January 16, 2018
Employment branding has never been more integral to not only the health of your talent acquisition, but the very state of your business. To explore how industry leaders are responding, we’ve developed the WilsonHCG 2018 Fortune 500 Top 100 Employment Brands report. Our fourth annual study features six key employment branding categories, 16,000+ data points and months of research conducted by a team of 60 WilsonHCG talent leaders across North America and Europe.
In carefully evaluating each Fortune 500’s employment brand, we’ve found that this year’s leaders have coupled transparency and authenticity with simultaneously operationalizing employment brand strategy; the Fortune 500s who understand how to align employment branding with bottom-line ROI have risen to the top of our 2018 report. In fact, this year's top 10 employment brands earn a combined 157 percent more in revenue than the bottom 10.
Johnson & Johnson earned the top overall ranking for the second year in a row, with Intel landing the No. 2 spot (up from No. 28 in 2017). Three companies tied for No. 3 – IBM, Procter & Gamble and Lockheed Martin. You can access your copy of the report by simply clicking the green button to the right or at the conclusion of this post! In the meantime, below we delve into key findings and how the top 100 Fortune 500s are performing in comparison to the bottom 100.
The Top 100 vs. the Bottom 100
Our 2018 report analyzes and breaks down the performance of each Fortune 500 organization (out of 100 total points) based on the following six key employment branding categories:
- Career Pages
- Job Boards
- Employee Reviews & Candidate Engagement
- Accolades
- Recruitment Marketing
- Corporate Social Responsibility & Recruitment Initiatives
What we found in 2018 is that competition among leading Fortune 500s specific to employment branding has reached a fever pitch. In fact, the top 50 employment brands are separated by just 14 points. However, many companies are yet still challenged trying to capitalize on the talent acquisition (and bottom line) opportunities presented by innovative employment branding.
Of note, in the Accolades category, the top 100 Fortune 500s scored 805 percent better than the bottom 100. How companies state their mission, vision and values, why careers at Company X matter, and what character traits comprise the workforce – each of these components lay the blueprint for what you stand for as a company and demand significant effort from an employment branding perspective. Leading Fortune 500s have recognized that awards and accolades do just that: illustrate company values, reputation as an employer, and commitment to corporate social responsibility. They've also realized that candidates and employees are taking notice.
In Recruitment Marketing, the top 100 scored 462 percent better than the bottom 100. Leading Fortune 500s are talking less about themselves; they’re providing content that is relevant and valued by targeted candidates. Companies leading in this category are also adopting strategies and technologies from functions such as marketing, including reach and brand messaging alignment, content, efficient yet personalized lead generation, nurture campaigns and talent communities. Above all, they’re relying on their people/workforces to tell the stories.
In the Corporate Social Responsibility & Recruitment Initiatives category, the top 100 scored 232 percent better than the bottom 100. Of note, approximately 37 percent (183) of all Fortune 500s scored 4 points or lower (out of 9 total points). Part or providing a one-of-a-kind employee experience (and employment brand) is leadership’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and recruitment initiatives – including gender equality, veteran recruitment, inclusion and diversity recruitment, university recruitment and community outreach, to name a few. Leading Fortune 500s recognize that the talent of today wants to build careers with employers that support a greater mission.
As noted above, WilsonHCG’s top 10 Fortune 500 employment brands earn a combined 157 percent more in revenue than the bottom 10. Employment branding isn't about shiny bells and whistles, or simply catching the eyes of intrigued candidates. It's a business differentiator. Throughout the report, we reveal the factors that make up today’s most differentiating Fortune 500 employment brands, the objective criteria with which we evaluated all Fortune 500 companies, and how leading organizations are capitalizing on the ever-changing world of work.
