Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER March 20, 2017 14 FEATURES CONNECTING YOU TO YOUR LEGAL COMMUNITY New Edition Spiralbound • August 2016 $46.50* • L7798-5930 ISBN 978-0-7798-5930 Multiple copy discounts available *Plus applicable taxes and shipping & handling Stay connected with the 2016-17 Alberta Legal Telephone Directory Order your copy today. Visit www.carswell.com or call 1-800-387-5164 for a 30-day, no risk evaluation Alberta Legal Telephone Directory is all about your legal community connecting you to the lawyers and law offices you need in Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. Published annually, it keeps you connected with new and updated names, mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and fax numbers each year. Searching is easy with: • Alphabetical and geographical listing of lawyers and law firms • Alphabetical listing of Judges Also quickly and easily access: • Law Societies • Courts of Appeal • Federal Court of Canada • Government of Canada departments • Judicial districts and judicial officials • Incorporated Municipalities • Land registration and information services • Provincial government departments • Boards and Commissions • Law Related Services, Institutions and Organizations • University law faculties... and more This resource will be an indispensable quick reference guide for your office. Durable spiralbound format saves on wear and tear of everyday usage. RECRUITMENT Fashionably speaking H&M Canada boosts recruitment by overhauling employer branding strategy By Stacy Parker A lready recognized as one of Canada's top employ- ers, H&M Canada want- ed to ensure it was attracting and retaining the best of fashion retail talent. While employee en- gagement was strong, like most retailers, it still saw an opportu- nity to communicate with cur- rent and prospective employees in a more impactful way. Challenges The Canadian labour market saw big gains in 2016, with a sig- nificant spike in part-time work, which means talent acquisition and retention are becoming in- creasingly competitive. is holds especially true among millennials, who will make up 50 per cent of the global workforce by 2020, according to a 2011 report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and are seeking the right fit while looking at brand reputation when making job decisions. Everything from employee motivators, such as competitive benefits and salary, to cultural diversity play a role in shaping brand reputation, and having an effective employer brand strategy can result in increased ROI. e competition in talent ac- quisition is especially evident in the retail sector. With an uptick in new market entrants in the last few years, Canadian retailers are being forced to invest in an em- ployer branding strategy to ensure they stand out as preferred places to work, to attract and retain the best local talent. In the digital age, tools have changed drastically for job-seek- ers. Fifteen years ago, the only place to learn about a company or apply for a job was through a com- pany website or recruiter. In the digital age, job-seekers now have access to information on multiple channels, whether that's Linked- In, social channels or friends. Employers are no longer in control of conversations about their brands, but these conversa- tions impact the brand directly — which makes positive brand reputation critical. With H&M's growth and store opening objectives, a real chal- lenge was streamlining its recruit- ment process. Recruitment dol- lars were spread across a variety of channels, including recruitment events, paid job postings and out- of-home advertising, which re- sulted in a lack of consistency in regards to the volume and quality of the applicants. H&M Canada, which has more than 3,000 employees, already had the foundation and tools to acti- vate the employer brand to drive more impactful results, including a strong global corporate brand, a great careers website and social media platforms with large num- bers of engaged followers. To harness those strengths and use them strategically, a second look at its employer branding strategy was crucial. Rollout of campaign H&M Canada partnered with employer branding specialists Blu Ivy Group to begin building its employer brand. Research was conducted to de- fine the employer value proposi- tion (EVP) — essentially, identify- ing what makes H&M unique and why employees want to work there. is involved discussions with internal talent, key stakeholders and management to bring in ad- ditional perspectives to marry the perceptions of employees with the overarching business strategy. External research was also con- ducted to define the perceptions of H&M as an employer, and to identify the preferences and be- haviours of local talent. Once the EVP was developed and aligned with the company's HR strategy, it was important to position it as an authentically Ca- nadian message that would reso- nate with existing employees and potential local talent. H&M already had a strong so- cial media following and recog- nized there was an opportunity to harness the power of social media through targeted digital content. So the company decided to put employees at the front and centre of the campaign. Custom social content was developed featuring employees from across Canada and their career stories, and shared across the brand's so- cial media channels. The foundational work con- ducted prior to the campaign launch was critical to informing digital strategy. By using employee sentiments and insights from the initial research — including how target talent seeks job opportuni- ties and what social media plat- forms they use — H&M was able to create content that resonated with the right audience. As part of the external launch, H&M Canada also prioritized public-speaking opportunities for its country HR manager at indus- try events, where she shared the employer brand journey and key learnings from the initiative. The external launch also in- cluded an interview with coun- try manager Toni Galli discuss- ing the branding strategy — a critical component to illustrate employer branding is an effort driven from the highest levels of the organization. H&M Canada also began to use custom talent "personas" to support recruitment. ese were profiles of a specific talent demo- graphic, including their prefer- ences, job-seeking behaviours and social media activities. ey are designed to more personally communicate career opportuni- ties with potential candidates. To reflect the EVP and support recruitment, HR and recruitment materials were updated, including offer packages and career booths. Recruitment networking events were launched at local venues close to retail outlets, called "In- terview Us." Potential employees were en- couraged to come in and ask questions about H&M, instead of traditional job interviews. is refreshed approach drove high participation and yielded a significant improvement in the quality of candidates — both of which were challenges defined by H&M at the beginning of its branding journey. Internal activation and results As the strongest brand ambas- sadors of a company, employee buy-in was crucial for the suc- cess of the campaign. Employees were encouraged to support col- leagues featured in the content stories and increase their social media exposure by liking and sharing posts. Employees were excited to see themselves and their friends fea- tured. ey engaged in and shared the employer brand content, and began to co-create content along the same theme on their personal channels, such as Instagram. Today, employees are more en- gaged, and the content is differ- entiated, compelling and receiv- ing significant awareness in the Canadian retail industry. As for the business impact: • Social talent applications tripled in three months. • Streamlined recruitment efforts resulted in decreased spend on recruitment. • e quality of applicants im- proved, reducing the time to fill roles. • e company continues to el- evate engagement. In the end, H&M Canada rec- ognized the difference and fluidity between employer branding and recruitment, and saw the value in opening itself up to the general public in a new and exciting way that was fundamentally rooted in research. e campaign was a success be- cause the company took the time to listen to the perspectives of employees from across the coun- try and reflect on its values as an organization. Stacy Parker is managing director and co-founder of Blu Ivy Group, an employer branding and employee engagement consultancy in Toronto. For more information, visit www. bluivygroup.com. Credit: Vytautas Kielaitis (Shutterstock)

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