A STRATEGY OF EMPLOYMENT BRANDING TO CREATE
A PERSON-ORGANISATION FIT
MARLIES BELTMAN Student number: 1333437
University of Groningen
Faculty of Management and Organization Master Human Resource Management
Zomerdijkstraat 8-III 1079 XA Amsterdam 06-42800302 M.W.H.Beltman@student.rug.nl Supervisors University 1. Drs. J. van Polen 2. Dr. P.H. van der Meer
HIGH POTENTIALS IN TODAY’S TIGHT LABOUR MARKET
A STRATEGY OF EMPLOYMENT BRANDING TO CREATE A PERSON-ORGANISATION FIT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ... 2 INTRODUCTION ... 4 THEORY... 7 METHOD... 13 Survey sample ... 13 Measures... 14 Perceived fit.. ... 14 Information sources. ... 16
Current employment offer.. ... 16
RESULTS... 18
Perceived fit ... 18
Information sources... 22
Current employment offer ... 25
DISCUSSION... 28
Employment offer ... 28
Job search behaviour... 29
Recommendations for Company X’s recruitment activities ... 30
Limitations and future research... 33
REFERENCES ... 34
APPENDIX 1 ... 36
INTRODUCTION
Today, the Dutch economy is facing a period of high economic growth. For 2007 and 2008, a growth of 2,75% is estimated (Bouman, Vreeburg & de Vries, 2007) and in 2007 a growth of 3,5% was realised (Vreeburg, 2008). This growth influences both the demand for and supply of labour (Vreeburg, 2007a). In a period of economic growth employment increases, providing people with better prospects to find a job. Therefore, more people are stimulated to participate on the labour market during times of economic growth (Bouman, et al., 2007; Vreeburg, 2007b). In the coming years, the labour force is expected to grow, especially because of the increasing participation of women and elderly people (Bouman, et al., 2007). This increasing participation will not be enough, however, to fulfil the growing amount of job vacancies. Employment will be growing into a larger extent than the size of the labour force. First of all, the population between 15-64 years old (the potential labour force) is hardly expected to grow in the coming years. Besides, 32% of the potential labour force that is able to start participating on the labour market possesses a lower level of education than requested by the current economy. Because of these developments, a shortage on the labour market will arise (Vreeburg, 2007b), especially for higher educated employees.
Company X is an international company operating in the United States and Europe. The company focuses on the customer in every part of the company and offers strong local brands. Employees play an important role in providing customer value while they build a strong relationship with the customers and answer their needs. Therefore, their expertise, knowledge and commitment are very important for Company X to be successful. Consequently, Company X aims to be a nice place to work, where employees are treated fairly and develop a satisfying career. Opportunities for development are created and innovation is stimulated. The company aims to attract talented people and to develop and remain them within the company. While the labour market is becoming tighter and competition for the best employees becomes fiercer, reaching these goals becomes more difficult. Companies like Company X need to attract the attention of these talented students and graduates at the right moment. They have to be sure that their company is known as a potential employer by this valuable group of potential employees (PCM Media, 2006).
Company X is interested in attracting high potential students and graduates for its traineeship program. This two year program prepares high potential graduates to fulfil higher management positions in the future. A traineeship is the most common way for graduates to start a career at Company X at this moment and only high potential students and graduates are considered for participation in this program. Because academic students and graduates have different expectations with regard to their first job compared to previous generations, is it very important to get more insight into this future workforce. In the current economy and labour market, it will be the students and graduates who select their future employer, based on a range of organisational attributes (Ng & Burke 2006; Potential Park, 2008).
While limited research is available about the way potential applicants search for information, investigate several job opportunities and make their decision between these alternatives, previous research needs to be extended by examining the characteristics of the current pool of high potential students and graduates and the organisational attributes they prefer. Company X needs to carefully estimate its current position in the minds of these students and graduates (Cable & Turban, 2001; Ng & Burke, 2006). Therefore, this research will “go inside the heads of these high potential students and graduates” to give Company X insight into the organisational attributes that attract them, the way they search for a potential employer and how they decide on their career. Besides, it will also be important to consider how Company X is evaluated in this job search and job decision-making process of high potential students and graduates. Therefore, this research will also evaluate whether the preferred organisational attributes of high potential students and graduates are perceived at Company X. Based on this information it will be possible to measure the extent to which the company succeeds in providing students and graduates with the needed information to make a career decision. Based on these research objectives, information will be obtained to answer the following research question:
‘To what extent does Company X need to change its employment offer and recruitment activities in order to fulfil the preferences of high potential students and graduates in their search for a first job and how will Company X be able to improve its competitive advantage on the Dutch labour market?’
THEORY
Despite the fact that employment branding has not been widely discussed in academic research yet, it has become more important in the business environment. While the current ‘war for talent’ requires companies to position their company as an attractive employer, companies have become increasingly interested in taking a differentiated position on the labour market. They invest large amounts of time, effort and money to attract applications from high potential students who will enter the workforce in the near future. Developing a strong employment brand has become a useful tool to stand out in the fierce labour market (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999; Diederichs, 2007). Employer branding can be defined as a ‘long-term strategy to manage the awareness and perceptions of an organisation’s potential and current employees’ (Sullivan, 2004). Creating a strong employment brand can be advantageous for companies on the long-term, while it is developed to attract applicants on a continuous base. It can be a solution for companies to their problems with regard to the shortage of talented people on the labour market. Besides, a strong employment brand also functions as a kind of filter, stimulating mainly suitable potential employees to strive for a job at the organisation (Melin, 2005). Several explanations exist for this filter function. First of all, applicants are more attracted to an organisation if they expect to actually receive a job offer from that organisation. Second, applicants will be less willing to accept a job offer if they think they do not have the required abilities needed to perform well (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Chapman, Uggerslev, Carroll, Piasentin, & Jones, 2005). Consequently, a well designed employer brand both influences the quantity and quality of applicants in a positive way, resulting in a reduction of recruitment expenses (Collins & Han, 2004; Wiese, 2005 in Diederichs, 2007).
Graduates make their application decision by evaluating their knowledge of the organisation based on their first impression of the organisation and their initial expectations about being employed. This employer knowledge influences how they process and respond to (future) organisational information (Cable & Turban, 2001; Gatewood, Gowan & Lautenschlager, 1993; Terjesen, et al., 2007). Cable and Turban (2001) distinguished three factors which contribute to employer knowledge and influence both a job seekers attraction towards an organisation and the eventual intention to apply for a job. To increase the intention to apply, a potential employee needs to be able to identify the organisation as a potential employer (employer familiarity). Besides, the potential employee needs to have positive beliefs with regard to other people’s opinion about the organisation as employer (employer reputation). Finally, it is important that job seekers are attracted by specific attributes and associations connected to an organisation (employer image).
potential employees need and want in their job and do not understand their aspirations and concerns. This results in a knowledge vacuum, in which employers do not manage to connect with prospects leaving them with a lack of information with regard to the job. Applicants may conclude from this lack of information that the organisation lacks professionalism and is not interested in the applicant, resulting in a negative image of the company (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Melin, 2005). Employment branding can give companies an understanding of organisational attributes which are valued by potential employees. Adapting the recruitment strategy of a company towards these attributes can contribute to the attraction of new employees. It is possible to estimate whether the characteristic organisational attributes correspond to the desires of potential employees. This is important while the image people have of a company can be very different from the message the company wants to communicate (Melin, 2005).
According to person-organisation fit theory individuals search for organisations which seem to have characteristics that are similar to their own (Cable & Turban, 2001; Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Terjesen et al., 2007; Diederichs, 2007). Literature about person-organisation fit focuses on answering the question how individuals select the organisation they want to join. It has been shown that the perceived amount of fit between an individual and an organisation influences job search and job choice behaviour (Saks & Ashforth, 1997). Students and graduates who perceive a strong fit with an organisation’s attributes, will be attracted to and more willing to apply for a job at that organisation (Terjesen et al., 2007). Person-organisation fit can be defined as ‘the compatibility between people and organizations that occurs when: a) at least one entity provides what the other needs (complementary fit); or b) they share similar fundamental characteristics (supplementary fit); or c) both’ (Kristof, 1996). The complementary fit can be further subdivided in the needs-supply fit and the demands-abilities fit. From the first perspective, person-organisation fit is created when the organisation fulfils the needs of the individual, for example by providing the individual with financial sources and growth opportunities. The second perspective states person-organisation fit is created when the individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities can contribute to the fulfilment of the demand of the organisation (Kristof, 1996). The needs-supply fit is emphasising the interests of the individual while the demand-abilities fit is more focused on the interests of the organisation.
and Turban, 2001; Saks & Ashforth, 1997). These types of information contribute to the employer knowledge by informing individuals about two of its components: employer image and employer reputation. To create a strong employment brand, it is important that potential employees are attracted by the employment offer of a company which should provide them with this organisational information that contributes to their employer knowledge (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999).
Obviously, these types of information contain a range of organisational attributes that are interrelated and which are evaluated by potential employees when looking for a job. The kind of information they are looking for often highly depends on the amount of employer knowledge they already possess. The employment brand of a company often is related to its product brand and therefore the product brand plays an important role with regard to a job seekers employer knowledge. Depending on the amount of product awareness, a company should choose between low-information or high-information recruitment activities. More specifically, high-information recruitment activities should be performed if the product awareness of a company is already high. In this way the recruitment activities add value to the employment brand, while information about the employer is extended beyond the product brand. Low-information recruitment activities should be performed if the product awareness of a company is low. Because the potential employee is not familiar with the company and its products, the company will not be considered as a potential employer. Therefore, this awareness needs to be created, before any detailed information about the organisation (high-information activities) can be processed (Collins, 2007). This corresponds to research by Cable & Turban (2001) which states that employer familiarity (one of the three components of employer knowledge) is a precondition that needs to be fulfilled before a company can invests in its employer image and employer reputation (the other two components of employer knowledge).
& Ogden, 2007; Intermediair, 2007; Van Velthoven & Van Tongeren, 2007). If a company manages to meet the preferences and values of students and graduates, then it will be able to obtain a strong competitive position on the labour market (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999).
It should be noted as well, that in order to obtain this competitive position, a company needs to demonstrate to students and graduates what is unique about its fulfilment of these components (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999). In the graduate recruitment process an organisation, therefore, tries to communicate information about its organisational attributes by making use of publicity and advertising (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; McDermott, Mangan & O’Connor, 2006; Terjesen, Vinnicombe & Freeman, 2007). In order to successfully attract applicants in this recruitment process, information is needed on how students and graduates obtain information about organisations, which sources of information are used and how the obtained information influences the amount of fit that is perceived, or in other words, what information is needed to create a perception of fit (Saks & Ashforth, 1997). Also about the first two topics research already has been performed in the Netherlands (PCM Media, 2006; Dijkstra et al., 2007; Intelligence Group, 2007). These researches showed that in the job search process of students and graduates, the internet (vacancy sites) is an orientation source that is used most often (91%). Students and graduates are also informed by people in their network (74%) and they visit career fairs and other career events (74%), like in-house days and business presentations (Dijkstra et al., 2007).
By consulting several information sources, students and graduates obtain information about potential employers and jobs. Based on this information, they will be able to estimate which organisational attributes are offered by a company. Subsequently, they develop a perception of fit by evaluating whether the company offers the organisational attributes they prefer. The used information sources and the resulting obtained information can influence the amount of perceived fit. An important precondition within this context is the intensity and motivation of someone’s search behaviour.
information about potential employers during their job search process. Therefore, it can be concluded that they mainly process information by using the central route, which has a great impact on their employer knowledge and the eventual perception of fit (Cable & Turban, 2001). While the intensity of the job search by these students and graduates is high, it is important that companies really provide them with the needed information as well, because only when students and graduates are able to obtain all the needed information, they will be able to make an accurate perception of fit.
The job search intensity is influenced by the motivation of the job seeker to acquire information about the organisation, which depends on a) the perceived credibility of the information source; b) the amount of knowledge of the organisation the job seeker already possesses and c) the extent to which a job seeker feels already attracted to the organisation (Cable & Turban, 2001). In addition to researches discussed above that also emphasized the importance of employer knowledge and employer attraction in the job search process, this research has another implication for companies. While it is very important that students and graduates obtain information about an employer for realising a perception of fit, organisations might be able to influence their willingness to obtain information (motivation) by making sure that the information sources they use are credible: the information that is provided is useful for the job search of students and graduates (expertise) and accurate (trustworthiness).
Person-organisation fit does not only influence job search and job choice decisions, which are mainly performed on the short-term. Research has shown that positive perceptions of person-organization fit can also influence someone’s career on the long-term. Especially the first job after an academic education seems to be an important predictor for career success and earnings in the future. Higher perceptions of person-organisation fit seem to result in individuals with a better attitude towards their job, who feel more satisfied with their job, who show less quitting and turnover behaviour and who are less stressed in performing their job (Saks & Ashforth, 1997; Mc Dermott et al., 2006). Finally, perceptions of fit are considered to have an important influence on the relation between job search and employment quality, which is affected by applicants’ self insight. Applicants with self insight and an accurate perception of the job seem to be more satisfied with their job, more committed to the organisation, less likely to quit and able to perform on a higher level. This can be explained by the fact that their perceived and expected amount of fit highly correspond with the actual amount of fit. (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Saks & Ashforth, 2002; Van Vianen, 2000). The presence of these long-term consequences underlines the importance of creating a person-organisation fit, both for the organisation and the applicant.
METHOD
In order to get insight into the job search and job decision-making process of high potential students and graduates and Company X’s position on the Dutch labour market, an online survey has been developed for this research based on existent researches. Within this survey, respondents were asked to answer questions regarding some demographic characteristics, high potential selection criteria, the perceived fit with regard to organisational attributes and their satisfaction with regard to several information sources. In this part, an overview will be given of the process of composing the survey sample, designing the survey and analysing the results.
Survey sample
The population for this research consisted of high potential students in the final phase of their study (from the third year) and high potential graduates who graduated maximally one year ago. These time periods were used while research showed the greater part of the students start orienting on the labour market and expect companies to get into contact with them from the third year (Business Courses, 2007). Besides, the traineeship program of Company X allows graduates with a maximum of one year of work experience to participate.
Because of restrictions with regard to costs and access to high potential students and graduates, the survey was spread by making use of four channels to get into contact with a large number of students and graduates with a study in the area of Economics, Business and/or Communication. These students form the target population of this research, they form the main target group for Company X’s traineeship program as well. First of all, career offices of faculties of Economics and Business of universities in the Netherlands were asked to spread the survey among the students who were registered with their services. Secondly, student boards of Dutch study associations for students with studies in Economics, Business and Communication and Dutch student associations, were asked to complete the survey themselves and to spread the survey among the active members participating in their committees. Thirdly, the survey was spread among the interns at Company X with an academic study. Fourthly, I used my own network to get into contact with students and graduates. Finally, the supporting e-mail to the survey also included a request in which participating students and graduates were asked to spread the survey within their own networks. To stimulate students and graduates to complete the survey send by e-mail, a €50, - cash reward was raffled among the students and graduates who participated in this research.
with people from my own network and the interns at Company X and one group with the respondents that could not be traced back to these networks. Subsequently, potential differences were estimated. It appeared that some organisational attributes were perceived significantly better at Company X by respondents from my networks. Also some information sources were used significantly more often by people in my networks. However, in both occasions similar relations were found for the other four companies in this research. Besides, the amount of respondents that could be traced back to my own networks (37,3%), did not form a majority of the respondents. For these reasons, I decided not to make a difference between respondents from my networks and respondents outside my networks.
By using these channels it was difficult to assess on beforehand whether the approached students and graduates were high potential. Therefore, questions based on selection criteria were added to the survey. Both Company X’s own selection criteria, and criteria of recruitment & selection agencies Company X is regularly cooperating with, were used. These agencies use the following criteria for students and graduates in order to become part of their so called talent pool: 1) experiences in a board of a study association, student association, sport association or similar other associations; 2) experiences with regard to a stay in a foreign country; 3) ownership of a company; 4) top sport experiences; 5) internship experiences; 6) high average rate of study results. Students and graduates should meet at least three of these selection criteria in order to be invited for an interview in the application procedure of Company X. Eventually, the completed surveys of respondents who met at least two of the selection criteria 1-5 and whose average rate of study results could be round off towards a 7 (selection criterion 6) were used for data analysis.
In the end, from the 188 respondents who completed the survey, 134 respondents met all selection criteria for data analysis. This respondent group consisted of 32 third year students (23,9 %), 90 Master students (67,2 %) and 12 graduates who graduated maximally a year ago (9 %). With regard to the study background of the respondents, a distinction can be made between Business (49,3 %), Economics (16,4 %), Communication (5,2 %) and other similar studies (9,7). Furthermore, 61,2 % of the respondents perform(ed) a study at the University of Groningen and 21,6 % at the University of Utrecht. The remaining respondents performed a study at one of the other 9 universities in the Netherlands. Finally, 67 men (50 %) and 67 women (50 %) completed the survey and the average age of the respondents was 23 years old.
Measures
Perceived fit. The amount of perceived fit was estimated between the organisational attributes that
formulated. The respondents were first asked to rate the extent to which these organisational attributes are important in their choice for an employer on a scale from 1 (= very unimportant) to 5 (= very important). Based on the average rate of importance, the most important attributes could be identified. While previous research showed that the difference between the average rates of importance of the attributes can be very small, a second question was added. Respondents were asked to distinguish three organisational attributes they consider to be decisive in their choice for an employer (Dijkstra et al., 2007; Intermediair, 2008). In the end, the three organisational attributes that obtained the highest average score on importance and were most often rated as decisive were estimated.
Subsequently, the perception of these attributes at Company X and some competitors was estimated. Besides Company X, also Company A, Company B, Company C and Company D were included in the survey, based on their position above Company X in the rankings mentioned before. In line with research by Collins & Stevens (2002), respondents were asked to rate on a scale from 1 (= very poor) to 5 (= very well) to what extent they perceive the 20 organisational attributes at the five companies. A matrix was developed to estimate the amount of perceived fit between the respondents and Company X (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999). On the horizontal axis the average rate of perception of these attributes at Company X is shown, while the vertical axis shows the average rate of importance. The resulting matrix (figure 1) clearly showed to which organisational attributes Company X should give more attention in its recruitment activities, that is the attributes which are shown in the upper left quadrant. Besides, Company X’s competitive position was evaluated. Therefore, the average rate of importance of the attributes and the average rate of perception of these attributes at the five companies were combined in one figure (figure 2). While the average rates of perception of the attributes were very close to each other, these rates were subdivided into three categories: low (average rate of perception: 2,79 – 3,31), moderate (3,32 – 3,83) and high (3,82 – 4,35). This categorisation gave more insight into the differentiating strength of the companies (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999).
Information sources. As said before, it is important for a company to provide organisational
information that gives students and graduates the opportunity to create a perception of fit (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999; Saks & Ashforth, 1997). Based on previous research by Business Courses (2007), Dijkstra et al. (2007) and PCM Media (2006) a list of 11 information sources frequently used by students and graduates was developed for this research. Respondents were asked to distinguish three information sources which they consider to be the best way for companies to provide information. In order to get insight into the intensity of their use of these sources, respondents were asked to rate how frequently they use these sources on a scale from 1 (= never) to 4 (= often). The results of these two questions were used to estimate the importance of various information sources. Besides, respondents were asked whether they actually have used these 11 sources to obtain information about Company X (Collins & Stevens, 2002; Saks & Ashforth, 1997). This information was used to estimate whether obtaining information about Company X also resulted in a feeling of attractiveness and a consideration of the company as a potential employer (Cable & Turban, 2001). For this purpose the Mann-Whitney test was used again, determining whether different levels with regard to knowing Company X and willingness to apply at Company X follow differences in the use of information sources.
Besides, it is important to consider the kind of information that is spread by these sources. Figure 1 was used again to determine the organisational attributes which should be more emphasised in supplying information in the future. While the credibility of information sources influences the motivation to search for information about a potential employer, questions measuring the credibility were included as well (Cable & Turban, 2001). First, respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they thought the information provided by information sources was useful for their job search process on a scale from 1 (= not at all) to 5 (= completely). Second, they were asked whether they trusted the information provided by these information sources on a scale from 1 (= not at all) to 5 (= completely). Calculating the average of the average rates of usefulness and trustworthiness, resulted in the average rate of credibility. Subsequently, the average credibility was combined in a matrix with the average intensity of the use of information sources. On the horizontal axis the intensity of the use of information sources is shown, while the vertical axis shows the average rate of credibility of the information sources (figure 3). These questions gave insight into the most suitable information sources for providing information as well, while it is better to use the sources that are perceived to be more credible. Besides, companies should assure the credibility of the information sources that students and graduates use most often.
Current employment offer. Insight into the current employment offer of Company X was needed to be
RESULTS
This part of the research focuses on the information obtained from the survey. The results from the data collection and data analysis discussed above will be presented, following the method section.
Perceived fit
The first part of the method section estimated the amount of perceived fit between the organisational attributes that students and graduates prefer in a job and the perception of these attributes at Company X and some competitors. Table 1 shows the average rate of importance of the 20 organisational attributes and identifies the three attributes that were most often ranked as decisive. As can be seen, the three attributes that are considered to be most important by the respondents correspond to the most decisive attributes in the job choice decision. Besides, these results also correspond to findings from previous research among students and graduates. The importance of a good balance between work and private life does not completely correspond with previous research however, while this attribute is ranked at the 9th place in the importance ranking. The 6th position in the ranking of decisiveness better matches previous research. Besides, it is remarkable that the international career opportunities appear in the top 5 of attributes that are most often ranked as decisive, while this attribute appears on the 15th place in the importance ranking.
TABLE 1
Preferred and Decisive Organisational Attributes in Job Choice
Ranking Organisational attribute Average rate of importance
Frequency rated as decisive
1 (2) Nice work climate 4,65 56
2 (1) Interesting work as regards content 4,57 81
3 (3) Challenge of the work 4,44 50
4 (4) Developmental opportunities 4,42 44
5 (9) Appealing organisational culture 17
6 (7) Appealing colleagues
4,27
4,19 18
7 (10) Educational opportunities 4,14 17
8 (13) Coaching and supervision 4,08 12
9 (6) Good balance between work and private life 4,00 20
10 (11) Great amount of own responsibility 4,00 16
11 (17) Stimulating management 3,93 3
12 (8) Salary 3,89 18
13 (12) Appealing products/services 3,79 13
14 (16) Well secondary working conditions/CAO 3,72 4
16 (20) Financially healthy 3,61 0
17 (18) Employer name 3,60 3
18 (19) Permanent agreement 3,45 2
19 (14) Location of the working place 3,43 8
20 (15) Corporate social responsibility 3,34 5
Figure 1 shows the perception of these attributes at Company X in comparison with the average rate of importance, giving insight into perception of fit with the company. The figure shows opportunities for improvement with regard to the perception of the attributes at Company X which are in the upper left quadrant of the matrix. As can be seen, two of the three attributes that are considered to be most important are in this quadrant of the matrix, that is nice work climate (werksf) and interesting work as regards content (inhintw). Appendix 1 gives a complete overview of the abbreviations of the organisational attributes.
FIGURE 1
Perception of Fit with Company X
Average rate of perception at Company X
Figure 2 shows the results of the competitive analysis with regard to the perception of fit at Company X and its competitors. In general, the way the organisational attributes are perceived at the five companies is rather similar, while the average rates of perceptions are very close to each other. Table 2 gives more insight into the differentiating strength of the companies. In line with figure 2, this table shows that for many attributes Company X is assessed moderately. With regard to good balance between work and private life and permanent agreement, Company X obtained the highest average rate of perception. However, only with regard to good balance between work and private life, this higher average rate resulted in an allocation into a higher category as opposed to the other companies (moderate vs. low). With regard to great amount of own responsibility and international career opportunities, Company X obtained the lowest average rate of perception. However, only with regard to international career opportunities, this low average rate resulted in an allocation into a lower category as opposed to the other companies (moderate vs. high). Nice work climate, the most important attribute, is moderately perceived at all companies. The other two most important attributes, interesting work as regards content and challenge of the work show some variations in their categorisation. Company X is categorised as moderate for these attributes as opposed to, among others Company C, who realises a competitive advantage over Company X on both attributes.
FIGURE 2
Competitive Analysis of Perception of Fit
2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5 Inhintw Uitdw Drgrmh Oplmh Intcrmh Eigvww Werksf Cultuur Balwevt Collega Scarbvw Locatie Vcontr Aprdi Salaris Naamwg Stimmgt Fingez Maatvw Coabgl
TABLE 2
Categories of Perception of Organisational Attributes Organisational attribute Company
X Company A Company B Company C Company D
Interesting work as regards content
•
•
o•
•
Challenge of the work
•
•
•
•
•
Developmental opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
Educational opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
International career opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
Great amount of own responsibility
•
•
•
•
•
Nice work climate
•
•
•
•
•
Appealing organisational culture
•
•
o•
•
Good balance between work and private life
•
o o o oAppealing colleagues
•
•
•
•
•
Well secondary working conditions/CAO
•
•
•
•
•
Location of the working place
•
•
•
•
oPermanent agreement
•
•
•
•
•
Appealing products/services•
•
o•
•
Salary•
•
•
•
•
Employer name•
•
•
•
•
Stimulating management•
•
•
•
•
Financially healthy•
•
•
•
•
Corporate social responsibility o o
•
o oCoaching and supervision
•
•
•
•
•
o Low (average rate of perception: 2,79 – 3,31)
•
Moderate (average rate of perception: 3,32 – 3,83)•
High (average rate of perception: 3,82 – 4,35)TABLE 3
Employer Familiarity and Attraction
Average familiarity Percentage of respondents willing to apply Company X 2,55 41% Company A 2,56 36,6% Company B 2,50 27,6% Company C 2,49 50% Company D 2,61 48,5%
A Mann-Whitney test determined the organisational attributes that were perceived significantly better by respondents who were willing to apply at Company X. Table 4 shows these attributes and the corresponding levels of significance.
TABLE 4
Relation between Willingness to Apply and Perception of Attributes at Company X*
Organisational attribute p (two-tailed)
Interesting work as regards content .000
Challenge of the work .000
Great amount of own responsibility .024
Nice work climate .000
Appealing organisational culture .000
Good balance between work and private life .003
Appealing colleagues .000
Well secondary working conditions/CAO .002
Location of the working place .003
Appealing products/services .000
Employer name .000
Stimulating management .000
*With regard to the remaining 8 organisational attributes no significant differences were found.
Information sources
not always considered to be the best way for a company to provide information. Remarkable are the higher rankings of both business courses/inhousedays (position 1 vs. position 8) and internships (position 4 vs. position 10).
TABLE 5
Evaluation of Information Sources Ranking Organisational attribute Average frequency of
use
Best way to provide information (%)
1 (3) Acquaintances/network 3,08 44,4
2 (5) Company website 2,87 40,3
3 (2) Company days/career days/ career fairs 2,62 47,6 4 (6) Direct contact with employees of companies 2,34 37,9
5 (10) Journals/magazines 2,30 8,1
6 (11) Daily papers 2,28 2,4
7 (7) Direct contact with recruiters of companies 2,22 30,6
8 (1) Business courses/inhousedays 2,11 58,9
9 (8) Recruitment & selection agencies 2,00 10,5
10 (4) Internships 1,96 41,9
11 (9) Vacancy websites 1,91 10,5
TABLE 6
Relation between Familiarity, Willingness to Apply and Use of Information Sources
Information source Familiarity:
p (two-tailed)
Willingness to apply: p (two-tailed)
Vacancy websites .006* .003**
Company website .042* .000**
Company days/career days/ career fairs .004* .000**
Internships .001* .000**
Business courses/inhousedays .258 .072
Daily papers .247 .187
Journals/magazines .094 .641
Acquaintances/network .000* .004**
Recruitment & selection agencies .015* .014**
Direct contact with recruiters of companies .001* .064
Direct contact with employees of companies .004* .000**
* Respondents who are more familiar with Company X more frequently used these sources. **Respondents who are willing to apply at Company X more frequently used these sources.
The credibility of the information sources was estimated to evaluate the kind of information provided by the sources. Table 7 shows the amount of usefulness and trustworthiness of the information sources and their overall credibility. As can be seen, internships provide the most credible information, but also the credibility of acquaintances/network, direct contact with employees of companies and business courses/inhousedays position these sources in the top 4 of credible sources.
TABLE 7
Credibility of Information Sources
Information source Average rate of
usefulness Average rate of trustworthiness Average rate of credibility Vacancy websites 2,74 3,20 2,97 Company website 3,73 3,66 3,70
Company days/career days/ career fairs 3,73 3,62 3,68
Internships 4,44 4,47 4,46
Business courses/inhousedays 4,13 3,94 4,04
Daily papers 2,83 3,26 3,05
Journals/magazines 2,96 3,23 3,10
Acquaintances/network 4,12 4,16 4,14
Recruitment & selection agencies 3,19 3,18 3,19
Direct contact with recruiters of companies 3,73 3,25 3,49
Figure 3 shows, however, that these four sources are not all used frequently. With regard to acquaintances/network (beknetw) improvements are not very necessary. But for internships (stages), direct contact with employees of companies (conwn) and business courses/inhousedays (BCIndgn) some discrepancies arise, while these sources are considered to be most credible by the respondents of this research, but they do not apply these sources sufficiently. Appendix 2 gives a complete overview of the abbreviations of the information sources.
FIGURE 3
Opportunities for Improvement of Provision of Information by Sources
Intensity of use of information source
3,20 3,00 2,80 2,60 2,40 2,20 2,00 1,80 C re d ib il it y of in fo rm at io n s ou rc e 4,50 4,00 3,50 3,00 2,50 Conwn Conrecr WSbur Beknetw Tijdmag Krtdgbl BCIndgn Stages Dgnbeu Bdsite Vacsite
Current employment offer
FIGURE 4
Fulfilment Organisational Attributes in Current Employment Offer
Average rate of perception by trainees
5,00 4,50 4,00 3,50 3,00 2,50 A ve ra ge r at e of im p or ta n ce 4,50 4,00 3,50 Coabgl Maatvw Fingez Stimmgt Naamwg Salaris Aprdi Vcontr Locatie Scarbvw Collega Balwevt Cultuur Werksf Eigvww Intcrmh Oplmh Drgrmh Uitdw Inhintw
FIGURE 5 Realism of Job Preview
Average rate of perception at Company X by students and graduates
4,20 4,00 3,80 3,60 3,40 3,20 A ve ra ge r at e of p er ce p ti on b y tr ai n ee s 5,00 4,50 4,00 3,50 3,00 2,50 Coabgl Maatvw Fingez Stimmgt Naamwg Salaris Aprdi Vcontr Locatie Scarbvw Collega Balwevt CultuurWerksf Eigvww Intcrmh Oplmh Drgrmh Uitdw Inhintw
DISCUSSION
With the results of the survey spread among high potential students and graduates, the last part of this research will give Company X insight into the way the company needs to ‘change its employment offer
and recruitment activities in order to fulfil the preferences of high potential students and graduates in their search for a first job and how the company will be able to improve its competitive advantage on the Dutch labour market’.
Employment offer
Companies interested in attracting students and graduates should make sure that their employment offer fulfils the organisational attributes students and graduates prefer. This research showed that nice work climate, interesting work as regards content, challenge of the work and developmental opportunities are considered to be most important and decisive for high potential students and graduates. Unfortunately, some of these important organisational attributes (like nice work climate and interesting work as regards content), are not sufficiently perceived at Company X. Therefore, opportunities for improvement arise. While the perception of current trainees at Company X differs considerably from the perception of students and graduates, it can be concluded that students and graduates do not have a realistic perception of Company X’s employment offer. The trainees perceive all organisational attributes that are considered to be important by students and graduates within their current employment offer. Besides, also less important attributes are fulfilled, indicating that the current employment offer extends beyond fulfilling only the most important organisational attributes. Since several important attributes are perceived very moderately by students and graduates (upper left quadrant figure 1), better perceptions should be realised by investing in the provision of information about these attributes in order to improve the overall perception of fit. A critical threshold needs to be taken into account within this context. Research showed that in general an employment offer becomes more competitive when (potential) employees are satisfied with at least 10 organisational attributes (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999). For Company X, this implies that the perceptions of all 7 organisational attributes in the upper left quadrant of figure 1 need to be added to the 3 organisational attributes in the upper right quadrant.
also result in an opportunity to differentiate the company from its competitors. For example, none of the companies sufficiently manages to offer a work climate that is in accordance with the rate of importance of this attribute. If Company X, therefore, manages to make considerable improvements with regard to informing students and graduates about its positive fulfilment of this attribute, the company might be able to obtain a competitive advantage over this attribute. This also counts for important attributes on which some of the competitors already obtained a small competitive advantage, for example interesting work as regards content (Company C) and challenge of the work (Company C and Company A). Also about these attributes students and graduates should be informed better, especially since current trainees think Company X’s fulfilment of these attributes actually differentiates the company from its competitors. This might be very valuable, while higher perceptions of fit with regard to these attributes appeared to be positively related to the willingness to apply at Company X (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999).
Job search behaviour
A successful job search is estimated by the kind of sources that are used to obtain the needed information and the intensity of someone’s search behaviour (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). The used information sources to collect information about Company X show that the intensity of the job search behaviour of students and graduates is not extremely high. First of all, 63,4% of the respondents used an information source to collect information about Company X, leaving more than one third of the respondents who are not informed about job opportunities at the company at all. Besides, despite the fact that using multiple formal information sources increases the perception of good fit (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Saks & Ashforth, 1997), only 47,8% of the respondents applied combinations of information sources to collect information about Company X. Finally, only 43% of the respondents who collected information about Company X, is willing to apply for a job at the company. An increased intensity of the use of sources might be advantageous for Company X, while for the majority of the information sources, using these sources results into more knowledge and a higher willingness to apply at the company.
amount of knowledge can subsequently be divided into employer familiarity on the one hand and employer image and employer reputation on the other hand. While all respondents know Company X by name or good, it can be concluded that all respondents at least know the company. As just explained, the perception of the organisational attributes representing employer image and employer reputation offers some opportunities for improvement, however.
With regard to the credibility of information sources, students and graduates seem to be more positive about the information sources which are more personalised, like internships, direct contact with employees of companies and business courses/inhousedays. This corresponds to previous research by Cable & Turban (2001), stating that the credibility of information sources and job seekers response to the provided messages are influenced by the experiential-information dimension. By investing in recruitment activities that give students and graduates the opportunity to experience themselves what it is like to work at that organisation (experiential dimension) in stead of collecting information out of newspapers and annual reports (informational dimension), a company can increase its credibility. While an increased credibility results in a higher motivation to obtain information about a company, more employer knowledge will be acquired, increasing the possibility to create or improve the perception of fit. However, the experiential sources just mentioned are not sufficiently used by students and graduates to collect information about Company X. Apparently, while students and graduates use some sources more frequently (like acquaintances/network, company website and company days/career days/career fairs), they think other sources (like business courses/inhousedays and internships) might provide them with more or better information. On the one hand, this might suggest a needed effort to increase their use of these credible sources, for example by offering more of these recruitment activities. On the other hand, this might also imply that the credibility of sources that are used very often should be increased, for example by focusing more on the experiential dimension. The following recommendations show how a mix of information sources can be applied for these purposes.
Recommendations for Company X’s recruitment activities
First of all, while students and graduates mainly obtain information about companies that they consider as a potential employer, Company X needs to make sure the company obtains a top of mind position. Therefore, the company could extend its participation in sponsoring events that are organised and visited by students and graduates, provide lectures at universities and during career events or become more visible to students and graduates at career fairs the company already attends. Through these activities students and graduates get a first impression of the company and an opportunity to meet with employees. Besides, by using recruitment advertisements as well, Company X can positively influence application intentions by providing detailed information about the company and its career opportunities. Furthermore, the positive and detailed information that is provided to students and graduates during these activities, also contributes to positive attitudes towards other organisational attributes, which were not considered yet. Consequently, becoming in top of mind of students and graduates will increase the chance the company is considered as an employment option, increasing their motivation to obtain employer knowledge. Therefore, great advantages can be obtained if Company X invests in campus activities and recruitment advertisements, while a large number of students and graduates can be reached and the resulting increased employer knowledge might improve the perception of fit (Cable & Turban, 2001; Collins & Han, 2004; Collins & Stevens, 2002; Ng & Burke, 2006; Van Velthoven & Van Tongeren, 2007).
With regard to the specific message the information source needs to communicate, research showed some features are likely to increase the attention: a) vivid messages that include pictures and concrete language; b) messages that contain information that is not expected; c) messages that provide information that is relevant for the potential employee and d) messages that are communicated in a face-to-face situation (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). More specifically with regard to the Dutch labour market some additional recommendations can be given. First of all, it is important to show career opportunities within the company including examples. Furthermore, students and graduates are looking for concrete information about a function including responsibilities and task descriptions. Besides, they should be offered the opportunity to learn within the company. These suggestions for information correspond to the information need of students and graduates according to current trainees. Finally, Company X should try to adapt its messages to trends and developments students and graduates are confronted with, to trigger them to become informed about the company (Van Velthoven & Van Tongeren, 2007). While a first impression of a company also influences the amount of employer knowledge students and graduates are willing to obtain, is it very important that credible information is provided at this crucial moment.
therefore, it is very important that the website offers the information students and graduates are looking for. Company X’s website is fulfilling basic requirements like information about career opportunities, jobs, requirements, programs and application procedures, but this will not directly result in a competitive advantage (Ng & Burke, 2006; Potential Park, 2008). ‘Having a great career website does not depend on the company profile, but on the company’s awareness of the target group’s preferences and priorities and the competence to put that knowledge into action’ (Potential Park, 2008). While providing information to students and graduates about the organisational attributes they prefer, a company needs to make sure to maintain clear messages in stead of offering an endless list of nice promises. Therefore, a company needs to balance the amount of information that is provided. The website needs to answer the questions students and graduates are struggling with, concerning employee’s profiles, culture, work environment and differentiating characteristics as opposed to competitors. Besides, a possibility to get into contact with the employer and obtain a realistic insight in to the organisation is very appreciated by students and graduates. This can be done by including an overview of recruitment activities Company X is participating in, but also by including real life (video) stories of current employees (Potential Park, 2008). It has to be taken into account that once job seekers have increased their basic employer knowledge, they become more selective in the information sources they want to use. In that phase of the job search process, they will be more interested in sources that inform them about what it is really like to work at the organisation, increasing the importance of internal, experiential information sources, like contact with current employees, internships and business courses/inhousedays (Cable & Turban, 2001). While Company X is not organising a business course yet, this could be a point of interest for the future.
information sources, because of the great amount of expertise recruiters possess about the organisation (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Chapman, et al., 2005; Collins & Han, 2004; Collins & Stevens, 2002; Kristof, 1996; Saks & Ashforth, 1997; Saks & Ashforth, 2002). While Company X already uses both information sources, it might consider improving the credibility of these sources, because of the great impact these sources can have on application decisions.
In the end, if an accurate employer image is obtained among the target group, Company X should focus on consistently securing its position across multiple information sources. Branding an employment offer that is not provided consistently or does not fulfil expectations may harm the image of a company on the labour market (Cable & Turban, 2001; Corporate Leadership Council, 1999).
Limitations and future research
Because of restrictions with regard to costs and access towards high potential students and graduates, the way the survey was spread can be considered as a limitation of this research. Despite the fact that several measures were taken to minimize resulting differences between respondents approached by different channels, complete objectivity could not be absolutely guaranteed. These restrictions also resulted in a limited amount of respondents. Therefore, the results of this research can not be generalised towards the whole Dutch labour market of high potential students and graduates. However, the results with regard to the importance of the organisational attributes and the use of information sources by the respondents of this research show a great amount of correspondence to previous research that managed to obtain a significantly larger amount of respondents. While this correspondence indicates some similarity within the labour market, the amount of 134 respondents is not considered to be insufficient to be able to provide Company X with some useful recommendations. Finally, while the research was performed based on the need for information at Company X, the research offers less theoretical relevance compared to the practical relevance.
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APPENDIX 1
Explanation of Abbreviations of Organisational Attributes Abbreviation Organisational attribute
Aprdi Appealing products/services
Balwevt Good balance between work and private life
Coabgl Coaching and supervision
Collega Appealing colleagues
Cultuur Appealing organisational culture
Drgrmh Developmental opportunities
Eigvww Great amount of own responsibility
Fingez Financially healthy
Inhintw Interesting work as regards content
Intcrmh International career opportunities
Locatie Location of the working place
Maatvw Corporate social responsibility
Naamwg Employer name
Oplmh Educational opportunities
Salaris Salary
Scarbvw Well secondary working conditions/CAO
Stimmgt Stimulating management
Uitdw Challenge of the work
Vcontr Permanent agreement
APPENDIX 2
Explanation of Abbreviations of Information Sources Abbreviation Information source
BCIndgn Business courses/inhousedays
Bdsite Company website
Beknetw Acquaintances/network
Conrecr Direct contact with recruiters of companies
Conwn Direct contact with employees of companies
Dgnbeu Company days/career days/ career fairs
Krtdgbl Daily papers
Stages Internships
Tijdmag Journals/magazines
Vacsite Vacancy websites
