ATTRAHERA OCH BEHÅLLA REKRYTERARE - En kvantitativ undersökning inom rekryteringsbranschen om vad medarbetare uppskattar hos arbetsgivare

Abstract

This study aims to investigate which employer value propositions, EVPs, are valued most highly by employees in the recruitment industry. The study's purpose is further extended to examine whether generational differences can be observed in the evaluation of EVPs. A quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey was used. The questionnaire was sent out to an organisation with 104 employees operating within the recruitment industry. The organisation is referred to as "Recruitment Company, Ltd" in this study. To further reach the purpose of the study, two study questions were formulated: (1) How do employees in Recruitment Company, Ltd value various EVPs? (2) Is there a correlation between generational affiliation and specific EVPs valued by employees in the recruitment industry? Theories about EVPs and generational differences are the backbone of this study. Our ambitions included conducting a more comprehensive analysis of the five- and seven-factor models originally presented by Berthon et al. (2005) and Dabirian et al. (2017) correspondingly. By focusing on EVPs to different extents, an employer can attract and retain employees and further enhance their employer branding. Previous studies have, however, predominantly concentrated on assessing workplace factors without considering the respondents' industry affiliation. By incorporating an additional parameter in our research, we sought to determine if there were differences in the evaluation of workplace factors specific to the recruitment industry, as well as variations in evaluation between Generation X and Generation Y. Theories concerning generational differences have comparably not included the aspect of industry affiliation to a great extent. Our study shows that social aspects, followed by managerial aspects, is the most appreciated and highly valued EVP by employees in Recruitment Company, Ltd. This result was discovered by evaluating and analysing means and standard deviations of created indexes for each EVP. The EVP perceived as least important for the respondents was application value, and the result was accurate to previous research. This implies the opportunity for employers to apply a more precise strategy regarding employer branding and talent attraction. By focusing on selected parts of the original seven-factor model by Dabirian et al. (2017), a company can allocate more resources to the areas most valued by employees. Furthermore, independent samples t-tests detected a significant difference between generation X and generation Y in evaluating certain EVPs. These included application, economic and management value. These findings were somewhat in line with previous research. However, no significant difference was found between the generations considering 1 the evaluation of social, interest, development value, or work/life balance. These results conflict with previous research, which could imply that the recruitment industry differs. In order to manage, attract and retain a workforce that varies in generational affiliation, it is beneficial for an employer to bear in mind that generational differences also exist within the recruitment industry. This is thus also favourable for pursuing a targeted personnel strategy. In conclusion, an employer could benefit from knowledge about generational differences, but this must also be balanced with understanding similarities in the workforce.