Management away days and blue-sky breakout areas aside, the employer brand is all about perception.  There are many, many different elements which contribute to and influence the way people perceive your company.  Whether it's your firm's success in the business world, its "corporate personality" or reward system, people's experience of recruitment and induction, the working environment or even the company's vision and leadership; they all have a bearing on how people feel about a business.

That might sound a little on the fluffy side - but people join and stay with an employer because of how they feel about it.  Whether that's accepting a hard-line, competitive culture in exchange for a large wad of cash, or feeling you've contributed something of value to society, an employer brand must encompass a raison d'etre appropriate to your business and the type of employee you want to attract.  One only has to think David Brent, paper merchants, stapling your hand to your head in order to impose some kind of variation on the monotony of the office to realise how crucial company culture is to productivity.  Staff will adopt the existing corporate culture, whether or not it motivates them.  If you want to foster a culture of good people, where intelligence and professional achievement are valued, it is your responsibility as an employer to create and maintain a brand reflecting that.  Ignore your employer reputation at your peril. The key to success is communicating the brand you choose: translating a brand into a controlled reputation with candidates and employees.  To draw new people in and keep good people on board, companies must ensure business messages are put out confidently, consistently and innovatively in the right places.  Be it the trading floor of a merchant bank wanting to attract energetic and competitive employees, or a small legal firm recruiting for their family law department, actively managing a company's internal and external reputation will pay dividends when it comes to getting the right people in.  

But a word of warning: there's no use in projecting a modern, creative brand to the public and candidates if the internal ethos of a company is dated and staid.  Raising expectations and failing to deliver on the promise is disastrous.  Business will suffer because people feel disappointed and demotivated.  Current employees will leave.  New employees won't join.  The brand will be exposed as an empty shell.  It sounds too simple to be worth mentioning, but in my experience businesses often forget:  people maketh the brand.  The old adage is true - people join people.  And your people on the inside have the power to motivate one another and to influence which people you attract from the outside.  If handled correctly, employer branding can also reduce the cost of hiring because new employees are easier to find in the first place, and more likely to stay.  They should have understood the company ethos before they walk through the office door.

So how do you construct an employer brand?  It's not exhaustive, but a simple checklist can work wonders on re-evaluating the success of an employer brand.

1. Are the employees excited /engaged with the direction the company is going?
2. Is leadership viewed as positive?  Does it inspire loyalty?
3. Do employees feel they are making a recognised contribution?
4. Do employees have a tailored training and development plan?
5. Do employees feel adequately compensated? Professionally or financially.
6. Do employees feel pride in working for the organisation? 

If the answer is yes to all of the above then you clearly have a motivated and contented workforce.  The truth is there are probably areas where you could improve.Company culture is a very real and tangible thing - and it's the place to start building an employer brand.  Perception is fundamental, but the foundation on which that perception is built is culture.   An employer brand will only arise if the way the employees are treated warrants it.  An employer brand is fundamental to success in any economic environment, but none more so than this.  Competition for the best people is always stiff but it becomes exceptionally intense in downturns like this.  With businesses paring down their staff base and even the best candidates reluctant to move, employers must show more mettle to attract high calibre people and retain their best staff.  From a search perspective we're certainly finding a higher percentage of target candidates are choosing to sit tight, taking the ‘better the devil you know approach' to employment.  They think a new job may be less secure than an old one - last in first out. 

For an employer brand to win lasting and universal support, it needs most importantly, to match employee expectations to the reality of its corporate culture.  The success of the company is an important contributor to job satisfaction and to attracting the best people, but the way you feel valued as an employee is crucial.  It doesn't matter if the value is financial or emotional; the long term health of the organisation depends on it.

At a junior level - where the proportion might be expected to be higher - the proportion is only 27 per cent.  Considering that six or seven years ago 49 per cent of graduates studying accountancy were women, the proportion is worryingly low.Longbridge's research suggests female auditors are less likely to move jobs than their male counterparts.

John Lacey, managing director of Longbridge Search & Selection, said: "We may be seeing fewer women going for senior in-house roles because of the perceived "City boy" culture of banking.  But in spite of the growing number of women at the top we're still not seeing enough of a balance between the sexes moving into these roles.  Men in audit are far more inclined to move jobs - as this often represents the quickest way to progress their careers.  Women are more reluctant to move jobs.  While part of the reason is that women tend to be more settled, apprehension over inequalities in recruitment processes has also played a significant role in holding them back."

PAY GAP

The research also looked at the gender pay gap in audit.  On the whole women in audit are still paid nearly five per cent less than men.  This cannot be explained by women being less likely to work in well-paid jobs than men.  Even where women and men are doing the same job (in similar institutions) women earn less - with average women's salaries five per cent lower than men's. However, women in senior roles benefit from marginally higher pay than their male counter-parts.  The average salary for senior women is £87,056 compared to £86,936 for men in senior in-house auditing roles at banks. 

Average Salaries in Audit

Women	Men	Difference
£65,189	£68,492	-4.82%

Senior Salaries in In-house Audit

Women	Men	Difference
£87,056	£86,936	0.14%

Women in junior in-house audit jobs suffer the biggest difference in salary.  On average they are paid nine per cent less than men doing the same job

Junior Salaries in In-house Audit

Women	Men	Difference
£45,509	£50,048	-9.07%

John Lacey, managing director of Longbridge Search & Selection, said: "Although we condemn any form of discrimination - be it on the grounds of gender, race, sexuality or age - it is worth looking at these figures in context.  If we compare the five per cent difference in audit to the wider job market it looks much better.  On average women in London are still paid up to 23 per cent less than men.  The high salaries of senior female auditors should encourage their more junior counterparts.  Compared to the rest of the capital audit is a hot bed of equality - and the glass ceiling seems to be a thing of the past.

From a survey of 220 financial services professionals in the capital, 80pc said they received a similar or higher bonus last month, than in January last year, while 70pc said their bonus either matched or exceeded their expectations.

The news may help allay fears raised in November that some City firms would see their bonus pools cut by as much as 50 percent amid the ongoing crisis in the credit markets. Robert Thesiger, chief executive of Morgan McKinley's parent company, Imprint Plc, said that despite the credit crisis which followed the US sub-prime mortgage meltdown, 2007 was in fact a "strong year" for the City.

He said: "Following on from a record bonus round in 2006/2007, speculation surrounding this year's bonuses was enormous, particularly given the significant volumes of write-downs by banks in the last quarter of the year.

"However, putting the impact of the credit crunch aside, 2007 was still a strong year for financial services and for the majority, bonus payouts in middle and back office functions appear to reflect this."

But while workers appear to be on the whole content with their bonus packages, research shows that banks have taken a more cautious, 'wait-and-see' approach to hiring at the start of the year.

New job vacancies fell 20pc to 8,127 in January 2008, compared to January 2007. Nevertheless, this is a marked pick-up - of 57pc - from the uncertainty in December when the number of new jobs dropped to 5,166.

Mr Thesiger said: "We are not going to have any clear view on how the 2008 financial services hiring market is going to shape up until the end of March, post-bonus season and once the 'credit crunch' has worked its way fully through system. Only then will organisations feel more confident forecasting growth plans for 2008 and beyond."

The average salary in the sector rose 5pc in January, to £53,246.

With the threat of redundancy looming above many City workers, however, the figures have been dismissed by sector specialists as misleading and a "triumph for spin".

John Lacey, managing director of Longbridge Search & Solution, said the research failed to address the two-thirds of employees whose financial rewards have been disappointing this year.

"Such is the job market at the moment that we are seeing huge churn of people considering their career options as the threat of redundancy looms," he said.

"There are still some major players in the City who are yet to announce their bonus pots and for those disappointed with their remuneration, moving jobs is a good bet.

"Whether it's boom or bust, financial institutions will always be on the lookout for high achievers - there is a continued war for talent and skilled professionals are always in demand."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/02/14/bcnbonus214.xml

A new company, Longbridge Search & Selection, will replace Fleet Search & Selection and Longbridge Selection.

John Lacey, Managing Director of Longbridge Search & Selection said: "Fleet has enjoyed tremendous success finding the best talent for our London clients for almost 20 years. By expanding our business across the UK we will find the best professionals nationwide for our big clients and also bring our expert services to new clients in each of these cities. Companies who need finance professionals in Scotland, England and Ireland can now have one recruiter for all their needs."

Longbridge Search & Selection will incorporate the operations of Longbridge International, Longbridge Selection and Fleet Search & Selection.   Delighted with the launch of the new company John Lacey said: "Longbridge has enjoyed tremendous success for almost 20 years.  Over that time, we have grown our specialist services in legal, financial and IT services executive recruitment across the UK.  Our increasingly national presence demands a more coherent brand identity, and we hope Longbridge Search & Selection will build on the value that Longbridge and Fleet already hold as separate brands. Our decision to rebrand three separate service propositions as Longbridge Search & Selection emphasises the synergies that can be achieved by bringing these businesses together. " 

As part of the rebranding exercise, Longbridge Search & Selection has launched a new brand design.  The new corporate logo is the result of extensive national research conducted with Longbridge employees, candidates and clients.  In addition to the new logo, Longbridge has also redesigned its web site at www.longbridge.com.  John Lacey, Longbridge MD, unveiled the new look to the company's 70 employees today.

John Lacey said: "Our fresh corporate identity reflects a new lease on life for Longbridge Search & Selection.  We have retained and developed the dedicated and distinctive search and selection approach each former brand championed.  Our core values remain those of expediency, professionalism and expert specialism.  We are still firmly committed to those standards, our philosophy, and our principles."

LONGBRIDGE SEARCH & SELECTION

Longbridge Search & Selection launched on 28th January 2008.  The business is comprised of three formerly distinct brands: Longbridge International, Longbridge Selection and Fleet Search & Selection.  Longbridge Search & Selection continues to deliver a high level of service, placing executive candidates in legal and financial services and IT across the UK.
Longbridge Search & Selection is a subsidiary of Greatfleet plc.

Longbridge International has been a legal executive search service since 1989, placing high quality partners and teams in leading global lay firms and multinational corporations.  Longbridge International also boasts one of the premier Executive Search teams with the Private Banking and Wealth Management arena on a global basis.  Longbridge Selection, established in 2006, specialises in the two year PQE to salaried Partner marketplace within the UK across Private Practice, Investment Banking and FMCG.  Fleet Search and Selection has a strong reputation for recruitment within financial services dating back 25 years. 

JOHN LACEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF LONGBRIDGE