Interview with…
Odesa Stapleton, Director of Talent Management, Verizon Communications

How do you define your employer brand in one or two words?

Some keywords that describe our brand: innovation, people-focused, tech-savvy, global, and dynamic

What differentiates you from your competitors?

The commitment to our employees passes on to customers, giving them a world class experience, both in the job market and in the consumer market. This is one of the reasons we find the number one people to work for Verizon. Potential employees feel if you get a job here, you are important to us and the growth and development of our business, which is in line with our desire to produce the best products.

What are you working on right now?

We are always working on attracting top college talent and developing our relationships in the colleges, with career placement offices and student bodies. We know the Verizon of the future depends on the future of today’s talent, and by working together with the enterprise to reach out to campus talent and manage our relationships on campus, we hope to capture that talent.

What new initiatives have you developed?

We try to address what we hear and what the students want. We are in the process of a making a Leadership Corner, which features our leaders that are most active in the company. The Leadership Corner gives more personal insight into who Verizon is, and is linked to our career site. We are creating an impression for students to feel that people at Verizon are innovative and engaging in unique opportunities.

We are also creating a full-scale social responsibility center where students can interact with company leaders, focusing on going green, helping the community, and helping kids become better educated.

How does the talent market perceive you as an employer?

 Research shows that the talent market evolves like we evolve as an organization. We have moved up in BusinessWeek’s “Best Places to Launch your Career” rankings and are top-ranked in Diversity Inc. for best diversity practices.

Interview with…
Shannon Schuyler, Corporate Responsibility, PricewaterhouseCoopers

How do you define your employer brand in one or two words?

Leadership. We strive to demonstrate our responsible leadership in the marketplace and convey a shared purpose to deliver lasting value to our clients, people, and community.

What differentiates you from your competitors?

Overall, it’s the experience that we are able to deliver to our clients and to our people. It is the level of expertise, quality of work, depth of relationships and the values and behaviors that guide our actions. 

What are you working on right now?

The Corporate Responsibility (CR) team is currently working with the Dean of Notre Dame to document some of the highlights and brand-defining aspects of being a signatory to the UN Global Compact.  We have also recently completed our first CR vendor survey, which was comprised of a series of questions to better understand the commitment and actions of our suppliers related to their social responsibility agendas.  As we review the data gathered, we will be reaching out to the vendors to share best practices, build meaningful partnerships through common goals, and offer our client service expertise to make recommendations on tracking results and enhancing processes, as appropriate.

What new initiatives have you developed?

A significant part of our CR strategy is to develop programs and initiatives that are sustainable and occur on an annual basis, so that we are enhancing efforts versus creating new ones.  However, this year, with our announcement around reducing are carbon footprint 20 percent by 2012, we have developed related programs to support that aggressive goal.  Most recently, we launched Green Week, which was a firm-wide initiative that included daily communications from our CEO outlining our commitment to better respect the environment. There was a different focus each day; for example, what individual actions our employees can tale, what an office can do as a team, how we can support our clients through sustainability service offering and how our efforts link to technology and cost management. Green Week culminated in local events where our employees used “human power generators” to see just how much energy is required to charge a cell phone and power a normal light bulb versus an incandescent bulb. 

How does the talent market perceive you as an employer?

We get very positive feedback from our current staff, students on campus, and potential experienced hires in the marketplace about our brand, reputation, and overall positive perception of our firm as a responsible leader.  Given the current economic conditions, having a reputation for doing the right thing and acting with integrity is critical to drive loyalty and pride in any organization. We believe that our actions at PwC are a critical aspect of fostering sustainable business in the marketplace and our commitment seems to be embraced and understood by the broad pool of talent in our communities.

Interview with…
Gwen Migita, Corporate Director of CSR, Harrah’s Entertainment

How do you define your employer brand in one or two words?

Code of Commitment. Harrah’s Code of Commitment sets the standards that govern our company’s relationships with our guests, employees, and local communities.   It encompasses our commitments with respect to responsible gaming, employee growth and development, volunteerism and philanthropy, diversity, and environmental sustainability. With respect to the environment, Harrah’s  has incorporated sustainability programs , aggregated under the internal brand CodeGreen,  into all of its properties and activities, making a fundamental commitment to the environment an integrated component of everyday business operations.  CodeGreen is a comprehensive best practices approach, engaging employees and partners in conservation and efficiency efforts as well as driving continuous improvement of facilities and processes to make them more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable. 

 What differentiates you from your competitors?

Scope and leadership.  We were the first casino company to articulate a set of CSR standards.  We are the only gaming entertainment company that is an EPA Climate Leader, the only gaming company to have been named to the Dow Jones Global Sustainability Index for six years, and the only gaming company to have received a regional Environmental Quality Award, the highest award given to the public from the EPA. Twenty years ago, we developed the first Responsible Gaming programs for the gaming industry, and were the first casino company recognized for leadership by the National Council on Problem Gambling. 

What are you working on right now?

Harrah’s is working on company-wide carbon emissions reduction goals, waste management through stricter procurement standards, innovative partnerships with global environmental NGOs, and improved tracking of employee volunteer HERO (Harrah’s Entertainment Reaching Out) programs to build on the 125,000 hours we contributed through company-sponsored activities in 2008. 

What new initiatives have you developed?

Harrah’s partnered with NativeEnergy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with our World Series of Poker’s main event and Ante up for Africa celebrity tournament.  In conjunction with Meals on Wheels of America, the Harrah’s Foundation funded the first comprehensive study and action plan on senior hunger in the United States.  And, our Caesars Atlantic City HERO team and the Harrah’s Foundation worked with Habit for Humanity to fund and build the first green Habitat home in the country.

How does the talent market perceive you as an employer?

Our reputation as an employer is excellent.  We have been named one of the top places to work for IT professionals by Computerworld Magazine for nearly a decade, received two perfect scores on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign for LGBT employees, and received a Best Place to Work award as an employer from a number of jurisdictions in which we operate.

In 2008, BusinessWeek identified us as the “most generous company in America” based on a percent of our pre-tax profit.  We donate $1.5 million per week to charities across America. 

We feel that leadership and a strong record in corporate, social and environmental responsibility differentiates Harrah’s Entertainment from other employers.