By Michelle Boyde

The FT reports today that the gender pay gap has fallen to a record low, from 12.2 per cent to 10.2 per cent, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

In the 2010 UK Student Survey, Universum asked respondents what criteria they classed as diversity in relation to the work place. Ethnicity was the number one dimension of diversity (59 per cent), followed by gender (41 per cent). On closer inspection, 46 per cent of female students believe it’s a factor of diversity, but only 36 per cent of men.

But this rather begs the question: do the other 54 per cent of women and 64 per cent of men not see gender as a matter of diversity in the work place?

Companies need diversity of all types to be innovative and leaders in their field. And, creating an EVP which is true and transparent which appeals to both genders is a challenge for many employers. But finding the skills you need in a diverse group of people is critical and only a strategically planned employer brand can deliver this in the long term.

We know there should be more women in senior positions and they certainly should be earning equal to their male peers. The 41 per cent of students who don’t count gender as a matter of diversity, is this because they simply assume gender should no longer be an issue, or may Gen Y continue to proliferate the gender imbalance in the work place?

Integrate your brands

Employer branding is a dependent marketing tool: it’s influenced by the company’s corporate and consumer branding strategies. Yet to integrate the brands is a challenge to manage and communicate effectively to employees, customers and investors.

Companies with strong consumer or corporate brands often have an advantage in employer branding. However, a consumer brand might skew the employer image and lead to misconceptions. Or a strong consumer brand might inflate expectations amongst candidates, meaning that the company instead faces the risk of disappointing. To believe that a strong consumer brand will automatically translate into a strong employer brand is chancy.

You should:
• Use Common Messages
• Dare to differentiate
• Track expectations

To be continued…

Re-published: “Integrating your brands”, by By Annika Lagerholm, Universum Quarterly, 2006, Issue 1

By Michelle Boyde
Source: Universum Quarterly 2010, Issue 1

Do you work in a recruitment team or a rejection team? It’s possible that you have not considered your role in this light before. Many employers decline far more candidates than they ever hire. The world’s most popular employers will always have to deal with declining large numbers of candidates. However, due to the impact of the global economic crisis, employers of all sizes, from small start-ups to multinational conglomerates are facing the issue of declining candidates in large numbers. Today’s rejects are possible future lateral hires and potential customers or business partners – do your processes protect your employer brand against this threat?

The phrase ‘rejection machine’ was coined by Charles Macleod, head of global resourcing and mobility at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This is a very fitting phrase as PwC receives 20,000 to 25,000 applications for 1,000 jobs in the UK– they certainly do much more ‘rejecting’ than ‘recruiting’. This expression prompted Universum Quarterly to take a look at an aspect of the recruitment process many employers are reticent to discuss.