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    Navigating Employer Branding in APAC’s Diverse Talent Landscape

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    The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with its rapid digital transformation and vast internet user base, presents a dynamic and challenging environment for employer branding. Glynnis Quek, APAC Online Marketing Lead at Google, shares insights on navigating this diverse landscape and effectively attracting top talent.
    Understanding APAC’s Nuances
    APAC’s linguistic diversity, evident in over 2,000 languages and dialects, demands localized content. Chinese, for instance, has unique variations in each country, necessitating customized messaging for Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.
    Platform preferences vary across markets. LinkedIn is favored in India and Australia, but less prominent in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. China has its own platforms, necessitating a shift from global channels.
    Cultural preferences also play a role. Stories highlighting a fun workplace culture resonate well in Korea, while professional development and career growth are key drivers in Singapore.
    Addressing Misconceptions about Western Companies
    Western companies often face misconceptions in APAC, such as the need for strong English language skills, rigid Western workplace cultures, and incompatibility with traditional values.
    Google’s #GoogleRamadan campaign effectively challenged these perceptions by showcasing Muslim employees, resonating deeply with APAC’s sizeable Muslim population and prompting the global expansion of the campaign.
    Balancing Global Strategy with Local Resonance
    Google maintains a global employer brand strategy while ensuring local relevance. Quek assembles cross-functional teams with local subject matter experts and traditional employer branding partners, empowering them to work within the global framework while adapting it for their specific markets.
    Partnerships for Success
    Partnerships are crucial for effective employer branding in APAC. Google’s Women Techmakers initiative in India and the Google Aboriginal and Indigenous Network in Australia are examples of localized partnerships that resonate with diverse talent pools.

    Empowering Local Teams to Create Resonant Content
    The key to success lies in empowering local teams to create content that resonates with their markets. Quek emphasizes the importance of combining a robust global employer brand strategy with innovative local teams capable of adapting content for their specific audiences.
    Bottom Line
    APAC’s growing tech talent and burgeoning middle class make it an increasingly important region for global brands. By understanding local nuances, addressing misconceptions, balancing global strategy with local resonance, and forging strategic partnerships, companies can effectively attract top talent in this dynamic region.
    To follow Glynnis Quek’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For more on Google’s global employer brand strategy, listen to our episode with Mary Streetzel. For help identifying the values and culture you want to create in your company, get in touch.
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      How Google Does Employment Branding

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      When your employer value proposition is to “build for everyone,” you need an employer brand strategy that centers on authenticity.
      Leading employer brand at one of the world’s tech titans means grappling with a reputation of legendary proportions, supporting a network of 120,000 employees around the globe, and staying sensitive to the needs of one billion users.
      It’s what Mary Streetzel faces every day in her role as Head of Employer Brand at Google. And though Google’s scale sets it apart from most other employers, the lessons Streetzel and her team have learned about employer brand strategy have universal relevance.
      The Need for More Data
      Data has played a starring role in the evolution of Google’s culture and employer brand strategy. Its mission to “increase the world’s knowledge” includes the company itself—Streetzel and her team are constantly gathering more data to help make Google a better place to work.
      You may have heard legends about the notorious Google interviews of 10 years ago. Hiring committees tested candidates with trick questions (“How many ping pong balls could you fit in a school bus?”), graduates of high-profile alma maters seemed to receive preferential treatment, and one candidate allegedly went through 16 interview rounds before receiving a decision.
      These hiring practices, Streetzel insists, are relics of a bygone era. There’s been a culture shift toward a more empathic, broad-minded, and diverse Google, thanks in part to data.
      Let Your People Do the Talking
      Streetzel refuses to let the buzzword status of “authenticity” cloud its meaning and importance to employer brand. “Brands have to go ahead and admit it: You’re a business. Tell the truth,” she says. “Then, let your users tell the story a little bit more. That’s authenticity.”
      User- and employee-generated content is one of Streetzel’s favorite ways to let people, rather than brands, do the talking. Most recently, Google handed the storytelling reins to its interns for International Intern Day and filled its employer brand channels with personal perspectives on life as a Googler, directly from the mouths of interns experiencing that life first-hand.
      Streetzel and her team want future Googlers to see themselves in these authentic stories, seeding a new and diverse generation of employees. “We really want everyone to see themselves at Google,” she says. “We want to build a Google that reflects the world around us.”

      To follow Mary Streetzel’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For help identifying the values and culture you want to create at your own company, get in touch.
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      Working from Home: One Year in Review

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      When recruiting, if you’re not adapting to working trends along with the nation, someone else will. So how is the working world settling into its new routine after a year of lockdowns and restrictions?
      Whilst many think people prefer working from home, you’ll actually find there are mixed opinions. Some like ditching the commute and having flexibility, others miss face-to-face interaction and getting out of the house.
      Office design experts, Diamond Interiors, have reviewed a chaotic working year to see how the nation has adapted and predicts what’s next for the working world.
      What has working from home changed for good?
      Flexibility certainly sticks out as a big winner. Without a doubt, people are appreciating the ability to spend more time at home, especially those with children. Businessman and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson has been pushing CEOs to adopt more flexible working models even before the pandemic:
      “I’m a big believer that with the technology we have today, balancing family and business should be easier, not harder. Both partners should be able to work, realize their potential and raise a family; and flexible working enables people … to do this.”
      Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, sees “the future as being more flexible” and realizes the importance of cutting down commuting for his staff:
      “It’s always made me wonder when I see people commuting two hours and away from their family and friends on a Friday, you realize they can’t have plans… So I think we could do better.”
      Not only does working from home cut out commute times, but it can also cut down costs considerably. With travel costs, petrol, transport and then the daily or weekly lunchtime dining – it all adds up. At home, you’re not tempted by office lunch takeaways, local eateries, or having to spend money on actually getting to and from work.
      However, money transfers to increased electricity, heating, and internet usage. But, how does it compare?
      If you look at a worker who typically drives into a city every workday – such as Bolton to Manchester – that’s around 26 miles of driving every day (13 miles there and back). You’re looking at around £50 in unleaded fuel being saved a month by working from home. For a train commuter traveling from Bolton to Manchester, who uses a monthly season ticket, that’s around £105 saved or £120 without using a monthly season ticket.
      But, you’re probably spending that back on electricity and gas over the month by staying in more. As of April 2019, the average dual fuel variable tariff was estimated at £104.50 a month. This is before the pandemic and government-mandated lockdowns. Now that more people are working from home, with more hours using electricity for work on computers, homebrews, daily microwave pings, lights and so on, that figure is probably rising by at least 50%, if not doubling – especially during those winter months and cold spells.
      How has homeworking affected productivity?
      Gabriele Musella, CEO, and Cofounder of Coinrule, notes a positive, saying working from home “has increased my productivity level. I can stretch out and schedule my work conveniently and work in a more relaxed environment.”
      Others, however, have noticed the strain on productivity homeworking brings, like Nick Pollitt, Managing Director of Diamond Interiors: “We’ve seen employers struggle and noticed an impact. The office environment brings teams together and is where productivity thrives. That spark fades out when staff are distanced from each other; sadly business can suffer.”
      Pichai (Google’s CEO), echoes this by valuing the office for face-to-face interaction and “being together… when you have to solve hard problems and create something new.” He wants to “create more flexibility and more hybrid models” since the company’s internal survey interestingly found quite a split in the favoring of working remotely and in the office.
      Are we entering a new hybrid-working age?
      Salesforce – a cloud-based SaaS company – supports a hybrid work model, claiming “the 9-to-5 workday is dead.” But, they also understand the difficulties of working from home, “especially for those with families at home or for those who are feeling isolated.”
      Big-tech companies are also following suit with Twitter announcing early on that staff can work from home “forever.” However, employees can work in the office when it’s safe to do so.
      With isolation impacting mental health, increased office FOMO, and balancing out costs, it seems the work-from-home shift will be a sliding one, rather than a complete switch. People are enjoying more flexibility at home, but want the best of both worlds. Only time will tell what the future of the working world will look like.
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