by Anna Blomberg and Joao Araujo

Since Universum started revealing the World’s Most Attractive Employers back in 2009 Google has been topping the index. The time has come to analyze what is behind Google’s attractiveness and what distinguishes the top companies from the rest of the pack.

Exploring Google’s secrets

What makes an employer attractive to career seekers? In our methodology we ask students to associate companies with 40 different attributes of employer attractiveness and to say which of these 40 drivers they consider more relevant. Results vary across countries and in between different talent groups. After all, that’s what makes each of us unique. But Google seems to have a consistent image throughout the World and has a large talent fan group who desires attributes that match their percieved offering.

Why is Google an attractive employer? Here are some of the attributes that career seekers associate Google with:

• Good reputation
• Innovative products and services
• Market success
• Offers a creative and dynamic work environment
• Offers a friendly work environment
• Challenging work

Google, obviously proud of their work place explains on their webpage why it’s so good to work for them:

At Google, we know that every employee has something important to say, and that every employee is integral to our success. We provide individually-tailored compensation packages that can be comprised of competitive salary, bonus, and equity components, along with the opportunity to earn further financial bonuses and rewards.

On the same page you can click to ten good reasons to work for Google. Here are some highlights:

-          Appreciation is the best motivation, so we’ve created a fun and inspiring workspace you’ll be glad to be a part of, including on-site doctor; massage and yoga; professional development.  And there is such a thing as a free lunch after all. In fact we have them every day: healthy, yummy, and made with love.

-          Boldly go where no one has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring. You’ll have the opportunity to develop innovative new products that millions of people will find useful.

-          Work and play are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time.

-          We love our employees, and we want them to know it. Google offers a variety of benefits, including a choice of medical programs, company-matched 401(k), stock options, maternity and paternity leave, and much more.

Interesting to see that what Google promotes is in fact the image that career seekers have of Google. Two lessons:

-          Being consistent: what they communicate is what they are

-          Being visible: their message has managed to spread out to a wide audience

The number twos

KPMG, second place on the business ranking, are thrilled about their position:

We are totally committed to equipping our people with the skills they need to cut through the complexity of today’s world,” said Rachel Campbell, Global Head of People, KPMG International. “That complexity sees our people increasingly work across borders and take on challenging, ground breaking projects. To be voted by students as one of the world’s most attractive employers is a real honor and is recognition of the world class learning that we provide to our people.”

Incoming KPMG International Chairman Michael Andrew said: “Every day our people operate across borders, think ahead of the curve on major global trends, provide deep expertise and work to add value in a way that speaks directly to the priorities of our member firm clients. Our environment is one of collaboration, empowerment and performance, which gives our people the opportunities to grow professionally and personally. The Universum ranking is a true testament to the employment experience we have to offer new graduates.”

In The World’s Most Attractive Employers 2011, some of the attributes that KPMG is associated with are:

• Good reputation
• Challenging work
• Professional training and development
• Good prospects for high future earnings
• Good reference for future career

As it turns out, “Professional training and development” is one of the most important attributes for career seekers. That leads us to lesson 3:

-          Being smart: companies that really offer what careers seekers look for are often perceived as very attractive employers.

On their webpage IBM, second place on the engineering ranking, points out four major reasons to work for them:

-          You can be an innovator and work with everything from energy production, climate change and traffic congestion to health care. You can re-invent yourself, without ever having to leave the company.

-          Work with the best and brightest. Work in an environment that lets you collaborate with like-minded people and that embraces individual differences.

-          Build the career you want. Take IBMs award-winning, customized professional development and leadership training. IBM offers competitive benefits and believes that global innovation demands diverse employees and attractive work/life initiatives.

-          Work for a company you can be proud of – developing “green technology”, work with corporate responsibility – and citizenship. IBM employees have dedicated over eight million hours through the award-winning Corporate Service Corps global volunteer program.

IBM is, according to The World’s Most Attractive Employers 2011, associated with:

• Good reputation
• Prestige
• Offers interaction with international clients and
  colleagues
• Challenging work
• Good reference for future career

Lesson 4: don’t be afraid to be bold. IBM challenges career seekers to do more for themselves and for the World.

Conclusion

So what do these companies have in common? There are a few success factors that help them be in the top of such a prestigious index as The World’s Most Attractive Employers:

-          They are global.

-          They are certain that their employees are the most important success factor for them.

-          They are industry leaders.

-          They let you develop both professionally and personally.

In the results of the survey conducted we can see that the 10 most popular companies also have a higher grade of association with attributes that are important for young people when choosing their ideal employers. In this diagram you can see what attributes are most desirable and which are more associated with them. Is your company not on the top list even though you have these important attributes? Then maybe it’s time to work on you communication!

Association of top employers with the most attractive attributes among Business students
% average association globally