Elsevier - employer branding by Simon Thomas

Elsevier - building an employer brand through extraordinary l & d

Document written by Simon Thomas

12/8/2009

1. Executive Summary Elsevier has a number of issues relating to employee retention, engagement and loyalty combined with no real employer brand strategy. They have made some significant strides in recent months with the launch of their Extraordinary Learning & Development (ELD) website that is a well structured, visually appealing and interactive learning platform. It was launched following consultation with employees accompanied by a teaser and creative communications campaign. The results for ELD although in its infancy have been extremely positive and are a symbol of encouragement for progress in the future. The creative proposition for the launch and the site itself have the potential to act as a catalyst for the development of an employer brand strategy but there are some immediate concerns that other areas of the business do not fully appreciate the importance of brand consistency, authenticity and transparency. This could significantly harm the roll-out of a well considered and more holistic employer brand that is the recommendation in this document. The L&D team at Elsevier appears to have a strong handle on how the outputs of their work could have a positive impact on the business as a place to work. Indeed, this report highlights the real tangible elements of cut through in employer brand terms that ELD has already made and the scope that it has to do so even more further down the line in areas such as vision and values, candidate attraction and perception, reward and learning and development itself. ELD is successful in no small part because of its functionality and content but also because of the levels of authenticity, transparency and distinctiveness that have been applied to its creation and the consistency and visibility of the campaign to launch it. Detailing the commercial benefits of building and implementing an employer brand on these same criteria, it is strongly recommended that Elsevier undertakes a full employer branding initiative to really maximise the benefits that have been felt through ELD and to help establish it as a great place to work and an employer of choice in the future. 2. Introduction

The Elsevier L&D team in the UK has, in conjunction with PennaTCS, developed what we believe to be an excellent, bespoke web-based learning platform called Extraordinary L&D (ELD). ELD was launched recently in a staged process that involved consultation and

feedback with existing employees and a teaser campaign prior to its go-live date. The initial response to ELD has been overwhelmingly positive in an organisation where there are some significant issues surrounding personal and career development, employee engagement, retention and loyalty that were highlighted in the latest opinion survey in June 2009. ELD is a major step forward for Elsevier, not only in its delivery of L&D, the focus that has been placed on it for investing in employees and the potential it has to provide continuous growth for individuals but also because it harnesses everything that an employer brand for Elsevier could and should represent to existing and potential employees. Whilst some employer brand research and creative development work has been carried out at Elsevier UK this was a long time ago and was not adopted widely throughout the organisation. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no detailed or specific employer brand development in the US. The adoption of ELD across all geographies is an important step on the journey to building, enhancing and managing Elsevier‟s reputation as an employer; to developing a recognisable, consistent and authentic employer brand; to attracting, retaining and engaging the best possible talent into the organisation. This document sets out to achieve a number of objectives:  Introduce the concept of corporate reputation, employer reputation and employer branding  Set out the important commercial benefits of building an employer brand  Highlight the importance of developing an authentic, credible and consistent employer brand  Explain how L&D can be positioned at the heart of developing an employer brand and employer value proposition  Show the impact of L&D on the employer brand package  Set out a roadmap for optimising the candidate and employee journey through a consistent value proposition

 Act as a strategy document for developing a consistent and distinctive employer brand for Elsevier globally

3. Corporate reputation, employer reputation & employer branding This section of the report provides the context for the role of employer branding in organisations and seeks to evidence its importance as a subject in progressive Human Resource strategy. Elsevier‟s mission as a business is to help customers advance science and health by providing world-class information and innovative tools that help them make critical decisions, enhance productivity and improve outcomes. Its ability to fulfill this mission shapes its reputation as a company and as a brand in the minds of the stakeholders that it comes into contact with. A primary focus for Elsevier therefore should be in building, managing and enhancing its reputation in the markets that it operates in. Corporate reputation can be defined as, “A collective representation of a firm‟s past actions and results which describe its ability to deliver valued outcomes to multiple stakeholders” (Fombrun, 1996). There are a number of key principles or tenets of corporate reputation identified by Davies et al (2003) that ultimately relate directly to employer reputation and employer branding:  Multiple stakeholders need to be considered – essentially anyone who has any knowledge of your organization in whatever capacity they have come into contact with it builds a perception of it. These stakeholders can be diverse audiences as shown in the diagram below and employees, candidates and potential candidates are key groups with whom reputation needs to be managed. Pressure groups/CSR

International population

National population

Suppliers Local communities Employees Customers

Candidates

Co. ABC

Competitors

Media Management

Financial Markets

Shareholders

Local, regional & national government

 The main elements of reputation are linked – there are three core aspects of reputation; image which is how external stakeholders view the organisation; identity which is how employees see the organisation and reputation which is the collective relationship between image and identity. Organisations where gaps exist between the employee and customer view are unlikely to have a positive reputation. A further complicating dimension is that the organisation may have a desire to be seen differently by employees, other stakeholders or both. However, what we do know is that there is a direct causal link between a strong view of identity driving a positive external image. The corporate reputation chain shows that a positive employee perception will result in the ability to attract new employees more easily, levels of satisfaction (and ideally engagement) are high and employee retention is good.

A strong identity drives external image in the minds of the stakeholder. In this case, where the stakeholder is the customer, the service delivery creates customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and therefore sales. Employees sit at the heart of corporate reputation.  Reputation is built and shaped by multiple interactions – the touch points that a stakeholder has with the company may be frequent or infrequent, formal or informal, planned or unplanned and direct or indirect but they exist through a wide range of sources. The diagram below lists just a few of the potential interactions that need consideration and careful, planned and consistent communication – none more so than with existing employees and potential employees.

 Reputation is valuable and has value – although reputation is an intangible asset it is becoming more regularly represented on the balance sheet of major organisations in the form of goodwill and human capital measurement. The knowledge, skills and experience of employees (which are transferable and a serious and costly outcome of employee attrition) are valuable to the organisation and often referred to as „our most valuable asset‟. Employees in knowledge capital markets are the product, the brand and the service delivery that is valued by the consumer. As we have already seen, this has a direct impact on sales and therefore revenue and profitability which in turn help shape perception and reputation with other stakeholders such as suppliers and financiers.  Reputation can be managed – there would be little point in building a reputation strategy if reputation could not be managed. There are a large number of components that contribute to reputation and these are often multi-departmental and cross functional but by understanding and improving individual parts, reputation can be managed collectively from culture, vision and values through employee behaviour to communication and working environment.

 Reputation can be measured – there are a number of different methodologies and scales on which to measure reputation but almost all include some common factors such as products and services, emotional appeal, leadership, working environment, financial performance and corporate social responsibility. Further measures include external surveys such as Fortune 500 and Sunday Times FastTrack and these are replicated on an employer basis by Fortune and Best Companies (in conjunction with the Sunday Times). External questionnaires, internal opinion surveys, focus groups and benchmarking studies can all provide valuable insight into the strength of reputation too.  Reputation can be lost more easily than it can be created – in the words of Warren Buffet, “It can take 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose it. If you think about that, you‟ll do things differently”. So, we have established that corporate reputation is important and that there are significant links between corporate reputation and employees within the organisation. Every company has a reputation, good or bad, real or perceived and with it they have a reputation as an employer. Employer reputation is, “A targeted long-term strategy to manage the awareness & perceptions of employees, potential employees & related stakeholders with regards to a particular organization as a place to work” (Sullivan 2004).

Employer/employee (interchangeable) reputation as shown in the diagram above is the pivotal dimension in corporate reputation with a direct impact on emotional appeal, product/service quality, financial performance, the workplace environment and social responsibility. Sitting alongside consumer, investor, supplier and general public reputation, employer reputation is therefore every aspect of the relationship that exists between the employer, potential, former and existing employees as well as the communication that occurs outside of those relationships with the other stakeholders identified in 3.a. The management of employer reputation is conducted primarily through the employer brand. The employer brand is â&#x20AC;&#x153;the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment and identified with the employing companyâ&#x20AC;? (Barrow 2003). The introduction of the word brand is both a help and a hindrance in that it has its roots and learning in the more mature environment of marketing and brand but in turn opens itself up to be the domain claimed by marketers rather than HR professionals where it more closely belongs. A multi-functional approach that embraces and includes HR, marketing, communication and PR has been shown to be the most effective route to developing and

implementing an employer brand. The employer brand „package‟ is comprised of a large number of factors that exist in any organisation‟s employment offer to a greater or lesser extent and with positive and negative impact. These include (but not necessarily restricted to) those listed in the diagram below:

These categories show the complex nature of the employment proposition, the elements of the psychological contract or „deal‟ that exist between the employee and employer. These are the contributing factors that determine the attraction, retention and engagement of employees and in different measures apply to each individual in their relationship with the company. In our consulting with major organisations, we have simplified these categories and added a loyalty dimension to the analysis:  Attraction and perception – what attracts candidates to the organisation and what were their perceptions of it before they joined  Recruitment & induction – the quality, service experience of the recruitment and induction process  Internal communications – the frequency, relevance, content and delivery of internal communication

 Learning & development – the depth, availability and quality of coaching, training, personal and professional development and incorporating performance measurement  Compensation & benefits – pay and associated benefits  Working environment – the physical environment and facilities that are available  Social cohesion (work/life) – the sociability, community and work life balance of the company  Leadership style – the type of leadership, visibility, link to direction and vision of the organisation  Vision, values, purpose – how things are done around here, what is expected and how that links to the corporate vision  Loyalty – what makes people stay and the key engagement factors The development of an employer brand identifies the compelling reasons why someone should want to join, stay and be loyal to your organisation. It differentiates the proposition that you have compared to other employers and promotes what it is about your company that makes it a great place to work in an authentic, credible and consistent way. The employer brand articulates the one key quality that you want to be famous for as an employer (the proposition) and then outlines the distinctive qualities that further define the employment experience. This is supported by a set of reasons to believe – the tangible proof points that make the proposition credible and a range of qualifiers that are the everyday, basic systems, processes and way things are done that ensure the proposition remains authentic. As part of the psychological contract, it is important to understand that the package of benefits that appeal to one individual or group may be significantly different dependent on job function, geography, role type, experience, industry sector and so on i.e. the „employment deal‟ that is struck between a board level director and the employer will contain contrasting emphasis on the factors listed above compared to a front line, telephonebased customer service adviser. It is therefore essential that tailored employee value propositions (EVP) are created to meet the needs of these diverse audiences. The overall proposition must relate to all employee segments and be consistently communicated whereas the tailored EVP contains the weighted brand components that appeal to the specific audience segment.

In summary, we can see that employer reputation is the pivotal element of corporate reputation; employer reputation is comprised of the employer brand and the EVP.

The development of the brand and the management of your employer reputation should be a fundamental part of your HR strategy. 4. The commercial benefits of a strong employer brand The justification for developing a strong employer brand must be based on return on investment and commercial benefit. The specific benefits will vary from company to company depending on the objectives and challenges that exist. However, the scope of influence of the employer brand can be classified into three main areas of attraction, retention and engagement.  Attraction – the brand‟s impact on your ability to attract the „right‟ people 

Increase quantity of applicants – an attractive proposition that has been well developed, communicated and understood will attract more candidates to apply

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Improve quality of applicants – an aspirational and authentic proposition that is well targeted will ensure that potential candidates are better informed about your company and perceive it to be more desirable as a place to work thereby increasing the calibre benchmark

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Employer of choice – perhaps the ultimate goal for many companies is to achieve employer of choice status where their employer brand and employment proposition is known to be excellent; this drives up the level of speculative, high quality applicants and down the cost per hire

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Efficiency – a strong employer brand will encourage applications and speculative approaches from the most suitable candidates to your organisation reducing the need to advertise and cutting the lead time to hire

 Retention – the brand‟s capability to drive loyalty and belonging amongst your employees 

Loyalty – a well constructed and communicated employer brand is lived and breathed by your employees; the components of the brand are recognised, understood and appreciated; they act as a reminder of your organisation as a great place to work thereby driving loyalty

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Attrition – loyalty and employee satisfaction create an environment where people want to work that is fun, enjoyable and rewarding – a place where employees are keen to stay and commit their efforts

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Absenteeism – by the same definition, a motivating and positive work environment reduces the levels of absenteeism

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Brand champions – a clearly articulated and living, breathing employer brand encourages advocates for the brand; employees who take every opportunity to champion your business as a great place to work internally and externally

 Engagement – the brand‟s capacity to set the platform for your employees going above and beyond what‟s expected of them 

Beyond satisfaction – employee engagement is the stage beyond satisfaction where employees are prepared to go the extra mile for your company, to help each other out and to contribute more than is expected of them because they want to rather than being asked or required to

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Psychological contract – for employee engagement to exist, the critical factors of the „deal‟ between the employee and the employer must be in place and continue to remain mutually beneficial; the employer brand acts as the catalyst and reenforcer for the psychological contract

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Values and culture – a strong employer brand has its roots is the culture and values of your business, the DNA of your company; the employer brand itself becomes embedded in your culture as part of the fabric of the way things are done which helps create a platform for employee engagement

The combined benefits of attraction, retention and engagement that are promoted and evidenced through the employer brand produce results that directly impact the bottom line. A recent survey by the CIPD (2007, sample size 274 HR Directors) evidences some of the key reasons for developing an employer brand and employer of choice strategy:

Alignment to vision/values

Improve recruitment performance

Criteria

Compete for labour (local)

Increase employee satisfaction

Improve productivity/delivery Compete for labour (national/international) Reduce attrition

Reduce costs of HR

% objective is important or very important

Establishing Elsevier as an employer of choice is not immediately achievable but by developing an employer brand based on fact and consistently communicated will help tackle some of your key issues and lower the cost of attraction, increase retention, further reduce

the need for attraction and improve efficiency and service performance ultimately making your business more profitable. We believe this is a compelling argument for building a compelling employer proposition. 5. L&D at the heart of the brand proposition The responsibility for building, managing and enhancing your reputation as an employer sits with every single employee in your organisation. However, whilst employer branding is still a relatively new concept, in most organisations where it is being correctly implemented as a strategic framework, it is in the domain of Human Resources. Furthermore, HR is building multi-functional teams that include marketing, brand, PR, communications and representatives from the line and senior management to ensure that there is a collective approach to implementation and on-going management of the proposition. Within the structure of HR and in the context of the employer brand components, talent management, reward and learning and development are absolutely at the heart of where the brand proposition should be developed and managed because each touches some of the most crucial parts of the psychological contract. This is particularly true for L&D that has a sphere of influence on all parts of the proposition and has a key role in improving and enhancing the employment experience as the diagram below shows:

Benefits

Attraction & Perception

Recruitment & Induction

Work Environment

Vision & Values

Leadership Learning & development

L&D has a role in developing the quality and performance of the leaders in the business, living and communicating the corporate vision and values, establishing the right working environment, ensuring that the induction process inspires new employees in their first 100

days and that the employer brand is promoted and evidenced throughout the employee journey. Furthermore, if we consider the ranking of importance that employees place on the areas that are most likely to affect engagement according to a 2007/2008 Towers Perrin engagement study, we see that L&D has a hugely influential stake: Top 10 Drivers of Employee Engagement 1. Senior management sincerely interested in employee well-being 2. Ability to improve skills and capabilities 3. Organization‟s reputation for social responsibility 4. Employees inputs into decision making 5. Quick resolution of customer concerns 6. Setting of high personal standards 7. Excellent career advancement opportunities 8. Challenging work assignments that broaden skills 9. Good relationships with supervisors 10. Organization encourages innovative thinking

Those aspects highlighted in red we firmly believe should involve L&D to ensure that criteria are being met and performance is maintained and improved. Elsevier does not have a recognisable employer brand. It does have a tailored, structured and innovative learning and development platform, ELD which as you will see throughout the remainder of this document, we feel should be adopted as the basis for developing the Elsevier employer brand moving forwards. 6. The impact of ELD on the employer brand ‘package’ ELD is not just a learning platform for Elsevier employees, nor is it just a portal that provides access to a range of training courses. It is a site that has been developed in conjunction with Elsevier employees for the employees through consultation and feedback. But it also more than that, it is a living, breathing working representation of what working at Elsevier is or could/should be about. So many aspects of ELD get to the root of what the Elsevier employer proposition should be and on its own is somewhat of a beacon for future brand creation and development. In this section of the report, we are going to consider the impact that ELD has on a potential employer brand „package‟. 

Vision, values and purpose – there are a set of group-wide values that we have reviewed against the key attributes of ELD and firmly believe that ELD is a strong example of the values in action:

Corporate Values Customer Focus

ELD Synergy Customer Focus

Everything we do is driven by our customers‟ needs. We want to be their indispensable partner. We have a passion for understanding and exceeding our customers‟ expectations. We are committed to providing superior products and services with the highest level of quality and excellence. We are professional in all our customer dealings. We are highly valued and respected by our customers.

L&D provides a service to its internal customers. ELD was developed (and continues to be enhanced) by asking its employees what they wanted from an L&D solution. L&D listened and has produced a site that is of a high quality, is professional and has received excellent feedback from its customers. It has provided a platform for on-going learning and development that will become valued and respected by its employees.

Valuing our People

We put the highest priority on recruiting, developing and retaining outstanding people. Our managers are directly responsible for the development of their people. We recognize and reward achievement. We enjoy what we do and we celebrate success. We empower our people to maximize their potential and contribution. We respect our people and believe in open and honest communication. We behave in a principled and ethical manner.

The principle behind ELD is to help develop and retain outstanding people; an environment where employees are empowered to maximize their potential and contribution. The structure, tone and visual impact of the site has been created to champion open and honest communication. ELD is a strong and powerful representation of Elsevier‟s commitment to valuing its people.

Passion for Winning

We are determined to outperform and beat the competition. We always want to be the best. We are a high energy, fast moving, decisive organization. We have a strong propensity for action. We always execute well and deliver. We set ambitious goals and strive to beat them. We hold ourselves and each other accountable for outstanding results.

ELD is the culmination of a lot of hard work and effort where the motivation has been on providing the best possible solution to meet customer need. Buying an off-the-shelf solution would have been easy but it would not have executed or delivered in the same way as a bespoke solution developed by Elsevier for its employees. It is early days but there is absolute confidence in it delivering outstanding results.

Innovation

We welcome and push change, we challenge the status quo. We encourage our people to be entrepreneurial, take some risks and learn from mistakes. We are ready to make bold moves and decisions. We constantly look for new ideas, and

ELD is all about innovation. It is as far removed from an „in-the-box‟ solution as you could find and whilst there were some elements of risk involved in taking this approach, ELD can be further developed, improved and up-scaled to

value “out-of-the-box” thinking. We keep things simple and minimize bureaucracy.

meet Elsevier‟s needs for many years to come.

Boundarylessness

We welcome the global nature of our business and encourage people to work collaboratively across business units, hierarchy and functions. We constantly strive to break down barriers between organizations. Our people are supportive of each other. We seek partnerships with customers and suppliers.

ELD is a web-based platform that has the potential to provide access to every single Elsevier employee in any geography. A collaborative approach to implementing ELD in all locations will maximize its impact and ensure consistency in both service and brand promise.

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Leadership – ELD provides access to Elsevier‟s Global Organizational Learning and Development (GOLD) that aims to ensure that it has the talent to fuel future success and growth and manages a number of core management and leadership development offerings such as the Global Elsevier Management Programme (EMP) and Extraordinary Leader (EL). Improving leadership and management is essential to building a strong employer brand.

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Learning and development – access to on-going training and development for all is delivered through a number of innovative and creative „zones‟ on ELD including Espresso, the Personal Impact Factory, E-Learning and the Personal Development Academy. The fun and interactive nature of the site is clear and engaging and sets the tone for empowering employees to develop their skills and gain knowledge. It is an impressive solution that clearly evidences Elsevier‟s commitment to L&D and is a real plus point in the employer brand proposition.

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Recruitment & induction – based on the same philosophy as ELD, plans are in place to develop a new starter academy that ensures new recruits are made to feel welcome at Elsevier, that they are integrated into the business as quickly and effectively as possible and that the on-boarding process is well structured. This is about really getting to the heart of the psychological contract to help attract and retain the talent that is being brought in to Elsevier.

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Attraction & perception – as we have seen the ability for individuals to improve skills and capability is a very important aspect of employee engagement. Promoting ELD as

a core component of the employer brand promise will be a key differentiator for Elsevier. 

Compensation & benefits – whilst financial reward (compensation) is obviously a significant factor in the „deal‟ with employees, non-financial benefits such as working environment, work-life balance and training and development are also major influencers on motivation and retention. Again, promoting ELD internally should be an integral part of developing the brand proposition.

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Work environment – the sense of support and community that ELD offers employees is a contributing factor to the overall perception of Elsevier and its work environment and should be promoted accordingly in the brand.

In an organisation where there is currently no real employer brand strategy, this is a great opportunity to use the impetus and direction of ELD to build a brand that will have a positive and lasting effect on existing and potential employees and to tackle some of the issues evidenced in the employee opinion survey. 7. The importance of consistency, authenticity & credibility of the employer brand The creation of a brand that resonates with its audience relies on meeting five key criteria:

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Visible – for a brand to become well known and understood and for it to leverage psychological and emotional appeal to its audience, it needs to be visible. That means that it needs to be promoted through whatever channels are going to have the highest impact and most efficient targeting and to be done so in a way that creates standout

from the vast number of messages we each consume on a daily basis. Elsevier does not have an employer brand, it does not have a clear identity or image but it does have the visibility of the recent ELD teaser and launch campaigns. There is real scope here to learn from that positive experience and extend the creative treatment into an employer brand proposition.

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Distinctive – a key facet of a brand is that is instantly recognisable so that it all of the positive perceptions of the brand can be attributed to it and consumed instantly. A distinctive brand makes a space for itself at an emotional and higher order level compared to competitor brands. In the case of ELD, the difference in approach to the traditional Elsevier communications means that at launch stage it was distinctive and it will continue to be so in the future. L&D own the extraordinary L&D brand in a way that Elsevier‟s employees need to own and champion an employer brand.

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Consistent – this is probably the most important watchword for any brand. For a brand to become sought after, aspirational and long-lasting the visual identity, messaging

and brand promise must be consistent. Repetition breeds familiarity and familiarity build trust and loyalty to the brand. The brand needs a reference point and a formal, practical model is an ideal way of policing the brand ensuring that tone of voice, visual representation, vocabulary and positioning remain consistent. The ELD launch campaign and the site have strong visual and creative properties with logos and icons that are integral to the brand essence. A campaign or site that skims elements of the brand will confuse the audience, miss the message and dilute the purpose of building brand. Consistency is an absolute priority and the brand needs to be guarded from cheap and poorly executed imitation.

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Transparent â&#x20AC;&#x201C; trust is almost a byword for brand in that a brand becomes successful if it acts as the stamp of a promise to deliver all of the values that exist in the mind of the consumer associated with that brand. To build trust and therefore loyalty, the brand needs to be open and honest with the audience, to be transparent in what it offers the consumer. The ELD launch campaign and the site itself are straightforward and to the point. Indeed the launch campaign has its origins in telling the truth, consulting with the audience, listening to them and delivering back a promise that is up-front and transparent. Hide issues and problems in your employer brand and you

will find attrition levels rise not fall, engagement drop not increase and you will have a brand that is more detrimental than helpful. 

Authentic – authenticity is about being real and building a brand based on fact. If a brand claims it can do something or offer something that it cannot then it is not authentic. It is unable to live up to the brand promise. ELD does not make any claims it cannot realise and it is careful to not oversell itself. Authenticity in the employer brand comes from really understanding your identity (the perceptions of your company as viewed by your employees) prior to communicating them externally. This means that you can substantiate every claim made in the proposition, evidence it and provide testimonial behind it. The failing of so many organisations with their employer value proposition is that they promote what they would like it to be rather than what it actually is and then wonder why turnover in the first 100 days for new recruits is very high.

It would appear that L&D within Elsevier has an excellent understanding of how to create a strong and lasting proposition to communicate with its audience. Here is a perfect opportunity to extend that to developing a robust and powerful employer brand. 8. A brand roadmap to optimising the candidate journey & employee life cycle In the previous section, we stressed the importance of consistency in communicating the brand and when it relates to the employer brand that encompasses every aspect of the candidate journey and employee life cycle. What we mean by that is that we should be looking to optimise the customer (candidate or employee) experience at every stage and through every touch point in a way that is visible, distinctive, consistent, authentic and transparent. To do this, the brand needs to be holistic in its approach and joined up in its implementation. Mapping your HR processes that relate to the candidate journey and employee life cycle is a valuable exercise and will help you identify how well you manage the „experience‟, where there are gaps, opportunities to enhance the touch points and the tools needed to communicate and re-enforce the brand. An example of this is shown at Appendix 1 and we are aware that Elsevier L&D are working with PennaTCS on a number of ideas/initiatives that are aimed at enhancing some of the key aspects of the journey/life cycle.

Building and implementing an employer brand is a complex and time-consuming project and one that requires an investment of resource and money but as we have highlighted throughout this document it is a strategic investment that delivers real returns across many areas. The Employer Reputation Company in partnership with PennaTCS adopts a 10 stage process for developing an employer brand that has proved highly effective for the likes of Greggs and Bupa among others. This process is briefly outlined in diagrammatic form below and we would be delighted to discuss with you how this could be taken forward to complement the work that is being done in L&D. 1. Scoping the project

6. Build brand model

2. Establishing the steering group

7. Sense Check EVP

3. Research

8. Creative & communications strategy

4. Analysis & Interpretation

9. Launch the Brand

5. Presentation of key findings

10. Evaluation & Measurement

9. Conclusions & recommendations In this document, we have provided an introduction to employer branding in the context of corporate reputation and employer reputation management. We have highlighted the commercial benefits of building and implementing an employer brand strategy and shown that through ELD, Elsevier has many of the key principles on which to take that strategy forward. The ELD site and campaign has ticked many of the boxes that are integral elements of an employer brand and there is a real opportunity to make some significant steps to improving retention, engagement and loyalty at Elsevier by continuing with working towards optimising the candidate journey and the employee life cycle through a set of well presented, on-brand materials. However, a major concern remains because there is potential for the existing ELD materials to be misused, for their authenticity, visibility and most importantly, their consistency to be damaged and their purpose completely diluted in the minds of the

consumer. This really should be avoided at all costs irrespective of geographic location or time pressures to implement a solution. A proper and rigorous process of researching, analysing and interpreting the identity of Elsevier as a place to work needs to be undertaken to establish an employer brand that will set the organisation up to become an employer of choice in the future. This means following a 10 step process to building an employer brand that will, in line with Elsevierâ&#x20AC;&#x;s corporate mission, deliver world-class information and as a result, a set of innovative tools that will improve the lives of everyone who works there now and in the future.

References: Davies, G., R. Chun, R. Da Silva, S. Roper. 2003. Corporate Reputation and Competitiveness. Routledge, New York, NY. Fombrun, C. 1996. Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

Appendix 1

Employer brand perception Employer of choice Enhance brand proposition Measure & improve Exit interview Alumni network Learn and evolve Reputation management

Review psychological contract Relocation Talent bank

Selection

Employer Brand Engagement

Brand values Brand evolution

Application form Interview Assessment Offer/rejection letter References Green room

Attraction

Separation

ELD Leadership & Management Development

Branded communication Psychological contract

Website Advertising Word of Mouth Employee referral scheme

Keep warm activity Brand-based welcome pack Hire room

Induction

Retention

ELD Benefits statements Talent bank Intranet Social networks Brand proposition content Brand messages

New starter academy First 100 day focus Probation First pay cheque

Brand advocates Brand Communcation