Randstad Holding nv announces that BMW is the winner of the Global Randstad Award 2014. Out of the Global Top 50 eligible companies, BMW is recognized as the most attractive employer and the first company in the 14-year history of the Randstad Award to become the global winner. 61% of the respondents worldwide would like to work for BMW. The company scores #1 in the categories ‘competitive salary & employee benefits’, ‘pleasant working atmosphere’ and ‘strong management’. The first runner-up of the Global Randstad Award is Sony, the 2nd runner-up is Samsung.
“In today’s increasingly mismatched global labor market, strong employer brands are crucial to attract and retain the right talent”, says Jacques van den Broek, CEO of Randstad. “Reasons why people choose certain employers differ greatly. There is no single set of characteristics that will attract everyone. Employer branding is highly nuanced, individual and multi-dimensional and creating a compelling brand is therefore more of an art than a science. Countries, companies, and even people within them all want something slightly different and the employer brand should therefore seek to articulate and convey the rich and varied traits that make an organization unique.”
The Global Randstad Award survey reveals interesting insights into the perception of potential employees. The attractiveness of employers has increased 4% worldwide compared to last year. This suggests that confidence in people’s own prospects and the wider economic outlook is increasing.
The most attractive industry sector to work in is IT, according to the respondents, followed by Life Sciences, Consulting, Automotive, and Technology.
Managing perceptions
Regarding the most important functional attributes or hard values, a remarkable shift has occurred. ‘Long-term job security’, value #1 in insecure times, has lost its top position to ‘competitive salary & employee benefits’. The strong scores for ‘pleasant working atmosphere’, ‘good work-life balance’ and ‘interesting job content’ underline the multiple dimensions in making an employer attractive and that money is rarely enough to make people want to work for an organization. The importance of an organization’s values and contribution to the communities in which it operates have also continued to grow in recent years and these are now decisive factors for a significant proportion of people.
The soft values or human features of organizations and brands were also measured. Worldwide, ‘honest’ and ‘reliable’ are the most important values, while traditional business values such as ’masculinity’ and ‘high status’ score low.
Different audiences, different needs
Men are more attracted by ‘career prospects’, ‘strong management’ and ‘financial health’ of employers, while women see ‘atmosphere’, ‘work-life balance’, ‘accessibility’ and ‘flexibility’ as more important.
‘Salary’, ‘job security’ and ‘financial health’ gain importance as people get older; while ‘training’ and ‘career development’ prospects are typically sought out by younger people.
The higher the level of education, the greater the importance of ‘career development’ and ‘job content’. ‘Job security’, ‘atmosphere’, ‘accessibility’ and ‘flexibility’ are more important to people with less education.
