Sophisticated market and message

Two of the world’s biggest resources giants, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, have spent a lot of time researching what employees want.

Their aim has been to craft strategic messages that will lure skilled workers from rival mining companies or other industries to fuel their expansion in Western Australia amid an increasingly dwindling talent pool.

It would seem there’s never been a better time to join the big miners – wages are some of the best in the country and the big pay packets come with a range of incentives designed to make each company more attractive than its competitors.

Those in the resources game understand that potential employees are probably considering one or two job offers other than the one being presented to them.

Rio’s and BHP’s campaigns to find workers, therefore, have relied on promoting the brand and developing recruitment campaigns using targeted marketing techniques.

The way BHP and Rio have leveraged their brands in a tight employment market has been viewed positively by WA’s advertising and marketing industries, which ranked Rio as having the third best employer brand in the state, while BHP was voted fifth best.

The mining giants are global businesses, however many of their key operations are headquartered in WA, which is why they qualify for the WA branding survey.

“Rio actively promotes an articulated employee value proposition in all recruitment mediums, which is integrated with corporate advertising highlighting social responsibility and Rio people,” The Right Group managing director David Kent said.

“It is widely viewed as an employer of choice in the mining industry.”

Rick Briant, Rio’s human resources general manager for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara, does not like the term ‘employer of choice’.

He thinks it’s become too common a tag-line.

“It is a term that everyone uses,” Mr Briant told WA Business News. “We would rather be a leading employer.”

Mr Briant said the miner had become more focused on its recruitment advertising in the past few years.

“They way we market ourselves in the employment market is more sophisticated,” he said.

“Because of the changing job environment, they way things were done in the past was just not going to suit our growth requirements. We are selling a value proposition rather than an ad with a logo and a job description.”

BHP’s WA operations have also adopted new recruitment advertising strategies.

Greg Ruthven, BHP Stainless Steel Materials human resources vice-president, said the mining group revised its recruitment advertising strategy last year, which resulted in a new streamlined approach under the catchphrase ‘Think Ahead’.

“The review included extensive research and testing to explore more effective messages to attract candi-dates to consider employment with BHP,” Mr Ruthven said.

“We discovered that potential employees were strongly attracted to companies that exhibited strong growth potential. “Prospective employees are thinking more about their future not just their current employment situation.”

The ‘Think Ahead’ brand is a simple, effective statement that delivers a solid platform to grow BHP’s recruitment strategy, according to Mr Ruthven.

“Our research told us that the ‘Think Ahead’ positioning strategy would resonate strongly with the market,” Mr Ruthven said.

“Since its introduction in October last year, we have seen a significant increase in job applications as a result of this advertising strategy.” 

Rio’s focus on providing “big opportunities” and offering more than just a good wage also appears to be working.

Mr Briant said using its brand and positioning itself as a large, leading employer was helping attract staff.

“Last year we employed 2,400 people but we had 32,000 applications for jobs,” he said.

It’s understood that, in WA, Rio currently employs about 6,000 direct employees and 6,000 contractors. BHP employs about the same number.

Mr Briant said that, despite the strong interest in Rio, the miner still faced shortages in specific categories such as engineering and general trades.

It is a problem that’s being tackled head on as the company looks to employ up to 1,500 people a year for the next four years.

Mr Briant said the company had increased its graduate recruitment program, which currently has 220 graduates in the system. It has more than 160 apprentices undergoing training.

As Rio intensifies its sales pitch, its WA HR man has even begun to champion marketing strategies.

“When you look at the basic principles of marketing it is about making it as easy as possible for someone to access your product,” Mr Briant said.

“It is no different for an employer. We are offering a product, which is employment, and we want to make it as easy as possible to be employed with us.”

To make it easier, Rio is hoping to add a series of regional locations, including Busselton, to its fly-in fly-out operations. The company already offers fly-in fly-out arrangements from Perth, Broome and Geraldton.

It also offered a wide-range of working locations, from inland to coastal WA.

Mr Briant said not only was Rio working to deliver better work-life arrangements for its employees, it was also involved in regional communities in a bid to improve infrastructure and facilities.

Mr Ruthven acknowledges people look for more than just remuneration when they seek employment.

He said BHP had widened its offering to include incentive schemes such as award and recognition schemes, as well as a recently adopted charity scheme called The Matched Giving Program, which matches dollar for dollar an employee’s fundraising effort.

Both companies claim that offering global opportunities is also another bonus for employees.

And as the headlines continue to highlight the enormous wealth to be had by joining the mining boom, Mr Briant said Rio did not aim to be the highest payer in the industry.

“We are very competitive in terms of salary, and we regularly research the market to make sure we remain competitive, but what we aim to do is be a leading employer in terms of the total package,” he said.

That package included share schemes, medical benefits, a focus on providing a safe workplace and caring for the environment and the community.