Respond to classmates discussion of the topic. GIVE A REFERENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR STATEMENTS!!!

TOPIC:

Recall that an Employment Brand is a marketing approach to recruiting, retaining and engaging employees. It is a way to advertise why potential applicants should come to work for the organization and why those who are already employed, should stay.

You read scholarly definitions of the concepts of differentiation of rewards, segmentation of the workforce, and employment brand. Using either the organization where you work or an organization of your own choosing:

DO NOT REPLY TO THE TOPIC, REPLY TO THE RESPONSES FROM CLASSMATES BELOW

CLASSMATE #1

Organization-Google

a. Share what you feel is the stated or unstated employment brand of the organization.

The employment brand for an organization, "encompasses an organization's mission, values, culture and personality" (Branding: what is an employer brand, 2014). Google's branding is all about their employees, teamwork, and innovation. They not only care about their career goals and abilities, but are concerned about the overall well-being of the employee and their families. Google promotes teamwork, and encourages employees from different work sections to work together and promote innovation.

b. Describe to the class what competencies are required by the organization that the employment brand is attempting to target.
At Google, employees are of priority, but the do not put limits and "standards" on the types of employees they employ. Google looks for, and employs employees who are can bring in new perspectives, can work apart of a team, and have a desire to learn and be innovative (How we hire, 2018).

c. If you were to guess what segment of the labor market the organization is targeting, what would it be?
Looking at the organizations brand, employee competencies, and benefits offered, it seems that Google is looking to attract younger employees who can bring in new ideas and perspectives to be able to create products that the people of today want.

d. Provide examples of the rewards that are designed to differentiate the organization in order to attract, retain and engage the segment.
Google is highly known for their attractive benefits offered to their employees. Employees working at Google are offered on-site gyms, free meals and snacks, on-site degree programs, childcare, and on-site health and wellness, just to name a few (Google.com, 2018). They also offer very generous maternity leave offers in comparison to competing organizations. The types of benefits and perks are the type that employees today want and need and what sets them apart from the competition.

Reference

Branding: what is an employer brand, and how can we develop an employment branding strategy. (2014).

Google.com. (2018). How we care for googlers.

How we hire. (2018).

CLASSMATE #2

The company I am choosing to write about is Costco. I have been an avid fan and shopper since its conception and the excellent customer service is what keeps bringing me back time and time again.

a. Share what you feel is the stated or unstated employment brand of the organization.The company I am writing about is Costco. The employment brand of this company is a positive one! Not only is Costco ranked one of the best retail super stores out there, but it is also ranked one of the best places to work. The brand of Costco is truly an employee centric based company that prides itself in growing and retaining the best employees.

In fact, employees are so loyal their employee retention is 94% for employees that have been there one year (Gabler, 2016). Employees stay, Costco promotes from within, and the result is the outstanding customer service. Couple that winning strategy with selling high quality goods at a decent price, Costco excels well ahead of other giant retailers such as Sam's Club and Walmart. Costco's mission statement reads: Costco's mission is to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.

Achieve our mission we will conduct our business with the following Code of Ethics in mind: Obey the law, Take care of our members, Take care of our employees, Respect our vendors (Costco Code of Ethics, 2010).

b. Describe to the class what competencies are required by the organization that the employment brand is attempting to target. For Costco to remain competitive and at the top of retail rankings, Costco needs to continue to stay true to their mission statement. For Costco to maintain their culture, Costco fully believes in promoting from within. This not only motivates the employees to stay with the company, but it proves that hard work and loyalty can pay off.

In fact, Costco requires itself to promote internally for 86 percent of its openings in top positions within the company (Cascio, 2006). In addition to continuing the company culture, this philosophy helps reduce costs and creates more knowledgeable workers ultimately improving the customer experience.

c. If you were to guess what segment of the labor market the organization is targeting, what would it be? I would say that most employees that Costco attracts are mid-twenties to early thirty something. Currently, Costco does not seem to fully resonate with younger members of generation Z.

This assumption comes based on the model and personal experience with Costco. For Z generation members, Costco is seen as the place their parents go to stock up on obscenely sized toilet paper packages for the house. This association can make it seem less trendy than working at the new clothing retailer at the mall or the tech startup.

Older employees likely see the good pay, health insurance, and the stability of a career within the organization. More humility as someone ages may also be the reason as well. Nothing effects most younger people than having your friends drive by while you are collecting carts from the parking lot.

d. Provide examples of the rewards that are designed to differentiate the organization in order to attract, retain and engage the segment. Costco truly gets it when it comes to making employees happy! Employees at Costco are some of the highest paid workers, on average, making more than $20.00/hour (Cascio, 2006).

Pay, in conjunction with a benefits package, that includes but not limited to, health insurance, dental insurance, flexible spending account, vision insurance, and life insurance is not common for hourly workers in the retail sector. The harder push into internet sales and maintaining cheap food selections may create more traffic for the generation Z segment thus exposing them to the possibility to working for Costco.

Costco's position in which there are limited stores (in comparison to other retailers like Target or Walmart), limited amount of available positions due to low turnover, and general business model does not create a reality where they currently must aggressively target any specific segment of the population for employees.

Time will tell how Costco, or any other employer will have to adapt but in general terms, the available benefits coupled with the "exclusiveness" of Costco employment currently serve the company well.

References

Cascio, W. F. (2006). Decency Means More than "Always Low Prices": A Comparison of Costco to Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(3), 26-37.

Costco Code of Ethics. (2010).

Gabler, N. (2016). THE MAGIC IN THE WAREHOUSE. Fortune, 174(8), 182-189.