Aerospace Defence

Rolls-Royce named most attractive UK employer

Posted 13 May 2016

In further recognition of the strength of British 'heritage' brands, Rolls-Royce Group was today named the large company UK employees would most like to work for, in the Global Randstad Award 2016.

The Randstad Award is the world’s biggest employer branding survey, polling over 200,000 respondents in 25 countries that cover 75% of the global economy. It asks respondents to rate the attractiveness of their country’s largest employers.

The second strongest UK employer brand was British Airways and BAE Systems came in seventh.

In line with the UK company winner, the Automotive Aerospace sector was named by British survey respondents as the most attractive UK sector to work in, followed by Pharma Life Sciences and Electronic Engineering. Globally, by contrast, and as in the previous two years, IT is the most attractive sector.

	Rolls-Royce Group		Diageo
	British Airways		Sainsbury's
	Marks & Spencer		Philips
	BMW		Alstom
	Jaguar Land Rover		AstraZeneca
	Boots		Carnival UK
	BAE Systems		Next
	Mondelez International		GlaxoSmithKline
	Virgin Media		Ford
	PwC		Debenhams

Yet large brands in both the UK and globally should take note about a clear employee/employer disconnect: while UK survey respondents, as potential employees, cited salary, job security and a pleasant working atmosphere as their top priorities, these were qualities that far fewer people associated with working for a large UK employer (see table, below).

Prospective UK employees seek… Large UK employers score best on…

1.	Salary & employee benefits	1.	Financial health
2.	Long-term job security	2.	Strong management
3.	Pleasant working atmosphere	3.	Good training
4.	Good work/life balance	4.	Career progression opportunities
5.	Interesting job content	5.	Salary & employee benefits
6.	Good training	6.	Long-term job security
7.	Career progression opportunities	7.	Interesting job content
8.	Financial health	8.	Pleasant working atmosphere
9.	Strong management	9.	Environmentally/socially aware
10.	Environmentally/socially aware	10.	Good work/life balance

Randstad CEO, Jacques van den Broek, commented: “The purpose of our annual employer branding research is to identify the large companies around the world that have the most attractive brands in the eyes of potential job seekers, along with the sectors people want to work in. In the UK, it’s clear that the winner of the Randstad Award, the Rolls-Royce Group, has an almost timeless appeal and a brand that is rooted in the country’s heritage and national identity. Much the same could be said of British Airways and M&S.

"But the largest companies need to beware the potential disconnect between what prospective employees look for in an employer and what they perceive the biggest employers to offer.”