How to attract agricultural competence : an employer branding case study of Lantmännen

Abstract: In today´s society, both consumers and employees are becoming more aware of brands and the competition amongs firms to attract the best possible employees is closely related to having an attractive employer brand. A company’s brand portfolio, considered as one of the most valuable assets needs to be nurtured and updated to fit the needs of the stakeholders. Applying classical branding theories towards employees’ coins the term employer branding, a strategy of communicating the benefits of an employer. Employer branding involves all activities concerning promotion of the employer brand. A successful employer brand attracts future employees to join the organization. Employer branding is a concept that includes several steps of knowledge about the company itself but also its target group. The creation of an employer brand is based on the knowledge of the organizational culture existing within the company. Altough most companies have a written document describing the organizational culture, only the employees within the firm can give a true picture of the existing culture. The employee value proposition (EVP), as a part of the employer brand, summarize the core values of the organizational culture and divide these values into categories of benefits provided to the employee. These benefits act as a guideline of the communicated message of the employer brand towards the stakeholders. The aim of the employee value proposition is to attract future employees with the competences needed whitin the firm. Altough, attraction is highly individual and can only be reached when the communicated message match the values of the target group. Therefore companies demands knowledge about their target group to communicate a customized message of their employee value proposition. This study is based on a commission from Lantmännen with the aim to identify factors that determine the attractiveness of a company as a future employer in the eyes of students at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The case company is a large organization with wide business divisions within the agricultural industry and in continuous need of competent employees. The agricultural division at Lantmännen wish to gain knowledge about the attributes valued by agricultural students with the long term aim of reaching employer attractiveness among this target group. In order to understand the full picture of attracting employees, how the company engages in employer branding activities are also investigated. Theories within employer branding and organizational culture were explored and applied on the empirical findings. Several types of methodological data sources was used to answer the aim of the study; focus groups with students, evaluation of survey after the focus groups and interviews with employees at Lantmännen. The results of the empirical investigation point to the key factors as determining employer attractiveness. These factors are: development possibilities, challenging and varying job assignments, salary and culture. A supporting manager with continuous feedback was also important to the students. The case company invest in their employer brand and engages in activities such as: lunch lectures, inviting students to the office, career fairs, mentor program, trainee program and summer internship. The employer branding activities are to some degree manifested within the EVP of Lantmännen but a deeper evaluation of internal employer branding is recommended to get a complete answer. The result of the thesis may be useful in the creation of a customized message of the employer brand for any company striving to attract agricultural students.