Canadian Employer Brand Trends Report 2015 FULL EDITION

Canadian Employer Brand Trends Report 2015 FULL EDITION

Canadian Employer Brand Trends Report 2015 Transparency in business has crossed a bold threshold. The demand for open and honest communications has grown along with obligations to publicly report corporate information, leaving HR and executive leadership coping with intense pressure to share openly with both internal and external talent. At the same time, the service based economy dominates. With over 70% of the workforce in the Western world currently employed in the service sector, organizations are differentiated based on the quality of their talent and their leadership. These acute issues are compounded by market disruption and the ever-increasing speed of business, resulting in organizational change on an extraordinary scale. In the past, management expert David Ulrich has urged HR leaders to move away from the traditional heavy focus on administration and employee relations. Instead leaders must align HR and business strategy. Ulrich s vision is taking shape - the new breed of HR leader is not content with the dated view of their role in business. Today s HR innovators are strategic thinkers well prepared to drive change. They also understand that immediate action is required to position their organization for success over the next 2-3 years. As a result, the approach to talent strategy is undergoing a dramatic shift. Conventional assumptions about human resource management and talent acquisition no longer hold true, as leaders determine it takes much more to win in today s economy. When you consider what leaders need to deliver on in the next five years - to not only remain viable, but to grow and lead industry - the response is consistently tied to talent attraction, employee engagement and transparent communications. Employer branding is at the forefront of business strategy and increasingly CHRO s are becoming the most critical advisors to the CEO. Employer brand is key to driving the talent and culture strategies of top performing organizations. The Blu Ivy Group Canadian Employer Brand Trends Report will share the opinions and feedback of Canadian HR and C-Suite leaders on their employer brand programs, challenges and goals, along with insight and recommendations to help leaders impact the critical HR and talent strategies to drive impactful business results.

Contents 4 The Research 6 TREND #1: Two thirds of Canada s largest employers have started developing an employer brand strategy in 2015. 8 TREND #2: Rapid Shift to a Holistic Employer Brand Approach 12 TREND #3: Building Employer Brand Teams Massive Gap in Skills and Time 14 TREND #4: Communicating Employer Brand through Social 16 TREND #5: Canadian Organizations Not Effectively Measuring ROI of Employer Brand Work 17 Conclusions CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP 3

THE RESEARCH Canadian employer branding has been met with swift uptake in recent years. With the rapid adoption of the multidisciplinary practice, organizations are still learning how to develop and execute their employer brand to drive business results. Blu Ivy Group wanted to further explore the status of employer brand strategy in Canada, in particular, as it relates to leadership objectives and the remarkable shifts currently taking place in talent and culture management. In partnership with our friends at Glassdoor, Blu Ivy Group conducted the largest Canadian research on the status of employer branding in Canada in 2015. We asked HR and C-Suite leaders to share their thoughts on where they are focusing employer brand strategy and investment in their organizations, how various work trends are impacting their employer brand, and the impact this strategy is having on their organizations today. We explored how organizations measure success, and how employer branding will implement into their overall business objectives in the years ahead. The Blu Ivy Group Canadian Employer Brand Trends Report reveals emerging employer brand practices amongst leading Canadian employers, and explores the biggest gaps and areas of opportunity to ensure leadership success in employer branding over the next 2 5 years. The biggest threats facing Canadian employer brand leadership have been identified and strategists from both Blu Ivy Group and Glassdoor have recommended solutions to ensure strong business, culture and talent performance in the uniquely Canadian landscape. In addition to leadership insights, Canadian job seeker perspectives garnered from thousands of interviews and surveys conducted by Blu Ivy Group over the last 3 years provide key insights to inform your employer brand strategy. It is really exciting to see how rapidly employer branding is evolving in Canada. When we began speaking with leaders less than 5 years ago, it was essentially looked upon as an advertising and creative exercise to aid in large scale recruitment efforts. Today, most leaders we speak with are looking for a long term investment in employer branding. They are seeking a holistic strategy that will measurably impact engagement, recruitment, communications and brand reputation. We are being asked into the boardroom to discuss our research findings and recommended strategies for clients. In addition, we are often invited to spend more time training and supporting leadership and middle management to ensure a more consistent delivery of the employer brand experience to employees Stacy Parker, Co-Founder and Managing Director Blu Ivy Group 4 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

We asked HR and C-Suite leaders to share their thoughts on where they are focusing employer brand strategy and investment in their organizations, how various work trends are impacting their employer brand, and the impact this strategy is having on their organizations today. We explored how organizations measure success, and how employer branding will implement into their overall business objectives in the years ahead.

TREND #1: Two thirds of Canada s largest employers have started developing an employer brand strategy in 2015. Canadian leaders take note - the level of sophistication and approach to employer brand strategy is being elevated in Canadian organizations as leaders recognize the impact employer brand has on culture, engagement and talent acquisition. As employer branding becomes a more urgent business strategy, the level of ownership inside the company is also increasing. LEADERS CITE THE KEY DRIVERS OF IMPLEMENTING EMPLOYER BRAND STRATEGY AS: 1. Improve employee engagement. 2. Boost talent attraction and retention ratios 3. The need to deliver a consistent, branded and best in class employee and customer experience across divisions, functions, leaders, and geographic locations. No longer the darling of HR or talent acquisition team alone, executive leadership understands the impact of employer brand on the business as a whole and how a strong employer brand can return better financial outcomes for organizations. Why is employer branding in the spotlight? To start, employee engagement is abysmal - in June Gallup reported only 31.9% of workers are engaged in their jobs. At the same time, LinkedIn research identified that 85% of their 18,000 sample consider themselves to be passive job seekers, willing to talk with recruiters about alternative roles that may offer better compensation, career experience or work life balance (ERE, Paul Petrone, Sept 2014). Talent is scarce and the best and brightest are quickly lifted by competitors with top employer brands offering superior employment experiences aligned with individual values. It is no wonder that culture and engagement are the most important talent trends according to global leaders, yet less than 50% of leaders feel ready to address the challenges (Deloitte, Human Capital Trends 2015). 66% of research participants started an employer brand strategy in 2015 Of those with a strategy in development, many leaders expressed a desire to improve on the current level of sophistication. The remaining one third state they currently have no employer brand strategy. HR practices now often help to implement strategy at the organization level, and as organizations seek to match their brands with their organizational culture, CHROs find themselves in an expanded role uniquely suited to support their top executives. China Gorman and Korn Ferry Research, TLT Talent Management and HR 6 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

THE WIDENING GAP The number of organizations paying attention to employer branding has steadily risen over the last 3 years, but not everyone has a game plan. Two thirds of organizations reported that they have started to implement an employer brand strategy in 2015, while the remainder admitted to operating without a formal approach. Our research findings align with the PWC Global CEO Survey that uncovered, CEOs see that there are serious talent management challenges ahead; 93% say that they recognize the need to change their strategy for attracting and retaining talent. CEOs are well aware that something needs to be done. Effective employer branding takes a long view to success. With so many organizations barely out of the gates, early adopters have a clear advantage and the gap is widening. Those with a strong foundation established and an activation strategy underway are in the lead. WHAT STEPS CAN YOU TAKE TO ENSURE YOU ARE DEVELOPING A STRONG EMPLOYER BRAND STRATEGY FOR 2016? 1. Identify Executive Business Owner (CEO or CHRO) Ensure you have the support of a high level external strategist, and a strong cross function senior support team. 2. Establish Business Objectives - for Talent Acquisition & Retention, Culture, and Customer Experience 3. Articulate Your EVP conduct thorough EVP research internally and externally, engaging employer brand experts to ensure unbiased outcomes. 4. Launch 2 Year Employer Brand Strategy aligned to corporate, brand, vision and top line strategic business objectives. 5. Deliver Aligned Communications and Content Plan - Digital Social, and Internal Activation Strategy 6. Measure Results to Business Objectives

TREND #2: Rapid Shift to a Holistic Employer Brand Approach A 2014 survey found that 42% of executives felt that their organization was not aligned with the business strategy, and that parts of the organization either resisted or didn t understand the strategy (Strategy & Business, summer 2015 issue). It was no surprise to see the research point to a rapid shift to align employer brand, EVP, corporate brand and strategic business objectives. Our research and consulting with varied global and Canadian employers also validates this to be one of the most significant gaps between business and talent today. HOW EMPLOYERS ARE EMBRACING A HOLISTIC APPROACH Have an employer brand strategy for attracting external talent, and building employer brand Identified employee engagement as a top priority for employer brand initiatives Began employer branding research and Employee Value Proposition development in 2015 Focused on building an employer brand strategy to align the employee experience and talent brand 78% 30% 25% 14% Although the last 10 years in employer branding have been largely focused on recruitment marketing, whether it be job promotion, careers page and social media initiatives, or creative and taglines, Canadian employers are now beginning to grasp the true value that a holistic approach can provide their organization. Not only does employer brand impact talent acquisition, but a holistic approach will also rapidly influence employee engagement and productivity. In fact, we have seen client engagement scores increase by more than 25% YOY after integrating an employer brand strategy into their overall business strategy. STRATEGY ALIGNMENT AND EMPLOYER BRAND PROMISE WORK ENSURES THAT: 1. Leaders are more effective in identifying and communicating the shared organizational purpose. 2. Employees are more aware of the corporate vision and objectives, and know their role in accomplishing that vision. 3. HR invests in, and measures, the most critical people and talent programs that will drive the greatest business and engagement results 4. People managers are more consistent in how they welcome, develop, recognize and reward talent. 5. Employees more consistently speak of feeling valued and recognized for their contributions and in turn, act as strong corporate brand ambassadors. 6. A consistent vernacular emerges as to what your employer brand and culture truly is and employees, customers and vendors begin to refer top talent to the organization. 8 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

2016 will see a rapid focus on a holistic employer brand strategy that aligns people programs, business strategy and talent acquisition to bottom line results. Many Blu Ivy Group clients and survey respondents identified that although best people practices have been implemented in various pockets within the organization, the leadership delivery, communications and employee experience can vary greatly, thus eroding the overall engagement, employer brand, and ultimately the customer and bottom line results. Job seekers and talent consistently tell us what outweighs employer awards and other top lists when it comes to making decisions on who to apply to or work with, are social corporate reputation and ranking sites such as Indeed and Glassdoor. 80% of respondents 35 years and younger identify Glassdoor as one of the first sites they visit in their job seeking activities. This transparent analysis of the employee experience, employer brand, candidate experience and leadership team strength emphasizes just how critical holistic employer brand alignment is for the future of top workplaces. While developing an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) should be one of the first steps in your employer branding journey, it is critical to ensure that it is experienced at all touch points throughout your organization. Inconsistency in the employee experience impacts engagement, turnover, productivity and the bottom line. Conducting a GAP analysis will help to identify opportunities to enhance your employer brand, ensuring greater sustainability and authenticity for the long term. Leandra Harris, Co-Founder and Managing Director Blu Ivy Group WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO TO ENSURE A BEST-IN-CLASS AND HOLISTIC EMPLOYER BRAND APPROACH? 76% of Canadian organizations acknowledged that managers and leaders have not been trained on the employer brand, EVP and employer promise. The impact is a massive gap in what is being promised, and what managers are delivering during the employee lifecycle. Although most energy is focused on perfecting the Attraction phase of the employee lifecycle, we recommend conducting a thorough GAP analysis with employees to identify the 3 most critical alignment opportunities for your employer brand in 2016. This GAP analysis can be conducted by an expert in employer brand and engagement either during the EVP and employer brand research or as a second step, through pulse checks, workshops and a sample set of leadership interviews. CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP 9

THE 6 ELEMENTS OF THE EMPLOYEE LIFECYCLE AND THE EVP ALIGNMENT OPPORTUNITIES. TRANSITION ATTRACT LEADERSHIP TOTAL REWARDS RECOGNITION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT EXIT PROCESS FEEDBACK & INSIGHT ALUMNI EVP CAREER SITE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING JOB DESCRIPTION INTERVIEW PROCESS ONBOARDING CULTURAL CONNECTION INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS ENGAGE RETAIN POLICY WORK ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES HEALTH & WELLNESS HYGIENE LEARNING DEVELOPMENT MENTORSHIP CAREER OPPORTUNITIES DEVELOP Employer brand research has helped us to verify what we thought to be true about our employee s feelings about our culture and workplace. We know there are many amazing stories of growth and development at H&M, but valid research helped us to better understand the aspects of our workplace that are most important and appealing to our employees. This has helped us to focus our recruitment messaging on those aspects of our culture we know are appealing to job seekers and ensure a consistent message throughout the employee experience. Laura Hammond, Human Resources H&M Canada 10 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

In this age of social media and candidate-created content, your employer brand is one of your most valuable assets as an employer. Glassdoor VP of People, Mariah DeLeon

TREND #3: Building Employer Brand Teams Massive Gap in Skills and Time Today s Canadian employer branding teams are primarily comprised of HR leaders, with 40% or total team structure made up of Human Resource practitioners. Internal employer branding teams tend to look very different across organizations. Within our research sample, the players identified consistently included CEOs, HR, Marketing, and Communications. Talent leaders were also included in some cases. A small percentage of firms indicated that no one is at the helm of the employer brand within their organization. Even with a strategy in place, many leaders expressed a desire to improve and elevate the level of sophistication of their strategy over the next 2 years. In fact, we note a large gap between what leaders want employer brand strategy to achieve internally (see Trend# 2), and the largest area of investment. Although the largest percentage of respondents stated that they are focusing on developing holistic employer brand strategy (32%), many are still invested primarily on external recruitment marketing tactics. EMPLOYER BRAND INVESTMENT BREAKDOWNS External Investment 53% Social Media Employer Brand Strategy (24%) Updates to Careers Pages (11%) Employer Brand Storytelling (8%) EVP Videos (6%) Refreshed Campus Recruitment Strategy & employer branding (3%) WHO MAKES UP TODAY S CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRANDING TEAMS? Internal Focused Investment 28% EVP Research and Development (18%) Employee Brand Ambassador Programs (6%) Aligned Engagement programs (4%) 15.46% HEAD OF TALENT 4.12% N/A 12.37% CEO 11.34% COMMUNICATIONS 16.49% MARKETING 40.21% HUMAN RESOURCES 12 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

The results illustrate a big gap in organizational design versus delivery on expectations of employer brand strategy. In order to secure additional budget, resources and executive support, employer brand leadership will need to be able to understand the business from a lateral perspective and work with their C-Suite on high level strategy. Experience and knowledge in HR, Marketing, Social Media, Communications, Change Management and Customer Experience are critical to ensure a holistic approach to the business. As the C-Suite is accelerates its focus on employer branding, they have observed a significant gap in the availability of this caliber of experienced talent to develop and execute on employer brand strategy. BIGGEST CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED IN EMPLOYER BRAND STRATEGY SUPPORT 73.8% Lack of resources 64.29% Budget 30.95% Executive buy-in 2016 will see a larger investment in consulting services, training and development, and the hiring of employer brand talent teams that have talent representing various lines of business. We predict that there will be a big jump in employer brand executives on leadership teams over the next 24 months. As mentioned, in the next 5 years CHRO s will become the most critical advisor to the CEO. Building this in-house expertise across LOBs will prove to be a defining moment in the evolution of the CHRO and CEO Succession Planning. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ENSURE A STRONG EMPLOYER BRAND TEAM IS IN PLACE? 1. Ensure Executive Sponsorship of employer brand project. 2. Identify senior level talent with expertise in HR and MARCOM. 3. Work with experts in Employer Brand to help you set foundation and identify org design at the outset. 4. Identify training and development or coaching opportunities. 5. Establish clear and measurable milestones for talent, culture and business results. Creating a strong employer brand is critical to our success as investors. Attracting talent who understand and connect with our values, goals and culture is absolutely necessary to achieving our firm s strategy. Not only do we need a strong brand to attract top talent (as at this stage of our business, we cannot be a top payer), but we need to cultivate a team that is committed to working towards a common goal, who love what they do, and are willing to go the extra mile essential for our shared success. Kevin Kerr, Partner Bastion Infrastructure Group CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP 13

TREND #4: Communicating Employer Brand through Social Almost 50% of Canadian organizations surveyed indicated that Social Media employer brand strategy would be a key focus over the next twelve months. The risk aversion that many large employers have previously expressed in this area has reached a standstill, and for good reason. Employers realize that social media is one of the single most effective platforms for job seekers to both research your employment culture, connect with the right people and apply to open jobs. Understand that social platforms alone are not enough. We will see many employers develop employer brand specific editorial calendars, digitized content and invest in developing the communications team they ll need to activate brand messaging. TOP CANADIAN EMPLOYERS HAVE INVESTED IN THE FOLLOWING SOCIAL MEDIA SITES IN 2015 TO PROMOTE THEIR EMPLOYER BRAND: LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Intranet YouTube Glassdoor Instagram 88.89% 68.52% 64.81% 62.96% 44.44% 42.59% 22.22% While employers may have once used social simply as another job board, top employer brands are now strategically using social to truly engage job seekers and help them learn about their workplace culture, career opportunities and the unique reasons why talent would want to work with them. The social employer brand strategy will continue to evolve and become a key focus for employers in 2016 as competition to share of voice heats up. What s more, employers are beginning to embrace the nature of social and learning how to harness its power. Where as recently as 12 months ago, many employers sought to control all content and job postings that went onto social media platforms, the is a dramatic shift to empower employees with social sharing tools to allow the right talent to act as employer brand ambassadors to share approved employer culture stories through personal accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles. This will not only ensure greater reach, it will see more top of mind employer brand awareness and employee engagement. This shift will require leaders to invest in personal employer branding for their brand ambassadors and social media best practice training. It will require formal brand ambassador programs, educating talent on social media policies, and regular social monitoring and response strategies. Although this demands an investment in training and talent, it enables corporations to truly take advantage of the benefits of the social networking opportunity. 14 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

While many organizations have developed a strong corporate presence on social media, the employer brand opportunity is often missed. Social media fosters genuine relationships through two way dialogue with prospective and current talent, industry influencers and the broader community. Strong brands know how to make the most of their social media presence from a talent perspective, using it to develop candidate pipelines filled with brand followers, personify the employment experience and differentiate against competitors. If you aren t on social with your employer brand yet, you need to get there fast. - Manda Cuthbertson, Director of Operations & Delivery Blu Ivy Group 48% 61% indicated that Social Employer branding was a priority for the next 12 months. are promoting their employer brand and EVP communications internally through their intranet.

TREND #5 Canadian Organizations Not Effectively Measuring ROI of Employer Brand Work Employer Branding has traditionally been focused exclusively on talent acquisition recruitment marketing, which has resulted in true analytics and ROI measurement being ineffectively or inconsistently evaluated by most Canadian organizations. As both investment and executive level sponsorship of employer branding accelerate in 2016, we will see a sharp focus on consistent and quarterly measurement of key analytics. As opposed to strictly acquisition based metrics, we will see ROI increasing measured on Employee Engagement, Employer Brand Awareness, Share of Voice, Net Promoter Scores, Social Talent Acquisition metrics, Customer Satisfaction, Productivity and Revenue Growth. CXO respondents identified a number of internal and business result metrics that they are beginning to measure as it relates to the success of employer brand strategy. Employee engagement New hire retention Turnover Recognition as a top employer New hire quality Customer satisfaction Productivity Profitability Market share 79.1% 62.50% 62.50% 58.33% 41.67% 31.25% 18.75% 16.67% 14.58% We recommend that leaders take a close look at their business and employer brand strategic objectives. Combine KPIs and metrics that look at a combination of external (Talent Attraction, Acquisition), Internal (Engagement, Alignment) and revenue (Customer Satisfaction or Marketshare growth) metrics. This not only ensures a holistic measurement assortment, it also elevates the employer brand strategy to one that impacts brand, culture and performance. 16 CANADIAN EMPLOYER BRAND TRENDS REPORT 2015 BLU IVY GROUP

Our CHRO is taking a much more holistic view of employer branding, it is not just recruitment marketing, website and event based. We are looking at how the employer brand delivered internally in all aspects of employee experience. Employer brand is actually the core of our corporate brand. To serve employees, communities and customers. To deliver that corporate brand we have to get the employer brand right and constantly seek ways to improve it and make it consistent. Kristen MacLellan Sr Manager, Talent Acquisition Starbucks Coffee Canada WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ENSURE THAT YOUR EMPLOYER BRAND AWARENESS, ALIGNMENT AND BUSINESS RESULTS IMPACT ARE TRACKING EFFECTIVELY? 1. Apply Google Analytics to Your Careers Page 2. Annual External Employer Brand Awareness and Preference Surveys 3. Annual Competitive Benchmarking Reviews 4. Quarterly Employee Net Promoter Score Surveys 5. Quarterly Customer Satisfaction Reviews 6. Review marketshare growth and productivity numbers quarterly CONCLUSIONS There is little doubt that HR and business culture is undergoing massive transformation within leading organizations. The demands to engage employees, attract and retain top talent, develop strong C-Suite successors and to differentiate services in a way that is meaningful to customers is at a critical point. Employer Brand strategy is proving itself to Canadian leaders as the platform that enables HR to work on strategic business solutions that measurably impact brand, culture, talent, leadership development and business growth. In order for HR executives to operate as true C-Suite consultants, employer branding ownership will require executive level ownership, with budgets and scope that cover both internal and external engagement, communications and alignment.

IGNITE THE POWER OF YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR BRAND. BLU IVY GROUP IS A LEADING EMPLOYER BRANDING AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANCY THAT ALIGNS YOUR ORGANIZATION WITH CONTEMPORARY WORKPLACE PARADIGMS. BLU IVY GROUP S MISSION IS TO HELP CLIENT S BUILD AWARD-WINNING PEOPLE PRACTICES, INSPIRE EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, AND CULTIVATE UNIQUE AND DESIRABLE WORKPLACES. BLU IVY GROUP PROVIDES INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS IN EMPLOYER BRAND AND ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH, STRATEGIC CONSULTING, EMPLOYER BRAND INTEGRATION, CREATIVE AND TALENT COMMUNICATIONS. BLU IVY GROUP IS A TRUSTED PARTNER TO MANY OF NORTH AMERICA S MOST RESPECTED EMPLOYER BRANDS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT US AT WWW.BLUIVYGROUP.COM Thank you to our research partner Glassdoor