By Michelle Boyde

Employers are targeting talent younger and younger. I just interviewed an HR representative from the National Institute of Health.  It’s very interesting to hear what they are doing in the US to encourage very young children to take an interest in science. This is definitely long term talent pipeline management.

If UK university courses will cost £9,000 per year, we cannot blame young people for re-considering a university education. How it will affect the graduate recruitment pipeline in specialised subjects is up for speculation. Students who may have chosen a ‘softer’ course may decide to invest in a degree which promises a return – therefore, we may see an increase in graduates choosing degrees in key subjects like the sciences, engineering and IT. Or, will numbers of competent students chose not to enter the university system at all leaving the UK with a shortage of graduates across the board,

Either way, one thing is for sure: employers will need to step-up their industry attraction before students apply to university. Teenagers need to think it’s cool to be an engineer before they summit their UCAS form – otherwise it’s all too late.

You can read the full story in Universum Quarterly 2011 issue four. If you have an initiative for building the brand to pre-university talent email Michelle on michelle.boyde@universumeurope.com.

By Michelle Boyde

With 500 million active users worldwide, Facebook has incredible potential, but is it the right platform for employers to communicate? Only 20 per cent use Facebook for both social and career purposes, 35 per cent of people on Twitter and 16 per cent of people on YouTube. In fact, the majority of members on these social networks disapprove of employers sending them information: 57 per cent of Facebook members, 61 per cent of YouTube members and 50 per cent of Twitter members say “No thank you”.

This data is based on Universum’s “Communicating with Talent Report 2010”, which delves into what and how to communicate to UK career seekers. Universum is hosting its Communicating with Talent Webinar on November 11th and 18th at 4pm GMT. If you would like to attend, please email michelle.boyde@universumeurope.com

It’s often attributed to a one-sided focus—often personal attitudes and behaviours—while neglecting the development of processes and structures. Sometimes, diversity efforts target certain groups, such as women or employees of a particular ethnic background, rousing resistance amongst others who feel like they don’t belong because they don’t recognize the advantages for themselves. As these employees often comprise the majority and hold managerial positions, they feel excluded and may hamper the progress of your diversity efforts and affect the perception of your employer brand. Thus, do not focus exclusively on those that differ from the norm, but give everyone the opportunity to develop.

Republished: “Diversity”, by Annika Lagerholm, Universum Quarterly, 2006, Issue 1

By Christopher Van Mossevelde

Britain’s graduates say they would like to work for an employer that is judged well or is held in high esteem by the community or the public generally. This probably confirms what Dov Seidman wrote, that we’re now in the “Era of Behaviour”¹ – let’s hope that it becomes the era of ‘good’ behaviour.

With Goldman Sachs under current public scrutiny in the UK, the short-sighted focus on shareholder value at the expense of others, the doing ‘more with less’ mantra that has resulted in the recent public calamity at France Telecom with employee suicides, and the general burden that this recession has had upon employees, to say no more… has perhaps, or at least I hope, catapulted students to drastically re-think their career choices. 

Student research reveals that Britain’s students deem ‘good reputation’ as the most important attribute an employer can have, should it strive to be perceived as an ‘ideal’ employer – 49 per cent select this as an attractive employer characteristic.  And if an employer doesn’t have it, they may lose out in terms of their brand perception. Finally, we’ve seen some results in the latest UK ideal employer rankings by Universum, as students have judged the recklessness of the financial institutions and banks have lost out in the popularity stakes².

How employers are viewed by others is important for graduates who are choosing their future employer and thus an important employer branding issue to consider for companies and organisations. Similarly, ‘high-ethical standards’ is highly regarded by 30 per cent of students, yet what are the values they deem important, relating to employer conduct, and with respect to the rightness and wrongness of employer actions, is still to be determined. It’s for us to ask the students to clarify and to remove this ash cloud to let the sun shine through – so be it!

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¹ “Inspirational Shame in the Era of Behavior”, by Dov Seidman <http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2010/ca2010047_343747.htm>

² ”Why apple is a tasty job option”, by Steve McCormack  <http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/why-apple-is-a-tasty-job-option-1944828.html>

Read the latest FT piece on employee engagement, entitled “Global Experience” by James Wilson and Sarah Murray. They explain what we can learn from Germany’s relative workforce stability and how US employers have approached employee engagement during these challenging economic times.  It’s an interesting read for all employer branding professionals.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7984008-3549-11df-9cfb-00144feabdc0.html

Student salary expectations from around the world

By Christopher Van Mossevelde

In a survey on career expectations, Universum asked 224,542 students in 16 countries what they expected to earn in their first job after their studies. The results show that Swiss students expect to earn the most (£48,092 per year), followed by the Danish (£43,134), Norwegians (£38,686) and Germans (£34,171). Read the rest of this entry »

Interview with Fiona McKerrow, Global Internal Communications Manager Employer Branding, Syngenta International

By Joanna Rusin-Rohrig, Regional Marketing Manager for Central Europe

1. How do you define your employer brand in one or two words?
Our work matters.

Read the rest of this entry »

Carlo Duraturo, Nordic Manager at Universum, blogs about employer branding. He has been working at Universum for close to 7 years and has extensive experience with consulting and advising companies on what to do.

For all those new to employer branding, Carlo explains in detail Universum’s five step process, which has helped numerous clients make improvements to their employer brand. He has also blogged about employer branding being a new growing discipline, as well as challenges organisations still face today.

To learn more about employer branding directly from one of Universum’s experts, go to www.carloduraturo.com

Per Håkansson, CEO of CareerTV, held a webinar on Monday this week on how companies can use social media to build their employer brand. The webinar was attended by a number of employers and there was a discussion on how companies can get started to develop an employer brand presence in the social media field.

You are welcome to view the online presentation below. If this is a subject of interest to you, Universum will be happy to organise future webinars.

By Eleni Antoniou, Employer Relations Manager, City University London

From the feedback we have collected from students who have attended our fairs here at City over the past 4 years as well as our own experience at the career service, we have put together 7 tips for employers to consider when being at a career fair.
  Read the rest of this entry »