Kellogg Company: Becoming an Employer of Choice
“An employer of choice recruits and engages talent through practices that address both tangibles and intangibles, focus on the long term as well as the short term, and are tailored to the organization” (Branham, 2005). There are many benefits that are associated with becoming an employer of choice such as reduced marketing and recruiting expenses, reduced turnover, optimized performance, increases in efficiency and profitability, and increased company attraction from customers and investors, just to name a few (Herman & Gioia, 2001). With the numerous benefits that Kellogg can reap by becoming an employer of choice, we have identified ways for our company to qualify as an employer of choice.
The first thing we could do at Kellogg to become an employer of choice is to increase the short-term tangible offerings to employees which would include an increase in base pay for employees, bonuses and incentives, and provide health insurance at no cost to employees. In addition, we can enhance our 401(k) plans by offering vesting from day one of employment, and offer pensions to employees for their continued dedication to the Kellogg Company (Branham, 2005). These options would be attractive to talented individuals and provide ample reason to join the Kellogg team.
Second, our ongoing commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is extremely valuable to our company in becoming an employer of choice. “As prospective employees research potential employers, they'll often use the Internet to gather information to use in their decision-making process” (Herman & Gioia, 2001). Therefore, potential employees are researching companies and if there is negative information unveiled it can have a dramatic impact on the decision they reach. “At Kellogg Company, we know that corporate responsibility is essential to our current and future success as a business. That’s why we have created strategies, governance structures, corporate policies, commitment statements and codes of conduct that help to embed corporate responsibility into our everyday operations” (Kellogg, 2012). Our CSR efforts have a lasting impact on our reputation, which plays an important role in our ability to attract and retain employees. Therefore, our increased CSR efforts will help show customers the positive actions that our company takes toward the environment, employee safety, diversity, and philanthropy; which will aid in Kellogg becoming an employer of choice.
Finally, we must continue to strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We have had tremendous success in regards to diversity and have received recognition and awards for our efforts. For example, our company was recognized in the top 50 companies for executive women, America’s best places for Latinos to work, top veteran-friendly companies, and the top 50 employers for equal opportunity, among others (Kellogg, 2014b). The recognition and awards we receive speak volumes about our passion and commitment to diversity, and our belief that diversity is imperative to running a successful business. At Kellogg we understand that the United States is constantly becoming increasingly diverse, and we need to focus on providing management opportunities to people of color, women, disabled individuals, or LGBT individuals (Herman & Gioia, 2001). Increasing diversity at Kellogg is not only important at the employee level, but increasing it among our suppliers, and in our management