Google India bags Randstad Award, named Most Attractive Employer in India

MUMBAI: Google India emerged as the winner of the 6th edition of Randstad Award 2016 for the second consecutive year and was awarded the ‘Most Attractive Employer’ in India, followed by Mercedes–Benz India as the runner–up. The sectoral specific special recognition awards this year were awarded to Dell India for IT, Samsung India for Consumer Electronics and Amazon India for E-Commerce. The awards ceremony this year was held at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai on April 20, 2016.

The Randstad Award survey, world’s largest public opinion survey on employer branding, independently conducted with more than 200,000 respondents across 25 countries worldwide, also revealed that salary and employee benefits (48%) continue to be the top driver among the Indian workforce while choosing an employer, followed by long-term job security (46%) , financial health of the company (43%), pleasant working atmosphere (40%) and good work-life balance (38%). However, the importance of salary has decreased from last year (6% decrease from 2015).

The survey findings also reflected that the Indian workforce prefers to work or move to sectors like IT & Communication (70%), followed by Automobiles (66%) and FMCG, retail & e-commerce (64%).

Presenting the survey insights, Dr Moorthy K Uppaluri, MD & CEO, Randstad India, said, “In today’s fiercely competitive job market, recruiting top talent, engaging and retaining them is fundamental to a company’s ability to grow. It is also a proven fact that companies that are capable of attracting the right talent for the right job simply perform better. At this juncture, establishing and maintaining a consistent employer branding strategy is critical for organizations, as it offers a holistic approach to the entire talent acquisition process by providing a distinctive competitive advantage to stand out in the clutter, thus giving candidates a gripping reason to associate themselves with the organization.”

Dr Uppaluri further added, “This is the 6th successful year of Randstad Award in India and 16th year globally. Every year, our survey results add tremendous value to the country’s HR fraternity by bringing out remarkable insights regarding the employee sentiments, thus giving them an opportunity to evaluate their employer brand. The aspirations and expectations of the Indian workforce and the parameters they consider while selecting potential employers are truly evolving over the last few years and I am happy that this thought leadership platform from Randstad is definitely something that HR leaders in the country can look forward to while creating their talent acquisition, retention and engagement strategies.”

The Randstad Award, instituted globally by Randstad, one of the leading HR services providers in the world is hosted each year to encourage best practices for talent attraction and to identify the best ‘Employer Brand’ in the country based on perceived attractiveness of a company. In India this year, the survey captured the views of around 7500 respondents, who chose the nation’s most attractive employer brand for 2016.

Drivers of choice while choosing an employer:

By Gender: Though salary and employee benefits, long-term job security and financial health of the company are the top 3 most important criteria for men and women alike while choosing an employer, our survey highlights the fact that men in India are looking more for innovation, strong management and quality of products/services. On the other hand, women are looking for a pleasant working atmosphere, good workplace accessibility and flexibility at work.

By Age: The younger workforce in India, aged 18 to 24 years is more oriented towards good training, global career opportunities, innovation and interesting job content. Workforce between 25 to 44 years – often the age when parental responsibility becomes high priority – more often look for companies that offer a good work-life balance.

To the mature workforce of India, aged 45 to 65 years, who generally has reached some extent of expertise and stability in their lives, salary, financial health, strong management and pleasant working atmosphere remain major drivers when looking for an employer. Since this age group might encounter greater difficulties in finding a new job, they clearly prioritize long-term job security as well.

By Education: Respondents with a bachelor’s and master’s degree are looking for an employer who offers work-life balance, interesting job content and career progression opportunities, whereas, for the workforce with a secondary and lower education, good training, strong management and international career prospects are the top priorities.