-organisation fit. Showing the companies' character, its "vibes", helps millennials to better assess their person-organisation fit and increases the organisation's chances of attracting the talent that is imperative for their future. Clear communication of "vibes" will lead to attracting a smaller group of millennials but with a higher compatibility. For companies to attract young talented millennials in today’s professional landscape showing

character in job-advertisements is found most attractive by millennials.

Thirdly, the results suggest there might be a gap between what millennials desire and what they put in practice. Only time will tell whether their high demands will start to play a bigger role when they move into the next life-phase.

(29)

References

Alsop, R. (2008). The trophy kids grow up: How the millennial generation is shaking up the workplace. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.

Aggerholm, H. K., Andersen, S. E., & Thomsen, C. (2011). Conceptualising employer branding in sustainable organisations. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16(2), 105-123.

Andersson, L. M., Giacalone, R. A., & Jurkiewicz, C. L. (2007). On the relationship of hope and gratitude to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 70(4), 401-409.

Backhaus, K. B., Stone, B. A., & Heiner, K. (2002). Exploring the relationship between corporate social performance and employer attractiveness. Business & Society, 41(3), 292-318.

Backhaus, K., & Tikoo, S. (2004). Conceptualizing and researching employer branding. Career development international, 9(5), 501-517.

Barber, A. E., & Roehling, M. V. (1993). Job postings and the decision to interview: A verbal protocol analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(5), 845.

Behrend, T. S., Baker, B. A., & Thompson, L. F. (2009). Effects of pro-environmental recruiting messages: The role of organizational reputation. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(3), 341-350.

Boulstridge, E., & Carrigan, M. (2000). Do consumers really care about corporate responsibility? Highlighting the attitude—behaviour gap. Journal of communication management, 4(4), 355-368.

Cable, D. M., Aiman-Smith, L., Mulvey, P. W., & Edwards, J. R. (2000). The sources and accuracy of job applicants' beliefs about organizational culture. Academy of Management journal, 43(6), 1076-1085.

(30)

Chaiken, S., & Stangor, C. (1987). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual review of psychology, 38(1), 575-630.

Collins, C. J., & Stevens, C. K. (2002). The relationship between early recruitment-related activities and the application decisions of new labor-market entrants: a brand equity approach to recruitment. Journal of applied psychology, 87(6), 1121.

Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., & Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Administrative science quarterly, 239-263.

Edwards, M. R. (2005). Organizational identification: A conceptual and operational review. International journal of management reviews, 7(4), 207-230.

Elving, W. J. (2012). Corporate Communication Positioned within Communication Studies— Corporate Communications, an International Journal: The Journal and its History, Scope and Future Developments. Review of Communication, 12(1), 66-77.

Elving, W. J. (2013). Scepticism and corporate social responsibility communications: the influence of fit and reputation. Journal of Marketing Communications, 19(4), 277-292.

Erikson, E. H. (1994). Identity and the life cycle. WW Norton & Company.

Ewing, M. T., Pitt, L. F., de Bussy, N. M., & Berthon, P. (2002). Employment branding in the knowledge economy. International Journal of advertising, 21(1), 3-22.

Field, A. P. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London, England : SAGE.

Greening, D. W., & Turban, D. B. (2000). Corporate social performance as a competitive advantage in attracting a quality workforce. Business & Society, 39(3), 254-280.

Harris, F. & de Chernatony, L. (2001) Corporate branding and corporate brand performance. European Journal of Marketing, 35(3/4), pp. 441–451.

(31)

Hausknecht, J. P., Day, D. V., & Thomas, S. C. (2004). Applicant reactions to selection procedures: An updated model and meta‐analysis. Personnel psychology, 57(3), 639-683.

Hershatter, A., & Epstein, M. (2010). Millennials and the world of work: An organization and management perspective. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 211-223.

Highhouse, S., Lievens, F., & Sinar, E. F. (2003). Measuring attraction to organizations. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 63(6), 986-1001.

Highhouse, S., Thornbury, E. E., & Little, I. S. (2007). Social-identity functions of attraction to organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 103(1), 134-146.

Highhouse, S., Zickar, M. J., Thorsteinson, T. J., Stierwalt, S. L., & Slaughter, J. E. (1999). Assessing company employment image: An example in the fast food industry. Personnel Psychology, 52(1), 151-172.

Judge, T.A. and Cable, D.M. (1997) Applicant personality, organizational culture, and organizational attraction. Personnel Psychology 50(2): 359–394.

Kim, H. R., Lee, M., Lee, H. T., & Kim, N. M. (2010). Corporate social responsibility and employee–company identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(4), 557-569.

Kollmuss, A., & Agyeman, J. (2002). Mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?. Environmental education research, 8(3), 239-260.

Lievens, F., & Highhouse, S. (2003). The relation of instrumental and symbolic attributes to a company's attractiveness as an employer. Personnel psychology, 56(1), 75-102.

Lievens, F. (2007). Employer branding in the Belgian Army: The importance of instrumental and symbolic beliefs for potential applicants, actual applicants, and military employees. Human Resource Management, 46(1), 51-69.

(32)

McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. (2001). Corporate social responsibility: A theory of the firm perspective. Academy of management review, 26(1), 117-127.

Philips, L. (2006). Conference Report. In Conference Report. Newport.

Preuss, L., Haunschild, A., & Matten, D. (2009). The rise of CSR: implications for HRM and employee representation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(4), 953-973.

Ready, M. J. (2002). Profits from technical trading rules. Financial Management, 43-61.

Saks, A. M. (1995). Longitudinal field investigation of the moderating and mediating effects of self-efficacy on the relationship between training and newcomer adjustment. Journal of applied psychology, 80(2), 211.

Sheeran, P. (2002). Intention—behavior relations: A conceptual and empirical review. European review of social psychology, 12(1), 1-36.

Singhapakdi, A., Kraft, K. L., Vitell, S. J., & Rallapalli, K. C. (1995). The perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility on organizational effectiveness: A survey of marketers. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(1), 49-56.

Sullivan, S. (1999) The changing nature of careers: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management 25(3): 457–475.

Syrett, M., & Lamminman, J. (2004). Advertising and millennials. Young Consumers, 5(4), 62-73.

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The social psychology of intergroup relations, 33(47), 74.

Turban, D. B., & Greening, D. W. (1997). Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees. Academy of management journal, 40(3), 658- 672.

(33)

Van Hoye, G., Bas, T., Cromheecke, S., & Lievens, F. (2013). The instrumental and

symbolic dimensions of organisations' image as an employer: A large‐scale field study on employer branding in Turkey. Applied Psychology, 62(4), 543-557.

Vitell, S. J. (2003). Consumer ethics research: Review, synthesis and suggestions for the future. Journal of business ethics, 43(1-2), 33-47.

(34)

Appendices

A. Questionnaire Dear participant,

With this form, I would like to invite you to participate in a research study to be conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School of Communication, a part of the University of Amsterdam.

The title of the study for which I am requesting your cooperation is ‘Millennials in the workfield’.

The study will take about 10 minutes. Three winners will be selected at random from all participants, and each will be allowed to choose one of three prizes valued at €10: a gift certificate for the cinema, a gift certificate for Bol.com or a gift certificate for H&M. As this research is being carried out under the responsibility of the ASCoR, University of Amsterdam, we can guarantee that:

1) Your anonymity will be safeguarded, and that your personal information will not be passed on to third parties under any conditions, unless you first give your express permission for this.

2) You can refuse to participate in the research or cut short your participation without having to give a reason for doing so. You also have up to 24 hours after participating to withdraw your permission to allow your answers or data to be used in the research. 3) Participating in the research will not entail your being subjected to any appreciable risk or discomfort, the researchers will not deliberately mislead you, and you will not be exposed to any explicitly offensive material.

4) No later than five months after the conclusion of the research, we will be able to provide you with a research report that explains the general results of the research. For more information about the research and the invitation to participate, you are welcome to contact the project leader Maxime Reinders Folmer at any time by e-mail on maximereinders@gmail.com.

Should you have any complaints or comments about this research, you can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing the Department of

Communication Science, at the following address: ASCoR Secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐525 3680; ascor‐ secr‐fmg@uva.nl. Any complaints or comments will be treated in the strictest

confidence.

I hope that I have provided you with sufficient information. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your assistance with this research, which I greatly appreciate.

Kind regards,

(35)

I hereby declare that I have been informed in a clear manner about the nature and method of the research, as described in the email invitation for this study.

I agree, fully and voluntarily, to participate in this research study. With this, I retain the right to withdraw my consent, without having to give a reason for doing so. I am aware that I may halt my participation in the experiment at any time.

If my research results are used in scientific publications or are made public in another way, this will be done such a way that my anonymity is completely safeguarded. My personal data will not be passed on to third parties without my express permission. If I wish to receive more information about the research, either now or in future, I can contact Maxime Reinders Folmer. Should I have any complaints about this research, I can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing the ASCoR, at the following address: ASCoR secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐ 525 3680; ascor‐secr‐fmg@uva.nl.

 Yes, I understand the text presented above, and I agree to participate in the research study (1)

 No, I do not wish to participate in the research study (2)

Condition: No, I do not wish to partic... Is Selected. Skip To: End of Survey.

Q2 Please enter your age in numbers (not your date of birth) below to make sure you fit the target group. Since this research is interested in the Millennial-generation.

Condition: What is your age? Is Greater Than 37. Skip To: End of Survey.Condition: What is your age? Is Less Than 17. Skip To: End of Survey.

(36)

Q7 The following question is about identifying with the organisation you work for. Please indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements:

Strongly disagree (1) Disagree (2) Somewhat disagree (3) Neither agree nor disagree (4) Somewhat

agree (5) Agree (6) agree (7) Strongly

I want to be proud of the company I work for (1)        I would not work for a company with a bad image (2)        I would hope that the company has an honorable reputation in the community (3)        It is important to work for a company that is scandal-free (4)        I believe where you work is an important part of who you are (5)       

Q30 On the next page you'll get to see a job advertisement. Please read the job ad

thoroughly before continuing to the next questions. To make sure you have enough time to read the job ad there is a timer placed on the page. After 90 seconds you can continue to the next question.

(37)

Q29 Trainee program AMS. Chocolate company The AMS chocolate company has traineeships designed for university-graduate students who are ambitious to grow into management positions. A traineeship is a good basis for a beautiful career. During your 12 to 18 month traineeship you’ll complete three

different assignments. You develop your personal skills through work, training and the guidance we provide. One of the assignments will take place abroad and the other two will be at the Amsterdam office. You have complete control over which assignments you are going to do. The traineeship program is designed to boost your personal

development by offering challenging tasks and assignments. Our social responsibility vision

We are not only dedicated to change the world of chocolate. We think organisations need to set the example of creating a better world. By this we hope to inspire our clients, competition and employees to also take their responsibility to make this world more sustainable.

Every day our office is entirely self-sufficient.

Our goal is to further our sustainable growth, reducing our environmental footprint. In addition we actively motivate and help employees, partners and stakeholders to become as green as possible.

Every month we have a volunteer activity with the entire staff.

We have a small box in the office in which people can place ideas for a volunteer activity. These activities include: cooking pancakes for a shelter, cleaning up plastic in the park, caring for lonely elder people etc.

Every year we go on our summer volunteer trip

Every summer we visit some cacao farms in Africa and combine this with local community work and education for farmers. These projects last two weeks and are completely organised by employees themselves. You can get more information on this when you visit the office.

Jasper’s experience at AMS chocolate company

This traineeship was challenging, exciting and an unforgettable experience. I was challenged to get outside of my comfort zone, which sometimes led to uncomfortable and tough situations. This made me now and then wonder whether I made the right decision but in the end taught me so much more than just doing what you’re already good at.

The AMS chocolate company gave me a warm welcome from day one and treated me like a true colleague. Every week there is a nice “vrijmibo” and everyday you have a large family-like lunch with everybody at the office. This created an informal and inclusive culture within the company.

During the 18-months I worked together closely with 3 different teams: PR, marketing and sales. This gave me the chance to experience what it is like to work in all these different fields. As an inexperienced worker this is truly valuable. Some periods were

(38)

hard work and long days but at the end of a project we always celebrated the good outcome.

Nowadays people are looking for so much more than just a job, they’re looking for an experience. With this traineeship I got to experience and learn more than I imagined and truly grow as a person in many ways.

What we’re looking for

- Recently finished Bachelor or Masters degree - Fluent in English

- Strong written and verbal communication skills - Driven, enthusiastic and creative

- No 9-to-5 mentality - A real team player

Do you think you fit in the AMS. Chocolate Company-culture? If so than you can send your CV and a short motivation letter to application@ams.chocolate.nl.

We’re looking forward to meeting you! The AMS. Chocolate Company team

(39)

Q33 Trainee program AMS. Chocolate company The AMS chocolate company has traineeships designed for university-graduate students who are ambitious to grow into management positions. A traineeship is a good basis for a beautiful career. During your 12 to 18 month traineeship you’ll complete three

development by offering challenging tasks and assignments. Our social responsibility vision

We are not only dedicated to change the world of chocolate. We think organisations need to set the example of creating a better world. By this we hope to inspire our clients, competition and employees to also take their responsibility to make this world more sustainable.

Every day our office is entirely self-sufficient.

Our goal is to further our sustainable growth, reducing our environmental footprint. In addition we actively motivate and help employees, partners and stakeholders to become as green as possible.

Every month we have a volunteer activity with the entire staff.

We have a small box in the office in which people can place ideas for a volunteer activity. These activities include: cooking pancakes for a shelter, cleaning up plastic in the park, caring for lonely elder people etc.

Every year we go on our summer volunteer trip

Every summer we visit some cacao farms in Africa and combine this with local community work and education for farmers. These projects last two weeks and are completely organised by employees themselves. You can get more information on this when you visit the office.

(40)

Q34 Q29 Trainee program AMS. Chocolate company

The AMS chocolate company has traineeships designed for university-graduate students who are ambitious to grow into management positions. A traineeship is a good basis for a beautiful career. During your 12 to 18 month traineeship you’ll complete three

development by offering challenging tasks and assignments. Jasper’s experience at AMS chocolate company

This traineeship was challenging, exciting and an unforgettable experience. I was challenged to get outside of my comfort zone, which sometimes led to uncomfortable and tough situations. This made me now and then wonder whether I made the right decision but in the end taught me so much more than just doing what you’re already good at.

The AMS chocolate company gave me a warm welcome from day one and treated me like a true colleague. Every week there is a nice “vrijmibo” and everyday you have a large family-like lunch with everybody at the office. This created an informal and inclusive culture within the company.

During the 18-months I worked together closely with 3 different teams: PR, marketing and sales. This gave me the chance to experience what it is like to work in all these different fields. As an inexperienced worker this is truly valuable. Some periods were hard work and long days but at the end of a project we always celebrated the good outcome.

Nowadays people are looking for so much more than just a job, they’re looking for an experience. With this traineeship I got to experience and learn more than I imagined and truly grow as a person in many ways.