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Lundquist 2010 Employer Branding Questionnaire

Employer branding moves online

Questionnaire results from more than 400 respondents show that 95% of job seekers use
corporate websites before deciding whether to apply for a job. The questionnaire is part
of research to rank the online employer branding of the 100 best global brands.

Milan, 4 August 2010 – Attracting and retaining the best talent, the
core scope of employer branding, has always been one of the main Employer branding is a
preoccupations of managers operating in boom times as well as in company’s pitch to current and
what has been called the Great Recession. prospective employees.

It is the company’s bid to show

Employer branding used to be exclusively an offline activity practiced
why it is a desirable place to
in many ways including through job fairs, advertising, marketing and work.
internal newsletters. Companies are still passing on the same type
of information to current and prospective employees only now they
are increasingly doing it through their website.

Good online employer branding is a key step in the drive to getting and keeping top employees, but how should
companies confront the process? Job seekers are using the internet, that we know, but how much and what
are they looking for? In this age of social networks and job sites that aggregate employment announcements
how much does the corporate website matter?

When evaluating whether to apply for a job with A Lundquist survey of more than 400 people in 37 countries sought
a company do you visit the corporate website?
the answers to these questions and many more.
No
5% Job seekers use corporate websites not only to apply for jobs and
find basic information about a company, but increasingly also as
the primary spot where they expect to be informed about details
on everything from training programs to job mobility, vacation policy
and compensation, according to the survey conducted between
Yes
April and June 2010.
95%

Ninety-five percent of those surveyed said they look at the corporate

website of a company before deciding whether to apply for a job.

A third of the people ranked the corporate website as the most

important source of information for a job seeker; only word of mouth
Source: Lundquist Employer Branding Questionnaire 2010 ranked higher (40%).

The fundamental role played by the corporate website is all the more
evident considering that most people don’t have somebody on the inside that they can turn to for information.
Only six percent of respondents considered the time-honoured job fair as the best place to find out information
about companies where they were considering applying.

Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – employerbranding@lundquist.it
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What they want

For those who thought that job seekers are most interested in how much they would get paid at a particular
company and how much vacation they would have, the results of the questionnaire will come as a surprise.
Respondents said it was more important to find information about what training they will receive on the job and
how their career might progress at the company rather than to have information about compensation.

As with many types of corporate communications, respondents appeared weary of what might be considered
spin. While, as stated previously, word of mouth is considered an excellent way to get information on the
company, respondents were not enthusiastic about reading or listening to employee testimonials that most
people think are edited by management or the human resources department.

How important is it to find the following information?* More than four out of every five respondents
(84%) want to be able to send in an unsolicited
Training/career progression 40% 15%
Very important
Most important application even if there is no job opening that
fits their profile.
Sustainability performance 35% 18%
Even in this time of economic crisis people don’t
want to spend too much time on their application.
Compensation 26% 16%
Just under half of respondents said the process
should take no more than 15 minutes while
Employees’ interviews 15% 7% another 42% said 15-30 minutes was the right
amount of time).
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

More than half (57%) want to know if and when

* multiple answers were allowed
they can expect a response back yet the vast
Source: Lundquist Employer Branding Questionnaire 2010 majority of corporate sites don’t provide this
information.

Forty-three percent were keen to know what the steps are in the evaluation process once they have sent in the
application and this is also surprisingly hard to find on a corporate site.

Given the chance to air their views beyond checking off boxes, respondents were clear about what they are
after: simplicity, clarity, real information and interaction with real people.

What job seekers want

“Easy navigation, simple search function, easy application process”
“Clear description of activities in simple words, not long poetry”
“Getting feedback – i.e., knowing my application has not gone down the black hole”
“Getting a sense of what the company style and culture is”
“I praised the company that sent me a personalised answer, by a real person, with job title & contact details”

Social Media
Have you used the following social networking platforms to look for career Social media, which have begun to sneak into
information and job opportunities?*
many aspects of online life, are making headway
LinkedIn 79% in job searches though two sites dominate the
market.
Facebook 30%
Four in five respondents said they have used
35% 18%
Twitter 8% LinkedIn to look for career information and job
opportunities. Almost one in three has used
XING 6%
26% 16% Facebook for that purpose.
MySpace 4%

Other 15%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

* multiple answers were allowed
Source: Lundquist Employer Branding Questionnaire 2010

Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – employerbranding@lundquist.it
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Personal contact
Three-quarters of respondents want to find personal contact Have you applied for a position and never
gotten a response from the HR department?
information for somebody in the HR department for queries that
No
arise during the application process while the rest would be content 22%
to have only a generic email address for HR. The reality at the
moment is that the majority of sites don’t provide any indication of
how the HR department can be contacted.

More than three-quarters of respondents said they have applied for

a job and not gotten a response. Hard to think of a better way for a
company to alienate a job seeker, who in many cases also happens
Yes
to be a potential client. 78%

Source: Lundquist Employer Branding Questionnaire 2010

Employer Branding Awards

The input from the questionnaire has been used as a tool in the creation a 58-criterion protocol that will be used
in the Lundquist Employer Branding Awards 2010 to assess how companies are performing in online employer
branding. The priorities expressed by the respondents were taken into consideration when deciding how much
importance to give to the various criteria.

The Employer Branding Awards considers how companies use their corporate website to communicate their
values, ethics and culture to current and potential employees. The top 100 brands as ranked by Businessweek
will be evaluated (see box for the top 20 of that list) as part of a global survey that will be published in
September. Will these same 20 be occupying the top spots for their online employer branding efforts and is
there any correlation between a strong brand and effective employer branding?

Country rankings will also be done for Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

An analysis of the results of each ranking will be available in a report that will also include complete details of
responses received in the questionnaire as well as a criterion-by-criterion presentation of international best
practice. The research therefore provides a comprehensive guide to successful online employer branding.

Best Global Brands (top 20 of 100)*

1 – Coca-Cola 11 – Hewlett-Packard
2 – IBM 12 – Mercedes-Benz
3 – Microsoft 13 – Gillette
4 – GE 14 – Cisco
5 – Nokia 15 – BMW
6 – McDonald’s 16 – Louis Vuitton
7 – Google 17 – Marlboro
8 – Toyota 18 – Honda
9 – Intel 19 – Samsung
10 – Disney 20 – Apple

* as compiled by Businessweek (17 Sept. 2009)

Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – employerbranding@lundquist.it
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About the respondents

With an average age of about 33, the 424 people who responded to the Lundquist online employer branding
questionnaire represented 37 countries with 80 percent living in mainland Europe.

Less than 20% of respondents were unemployed when they responded to the survey yet 62% said they had
looked for a job in the past year. This indicates that many people who are employed are contemporaneously
looking for a new job, highlighting the importance managers must place on efforts to retain their best workers.
Respondents ran the gamut of educational backgrounds with 85 percent having a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Six percent were undergraduate university students.

Contacts Research team

Eric Sylvers Vesna Dokic

Head of employer branding Joakim Lundquist
eric.sylvers@lundquist.it James Osborne
Ornella Ponzoni
www.lundquist.it Sara Rusconi
www.lundquist.it/blog Sara Troiano
www.twitter.com/lundquist Federico Tronconi
Cristina Urban
To order a copy of the full employer branding report, please
contact employerbranding@lundquist.it

Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – employerbranding@lundquist.it