by Anna Blomberg

A new generation is pouring into the job market – the Generation Y (born in the 80s and 90s). This new generation is now being dubbed as “the most high maintenance workforce in the history of the world”; “Generation X on fast-forward with self-esteem on steroids.” People in Gen Y – or the high maintenance generation – are described as following:

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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.

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by Lovisa Öhnell,

I often get asked by clients how they should handle all the various rankings that they appear in. Many of them point out that they are surprised (and sometimes a little annoyed) when their manager asks them about why the company has fallen in ranking A, risen in ranking B, and why they are nowhere to be found in ranking C. It is clear to me that companies often feel that they are not in control, of how – or why – the company is portrayed in various rankings. So let’s look at how you can map out your path through the ranking jungle.

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by Joao Araujo

According to Wikipedia, “an organization is a social group which distributes tasks for collective goal”. With time companies build teams, establish processes, develop routines and, if all works well, create differentiated knowledge / products / services that are attractive to its target. It becomes a well-oiled machine, producing value to all stakeholders.

But anyone who has worked in one of these well-oiled machines knows how painful it is when you realize that someone is about to or has just resigned. In a split second, knowledge, routines and personal relations are gone or get damaged. The “well-oiled machine”, running with a missing or underperforming element, quickly loses part of its effectiveness and its charm. It will be a temporary situation, but to recruit new people, rebuild relations and improve the knowledge is costly and time-consuming.

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by Lovisa Öhnell (for Universum Quarterly)

Regardless of industry, country or position, it seems those that work with employer branding have at least one thing in common: the need for solid measuring tools for their employer branding activities. This need is particularly pressing now, since employer branding has gone strategic. Not having good measuring tools has an adverse effect on budgets, number of recruits and the quality of the recruits. But the suffering is unnecessary. There are plenty of tools you can use to correctly measure the results of your work.

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By: Grazyna Sotta

Does being secretive make your life easier, or get you into trouble? One of the lessons we can learn from recent occurrences related to wiki leaks or the financial crisis is that transparency is a good thing. Corporate transparency makes it easier to discover flaws and correct them. Transparency is healthy.

Companies demand it from employees. We’ve heard about candidates getting their Facebook accounts reviewed during the recruitment process. About employees getting fired for opinions shared in social media. As we’ve heard of  individuals getting signed because of what they do online. As with all practices, there are pro’s and con’s, but think about some of the intrusive questions that may be asked in interviews. Legal or not, is it ethical to dissect the private sphere?

Your employer brand is always observed by the environment. Companies such as Zappos really got it and see transparency in dealing with employees, suppliers, investors and customers central to their business. Over two years ago, Zappos shed 8% cent of its workforce. The CEO, Mr Hsieh, communicated the details through e-mail to staff and on his blog on what was happening and why rather than hiding it under the vague “strategic change”. A client who believes the company is ethical, transparent and treats the employees well will be a more loyal customer who believes in the people behind the product or service they use. The closer individuals get to the core of your employer brand, the more scrutiny you will experience. With that in mind, consider the impression a candidate may have, when they’re asked for their marital status, family and age? It might not mean anything, but asking these questions might have the candidate question YOUR ethics. And share it with the people they know… which in the age of social media is just downright dangerous. At the end of the day, an employee can be terrible at researching the internet at the age of 23 and excellent at social media at 50 – based on factors such as interest or ambitions. Is having children a burden or does it make you more focused, dedicated and loyal? And is making this differentiation ethical?

And it only gets “worse”. Employees watch your every move, observe how you treat them, their colleagues, your partners and clients. They might not tell you, but they see it, take it in and process to the best of their abilities. The more you hide, the more you leave to the coffee break hush-hush and free interpretation.

And before employees start jumping with joy and feel entitled to withhold information – this works both ways. Any company is its people and the culture starts with each and every employee. As a leader, you set the groundwork and introduce it; as an employee, you see it through and implement it. By being open, you set the groundwork for a transparent team, department and organization. Continuing the vicious circle and hiding the uncomfortable truths under the rug is only a temporary solution and there’s always a chance someone will take off the lid. The choice is yours – you’ll either have a Pandora’s box or a clear conscience.

By Grazyna Sotta

As economies and companies grow again after setbacks during the recession, talent retention, employee motivation and engagement are up on the agenda. The most basic approach calls for the carrot and stick: reward employees for desired behaviours and withdraw rewards when goals aren’t met. But is it really that simple or can we get higher engagement and motivation levels from employees by doing more?

According to an inspiring video by RSA Animate, the basic pat on the back or slap on the wrist technique works well with simple mechanical tasks. Research done by economists, sociologists or psychologists all come to the same conclusion: when rudimentary cognitive skills and conceptual creative thinking are involved, the monetary reward should be at a level that makes money a non-issue. In other words, employers should shift the employees focus from money to the tasks at hand. If money is used as a motivator for tasks that require high cognitive skills, the opposite result occurs whereby performance deteriorates.

What makes us tick beyond the recurrent pay check?
The answer is our desire to be self-directed, to improve professionally and make the world around us a better place – autonomy, mastery and purpose. Once the question of money is off the table, these three factors are what makes or breaks engagement and creativity.

An excellent example is Australian software company Atlassian that gives its developers a creative and fun day every quarter, allowing them to work with whoever, whatever and however they want. All this is done in a relaxed and amusing environment, as opposed to a sterile corporate world, and produces a positive result–solutions and new products far beyond what would normally be achieved or groundbreaking innovations. A saucy innovation bonus wouldn’t be able to entice them to these levels of creativity.

Linux, Apache and Wikipedia are excellent examples of how engagement is built on passion for something rather than monetary rewards, as mentioned in RSA’s animation. Google, a company that attracts students and professionals in Universum’s research, is known for its creative working environment and creative and dynamic spirit. The sense of purpose is also what drives so many talented people to the underpaid governmental sectors, explains the popularity of volunteer work and other oddities that the “big money equalling performance” can’t explain.

Well, great information, what do we do with this? How can WE make OUR employees want to jump out of bed to run to work? Following the advice from the video:
• Know your employees
• Give, or rather don’t restrict, autonomy
• Set realistic goals and a development plan that helps them grow and have a sense of achievement
• Engage them with a sense of purpose