Branding Local Government as an Employer of Choice

Branding Local Government
as an Employer of Choice
A survey of communication strategies employed by
metropolitan Melbourne councils to attract and retain talent
by Milena Roque Torres
Submitted for the fulfilment of the requirements of the course MULT90019 to:
Dr Elizabeth Driscoll, Lecturer in Publishing and Communications
The University of Melbourne School of Culture and Communication
June 2014

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A copy of this report has been sent to the researcher’s internship host, the Local Government Managers Australia.
The analyses and recommendations in this report are the results of the author’s individual scrutiny of the subject.
These are not officially endorsed by the University of Melbourne, nor by the LGMA.

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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..............................................................................................................................5
1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................7
1.1 Understanding Branding .................................................................................................................7
1.2 Employer branding and being an Employer of Choice .....................................................................7
1.3 Public Service as an Employer of Choice..........................................................................................7
1.4 Project aims and objectives.............................................................................................................8
1.5 Context ...........................................................................................................................................9
1.6 Scope............................................................................................................................................11
2 METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................................12
2.1 Strengths ......................................................................................................................................12
2.2 Limitations ....................................................................................................................................12
3 FINDINGS.............................................................................................................................................14
3.1 Message: councils’ employer value proposition ............................................................................14
3.2 Message: organisational culture and slogans ................................................................................15
3.2.1 Brimbank................................................................................................................................16
3.2.2 Casey......................................................................................................................................16
3.2.3 Knox.......................................................................................................................................17
3.2.4 Moonee Valley.......................................................................................................................18
3.2.5 Moreland ...............................................................................................................................18
3.2.6 Mornington Peninsula............................................................................................................19
3.2.7 Stonnington ...........................................................................................................................19
3.2.8 Whitehorse ............................................................................................................................20
3.2.9 Yarra ......................................................................................................................................20
3.2.10 General observations ...........................................................................................................21
3.3 Channels and audience .................................................................................................................22
3.3.1 Generalist job boards .............................................................................................................22
3.3.2 Industry-specific websites ......................................................................................................23
3.3.3 Traditional print media...........................................................................................................24
3.3.4 Careers fairs ...........................................................................................................................25
3.3.5 Social media...........................................................................................................................25
3.3.6 Other channels.......................................................................................................................26
3.4 Value of EOC branding: the LG perspective ...................................................................................26
3.5.1 Link between sustainable cities and branding of councils as EOCs..........................................27
3.5 Perspectives on a sector-wide branding........................................................................................27
4 CONCLUSIONS .....................................................................................................................................30

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5 RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................................................................................................................32
APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................................................34
Appendix 1: Councils’ Employer Value Proposition .............................................................................34
Appendix 2: Budget for promoting council as EOC ..............................................................................35
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................36

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Local Governments (LG) are the primary providers of government services to local communities and are
thus significant employers that offer a diverse range of occupations and a long list of competitive
benefits. However, recruitment of staff in LG is already a challenge that will likely increase in the future.
With the impending retirement of one-third of the workforce within the next ten years, LG must
prepare to replace departing talent and be positioned as an Employer of Choice to the next generation
of employees.
By using various communication strategies to promote LG as an attractive employer, the sector will
be able to develop a brand as an Employer of Choice. With a strong employer brand, councils will be
able to attract and retain talented staff, whose knowledge and quality of work will contribute greatly in
achieving a sustainable future for local communities.
This report surveys the communication strategies currently employed by metropolitan Melbourne
councils to attract and retain talent, and offers a possible solution to achieve a strong employer brand:
coordinate a sector-wide communications campaign to promote Local Government as an Employer of
Choice. Suggestions for implementing this solution are as follows:
 Establish a single public agency that has the authority, skills and focus to manage a sector-wide
branding program for LG as an Employer of Choice. The Local Government Managers Australia, as
the peak body representing local government managers in Australia, may be interested in
establishing this agency.
 Combine advertising resources of individual councils instead of spending money on piecemeal and
separate promotion efforts.
 Develop a banner slogan that will define LG as an Employer of Choice.
 Run a sophisticated advertising campaign that will highlight the diverse career options in the LG
sector and the pride of being a public servant. Use various channels to promote the ad campaign,
including traditional media, social and digital media, community activities, universities, careers
fairs, posters and so on.
 Develop a marketing toolkit that:
o identifies the specific messages and campaigns for promoting different occupations in Local
Government

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o identifies the unique characteristics of individual councils, and fits in the message to the
broader branding campaign
o highlights the generous employer value proposition of the sector
 Maximise online social networks in order to appeal to younger demographic as well as to
experienced workers who may not be actively job-hunting.
 Develop a centralised website for graduate and undergraduate programs in LG.
 Develop a centralised website where all LG jobs are advertised, and where job ads link to the
website of the council that advertised the position.
The aim of a coordinated and centralised communication campaign is to show LG as one sector with the
strength and stature of an Employer of Choice.

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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Understanding Branding
Brand and branding are well-established concepts in marketing and public relations. The American
Marketing Association (n.d.) defines branding as ‘a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that
identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers’. For others, the logo, symbol
and design are just extensions of an organisation’s defined identity. Branding, for many, is the sub-total
of all the experiences your customers have with your business (Eisenberg, n.d.); it is the set of
expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s
decision to choose one product or service over another (Godin, 2009).
1.2 Employer branding and being an Employer of Choice
Branding is no longer exclusive to selling products or services. In the last decade, employers have
increasingly used branding to compete effectively in the labour market and to promote the organisation
as an Employer of Choice (EOC) to potential and existing employees. An EOC is ‘any employer that
attracts, optimises, and holds top talent for long tenure … because the employees choose to be there’
(Leadership Management Australia, 2011).
Paul Walker, head of Employer Branding for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
(n.d.), an international federation of HR professionals, defines employer branding as the ‘set of
attributes and qualities – often intangible – that makes an organisation distinctive, promises a
particular kind of employment experience, and appeals to those people who will thrive and perform to
their best in its culture.’ Companies with strong employer brand worldwide—some of which are Google,
Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Company, Apple and Microsoft— have no problems attracting top graduates
and experienced talent (Universum, n.d.a).
1.3 Public Service as an Employer of Choice
Regardless of industry or offering, brands can play an important role in attracting top talent; that is
because brands convey stature, values and purpose – the very things that matter to the best job
candidates (Stump, n.d.). In Australia, some of the most attractive employers belong in the public
service sector. In the most recent Randstad Award (2014) survey of 7000 Australian active job hunters
from the country’s 150 largest companies, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation tops the list of
attractive employers. Along with the most attractive private sector companies—Virgin Australia, Coca-

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Cola Amatil, Qantas, Nestle and Wesfarmers—are government organisations such as the Department of
Immigration and Citizenship, Department of Health and Ageing, and the Department of Defence.
As these organisations already proved that the public service sector can be an EOC, this paper will
explore the employer branding strategies used by the public service sector that is closest to the people:
the Local Government (LG).
As a direct provider of services with significant responsibility for administrative and governance
functions that enable delivery, Local Governments are significant stakeholders within communities and
the broader service delivery environment (Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government
[ACELG], 2013). It is crucial the LG attracts and retains an effective workforce because without it, local
economies and communities will struggle to operate and the quality of service delivery will suffer.
In 2013, ACELG and the Local Government Managers Australia released the document Future-
Proofing Local Government: National Workforce Strategy 2013-2020. The document is designed to move
LG towards a more sustainable workforce through attraction, retention and development of employees
in the local public service sector. One of its core strategies—‘Promoting Local Government as a Place-
Based Employer of Choice’—inspired the concept of this paper, titled Branding Local Government as an
Employer of Choice; a survey of communication strategies employed by metropolitan Melbourne councils
to attract and retain talent.
1.4 Project aims and objectives
This paper will explore employer branding in the context of Local Government, and will assess the
communication strategies employed by LGs in metropolitan Melbourne to promote themselves as EOC.
This study aims to:
 Gain insights on branding as a marketing tool in the context of public service.
 Gain a general understanding of LG employer branding situation by looking at the message and
channels currently used.
 Understand how local councils view the connection between sustainability and promoting LG as an
Employer of Choice.
 Explore the perspectives of councils’ HR managers on establishing a sector-wide branding strategy.
 Recommend communication strategies to promote LGs as Employer of Choice, for the consideration
of the LGMA and the council managers that it represents.

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1.5 Context
Skilled employees are critical for business innovation and success. However, in today’s highly
competitive market, there is a shortage of skilled employees (Deloitte, 2013). A Manpower Group
survey (as cited in Mining for Skills, 2012) found that:
Fifty per cent of employers in Australia are finding it difficult to fill key positions
within their organisations… [Although] Australian results are still well above the
global average of 34 per cent, and above the Asia Pacific average of 45 per cent,
Australia is ranked fourth out of 41 countries for talent shortages.
Business leaders are hence in a war for talent. CEOs understand that if they do not win the war for
talent they put their futures at risk. Hence, investing in their employer brand is one way to attract the
right people.
In 2001, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had warned its
member countries, including Australia, of the challenge the public sector will face in replacing a
remarkable number of employees reaching retirement age. In the Australian LG sector, recruitment of
staff is already a challenge that is likely to increase in the future (LGMA South Australia, 2006), as one-
third of the Local Government workforce is over 50 years old and will soon retire (ACELG, 2013). LG
must prepare to replace this departing talent and be positioned as an EOC to the next generation of
employees.
LG offers an inherent advantage of being unique in that it is not state nor federal government, but
rather a third tier of government that interacts directly with the public , with less restriction and yet is
not as unstructured to the extent that the private sector is (LGMA SA, 2006). Also, local talents benefit
from working locally as less travel readily allows flexibility and work-life balance. However, several
issues make it difficult for councils to make it into the consideration list of most candidates. Some of
these issues, as already explored by LGMA South Australia in a report on promoting councils as EOCs,
are as follows (LGMA SA, 2006):
 Stereotyped perceptions
o Many people still perceive that councils only deal with ‘roads, rates and rubbish’.1
o There is a lack of knowledge or understanding about councils as employers, or job and
career providers.
 People see individual councils – not an entire industry sector
1
The general perception that councils only deal with road works, collecting rates from residents, and waste management.

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o [In Victoria alone, there are 79 councils offering] a complex, and opportunity-laden industry
sector comprising hundreds of unique organisations.
o This breadth and diversity of opportunity would be appealing to target candidate market,
but is not effectively marketed to the target audience.
 University students are not aware of how they can practice professional disciplines within the LGs.
If LGs are both to compete successfully for talented applicants and retain high-performing employees,
they need to brand LG as an Employer of Choice that provides challenging work, progressive human
resource policies and opportunities for promotion and career development (Reichenberg, n.d.) in
diverse professions.
A survey of more than 50,000 employees at 59 global organisations found that three key elements of
organisational culture were crucial to workforce engagement: connection, contribution and credibility
(The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, 2010). The National Workforce Strategy
stated (ACELG, 2013) that Local Government, as a place-based employer, can find significant
competitive advantage in these areas as follows:
 connection – working in the local community
 contribution – producing high quality infrastructure, services, and social, economic and
environmental outcomes
credibility – working in an organisation focused on public value and community wellbeing.
In this war for talent, LGs need to emphasise and actively market the benefits they can offer as
compared to private companies. This will require the implementation of an employer branding strategy.
There has been some consensus among LG professionals a few years ago on the advantages of
coordinating LG-wide communications program to promote councils as EOC. The LGMA South Australia
made a case for such sector-wide branding in a 2006 report. In the same year, the Municipal Association
of Victoria (MAV)—which represents Victoria’s 79 councils –held a workforce planning forum where
member councils agreed on rolling out a similar strategy. However, ‘due to budget restraints across
local councils this has not taken off to the level that was hoped for’, as revealed by the representative
from the Knox City Council in the survey for this study.

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1.6 Scope
This study will look into the communication strategies used by the councils in metropolitan Melbourne
to promote itself as an Employer of Choice. A survey questionnaire was sent to all the 32 councils in
metropolitan Melbourne, of which nine councils responded: Brimbank, Moreland, Mornington
Peninsula, Stonnington, Yarra, Whitehorse, Moonee Valley, Knox and Casey.
This paper will also explore the perspectives of the participating councils on establishing a sector-
wide branding strategy to promote the LG sector as an EOC.
The information provided by the participating councils are relevant as of May 2014.

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2 METHODOLOGY
This project utilised both quantitative and qualitative data gathering via the following methods:
 Exploring literature relevant to the concept of employer branding and its impact on the labour
market.
 Gathering additional information from the careers section of LG websites.
 Conducting a survey on metropolitan Melbourne councils, to gain information regarding channels,
budget and perspectives on branding.
 Comparing survey results and gathered data with pertinent literature on branding, where
appropriate.
The author sent survey questionnaires to the councils’ human resources manager via email; this
channel was preferred so that council managers can respond to the survey questions at a time that is
most convenient to them. This is done so because council managers generally handle demanding jobs
and cannot be expected to answer study-related questions over the phone at the first instance.
Nevertheless, they have been given the option of responding to the questions via a phone interview if
they think that this method is more suitable to their circumstances. In total, nine out of the 32
metropolitan Melbourne councils were able to participate in this study.
2.1 Strengths
The nine participating councils have responded to the survey questions via email. This method allowed
them to provide more structured and well-thought out answers. As some of the questions are open-
ended, the author encouraged the council HR managers to respond to the level of depth that they can
manage. As a result, most respondents provided detailed responses on topics that are of their interest,
opening up opportunities for informed discussion.
As regards data gathering from websites, the careers section of most council websites provides
sufficient information on the employee benefits that councils advertise. Their employer brand message
and slogans can also be accessed via their websites.
2.2 Limitations
Respondents were expected to invest at least 20 minutes of their time to answer the survey. This is a
considerable amount of time for time-poor council managers, who often have to address competing
priorities. Hence, only nine out of 32 councils have responded. A few council managers have expressed

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interest to participate in the study but were not able to deliver, too, because of the ever-changing
priorities in council work.
Another limitation of this study is the absence of another survey that can measure the effectiveness
of LGs’ communication strategies and branding messages to promote itself as EOC to the larger public.
Sampling for such a survey should have been done with active job seekers in metropolitan Melbourne.
As some of the questions are open-ended, the depth of responses from participating councils varied.
While most of the questions successfully obtained quality responses from respondents, the author
overlooked the effectiveness of the question on ‘internal communications’, which would have made an
informed discussion on councils’ employee engagement. This weakness resulted in a very limited
response on the said topic, forcing the author to not include it in this paper. In this light, the author
recommends future research in this area.

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3 FINDINGS
3.1 Message: councils’ employer value proposition
In HR parlance, employee benefits are called ‘employer value proposition’ (EVP), or the ‘unique set of
offerings, associations and values to positively influence target candidates and employees’ (Universum,
n.d. b). Attractive and rewarding human resources policy—including the recruitment manner, the
remuneration system, the characteristics of the career development system, the lifelong learning and
training opportunities, the quality of the informal environment, the system of rewards—represent very
important features for the employee and they are part of the employer’s brand (Alexandra, 2007).
Therefore, the EVP should be actively communicated in all recruitment efforts, as it ‘gives current and
future employees a reason to work for an employer and reflects the organisation’s competitive
advantage’ (Universum, n.d. b) in the labour market.
For the purpose of this study, the EVP shall be defined in tangible terms through the benefits
advertised by employers when recruiting staff.
The Randstad Award research (2014), which provides insights on attractiveness of employers,
found that the most important criterion job seekers consider when choosing an employer (in order of
importance) are:
1. Competitive salary and employee benefits
2. Long-term job security
3. Pleasant working atmosphere
4. Good work-life balance
5. Interesting job content.
The author examined the websites of the 32 metropolitan Melbourne councils to see which of the 13
employer offerings2—which have also been asked in the survey questionnaire (See detailed results in
Appendix 1)—are advertised by the LGs in their careers section. The most advertised benefits are (in
order of frequency):
1. Flexible schedule
2. Learning and development opportunities
2
competitive base pay, vacations/time off, healthcare benefits, career advancement, superannuation benefits, convenient location,
flexible schedule, challenging work, learning/ development opportunities, reasonable workload, organisational culture, diversity, others.

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3. Organisational culture
4. Diversity/ career advancement
5. Health care benefits.
Flexible work schedule, for LGs, include opportunities for telecommuting, or home-based work
arrangements, and part time work. Learning and development opportunities include study assistance
packages, comprehensive training courses (both in-house and external) and mentoring programs.
3.2 Message: organisational culture and slogans
In the past few decades researchers have suggested that organisations have cultures; an
organisation’s culture is its ‘personality’, its feel, what distinguishes it from other organisations, a
coding of ‘the way things get done around here’ (Eunson, 2012). To be compelling most brands,
including employer brands, need to emphasise what makes them different from and better than the
rest. This is a tricky business for LGs since the private sector also offers similar EVPs, creating noise in
the process of transmitting councils’ employer brand. In Shannon and Weaver’s (1949) model of
communication, noise is any interference with the message travelling along the channel which may lead
to the [message] received being different from that sent. The vast number of web marketing content as
well as the number of attractive ads from private sector EOCs act as the noise in councils’
communication process. Councils have to differentiate themselves in order to cut through the noise.
This is where the brand image and personality plays a critical role in both anchoring the [employer]
brand, and differentiating the brand in the people’s minds (Mosley, 2009).
LG needs to position itself as an attractive career option by actively communicating its competitive
advantages as an employer. This is where LG needs to develop a ‘theme’ that clearly communicates to
potential candidates what working at the council is all about.
One of the best ways to communicate what you are all about is through the use of brand slogans and
brand names. In order to be effective, slogans must be short but also compelling and impactful (Sullivan,
2001). Slogans are an effective way to capture the organisational culture that sets one firm apart from
the rest. Top EOCs link their employer slogans to their general brand ethos, implying the role of their
employees in delivering the ‘great’ and ‘exceptional’ things their product brings:
Coca-Cola Amatil Where great people do great things together.
Virgin Australia Together we make the difference.
Nestle There’s more to life at Nestle.
Hewlett Packard This is the start of something exceptional…

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The following section summarises the positive organisational culture3 that participating councils
currently publish through most of their recruitment activities, as well as their employer brand slogans
that attempt to translate the organisational culture and EVP into one message.
3.2.1 Brimbank
Organisational culture
 recognition and reward
 staff training and development
 strong set of values and behaviours
 family-friendly workplace
 work-life balance.
Employer slogan
(none; uses the Blue
Horizon logo instead)
The logo enumerates the core concepts that drive Brimbank City’s organisational culture, which is about
the expectations on internal staff.
3.2.2 Casey
 The council’s trademark behaviours:
o Show Respect
o Take Responsibility
o Be Positive
o Listen and Respond
o Think Things Through.
3
This section includes the summarised version of the key messages provided by participating councils via their survey
questionnaires.

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 learning and development
 internal succession planning
 flexible working conditions
 Managers are trained to recognise the importance of clear
expectations and employee autonomy coupled with ensuring
opportunities for their staff to grow their skills and
experience.
 high level of employee engagement (74%).
Employer slogan Victoria’s Largest and Most Vibrant Municipality
Casey’s slogan characterises the municipality in a positive light – largest and most vibrant. When the
phrase is used in the recruitment of new staff, the ‘vibrant’ culture potentially communicates the high
level of employee engagement in the organisation.
3.2.3 Knox
 Mission – to improve the quality of life of the Knox community
through a number of ways such as leadership, alliances,
partnerships and networks; planning for the future growth
and sustainability of the city; high quality services; fostering
community cohesion, and so on.
 Values – every employee of Knox is expected to demonstrate
the following values in their daily activities:
o teamwork;
o innovation;
o integrity;
o enjoying work;
o service excellence.
Employer slogan
 What are You Looking for in Your Career
 Bring Yourself to the Team

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The Knox City Council’s slogan captures the organisational culture of challenging and rewarding work
in the LG (What are you looking for in your career), as well as the value it places on teamwork (Bring
yourself to the team).
3.2.4 Moonee Valley
 Strategic thinking – looking ahead, planning for change and
understanding community aspirations in the context of
Council’s role.
 Communication – sharing information and listening to each
other so that we can better serve our citizens
 Accountability – taking responsibility for our actions,
reporting accurately on our activities
 Leadership – showing the way by living the workplace values
 Innovation – seeking new ways to achieve better outcomes
Teamwork – helping each other is everyone’s job to achieve
the best outcome for citizens
Employer slogan (commitment to as above)
The Moonee Valley City Council does not use a specific employer slogan, but referred to the
organisational culture—essentially the Council Values—summarised above. While this approach on the
slogan accurately mirrors the Council Values, it is too long and defeats the purpose of a slogan as an eye-
catcher.
3.2.5 Moreland
 Excellent working conditions,
 Making a difference to the local community
 Development opportunities
 Positive work culture.
Employer slogan
 Moreland – One Community
 Proudly Diverse
 Customers and Community First

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The Moreland City Council’s slogan accurately depicts the organisational culture that it wants to
communicate to the wider public: One Community and Customers and Community First mirror the value
of making a difference to the community; Proudly Diverse mirrors the development opportunities and
the positive work culture.
3.2.6 Mornington Peninsula
 Internal message: the ‘Peninsula Way’, which is about the
generous terms and conditions of employment.
 External message:
o Councils’ EVP
o a chance to engage with the community, to
respond to their needs and provide them with
real solutions to make a difference
o employment opportunities in diverse
professions.
Employer slogan
Sea for yourself!
The Mornington Peninsula Shire’s approach is creative: their slogan is an eye catcher to attract
applicants to visit the website and view current vacancies. With a playful mix of a rather mediocre
phrase (‘see for yourself’) and changing the word ‘see’ with ‘sea’, the message captures the topographic
characteristic of the city (a peninsula), and makes for a memorable phrase with at least two possible
meanings: see for yourself, actively inviting job seekers to visit the careers website; sea for yourself,
implying that the sea (symbolising the council or working at the council) will be advantageous to the
prospective applicant.
3.2.7 Stonnington
 has an internal cultural development program titled Blue
Horizon, which aims to create a constructive culture that
engages, empowers, motivates and drives staff to succeed in
all that they do.
 programs under the Blue Horizon umbrella: learning and
development, staff wellbeing program, reward and recognition

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programs, staff engagement surveys and Council’s Employee
Assistance Program (EAP)4.
Employer slogan
(no particular slogan; uses the Blue Horizon logo)
Instead of a specific slogan, the city conveys its employer brand through its Blue Horizon logo. This is a
conscious branding strategy that aims to associate employee engagement programs to the council’s
positive work culture. If promoted more actively to the wider public, the Blue Horizon program has a
potential to boost the council’s reputation as an EOC.
3.2.8 Whitehorse
Organisational culture  high degree of employee satisfaction in its recent employee
surveys (87% in 2012 and 86.6% in 2013).
 a culture of achievement and pride that is conveyed to internal
and external candidates.
 generous employee benefits.
Employer slogan
(none at this time)
The City of Whitehorse did not provide details as to why it does not have a slogan. However, as outlined
above, the council’s organisational culture reflects a generous EVP and a highly engaged workforce.
Also, as will be discussed in the next section (See ‘Channels and audience’), the council already attracts a
large number of applicants for any of its job vacancies – an indication of its attractiveness as an
employer.
3.2.9 Yarra
A constructive culture in which:
 Staff are clear on the organisation's goals and their own
contribution.
 Staff strive to learn and improve to reach their potential.
4
Employee Assistance Program -- a work-based intervention program designed to enhance the emotional, mental and general
psychological wellbeing of all employees and includes services for immediate family members (Employee Assistance Professional
Association of Australia, n.d.).

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 The environment is supportive and encouraging.
 Staff sustain productive relationships at work.
Employer slogan
Inner city, urban and diverse careers.
The City of Yarra capitalised on its convenient location—the inner city—to promote itself as an EOC.
This messaging introduces Yarra City as a prospective employer to professionals in knowledge-
intensive industries, who choose high-value jobs around city centres. According to the Grattan Institute
(Kelly & Mares, 2012), ‘industries winning a bigger share of the Australian economy choose to locate
close to one another in the heart of the city.’ Yarra leverages on this by simply announcing its presence
in the inner city.
3.2.10 General observations
The organisational culture described by the participating councils reflects the three important elements
that are crucial to workforce engagement: connection, contribution and credibility. It also reflects at
least two factors that jobseekers look for in an employer (See 3.1): pleasant working atmosphere (highly
engaged workforce) and interesting job content (innovation, diverse professions, making a difference).
The recurring themes in the slogans are teamwork and career development. A few councils did not have
slogans. In general, the attractive organisational culture based on cohesion, contribution and credibility
is diluted in the message (slogan), or even left unsaid in the absence of one.

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3.3 Channels and audience
Aside from the councils’ career page on their websites, HR managers of LGs advertise their job
vacancies in different channels. The following table represents the channels used by participating
councils to advertise job vacancies and to promote themselves as employers of choice:
Participating
Council
Generalist
job boards
(Seek,
MyCareer,
CareerOne,
LG Jobs,
GovJobs)
Industry-
specific
job
boards
Traditional
print
media
(The Age,
Herald
Sun, local
papers,
etc)
Careers
fairs/expos,
graduate
career
information
days
Facebook
and/or
Twitter LinkedIn Others
Brimbank ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Universities
Moreland ✔ ✔ ✔
Mornington
Peninsula ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Stonnington ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Fairfax
Digital
targeting,
iPad ads,
universities
Yarra ✔ ✔ ✔
Whitehorse ✔ ✔
Council’s e-
recruitment
system
Knox ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
local high
school
annual
career day
Casey ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Moonee
Valley ✔ ✔ ✔ Universities
3.3.1 Generalist job boards
The participating councils all use generalist job boards like Seek and CareerOne to advertise their job
vacancies. Of these, Seek.com is the most popular channel and has a large pool of jobseekers, with 24.4
million visits per month as of April 2014 (Seek, 2014). It has a diverse pool of audiences or jobseekers
for various industries, ranging from entry-level to mid-tier and senior roles.
Stonnington also uses Fairfax Digital, an online job board that gives users access to 30 interactive
sites for jobs, products and services. This job board receives eight million visitors per month, and is set
apart from its rivals for its ‘audience-centric solutions’, a technology that allows Fairfax network to

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advertise vacant positions to the target demographic, which is determined by the system through
customer usage data on the network.
LGJobs is specially designed for LG job listings, with opportunities for both entry level work and
supervisory roles, targeting both recent university graduates and experienced workers. The site
advertises LG roles in various professions, be it in health, recreation, tourism, transport, finance,
housing and corporate.
3.3.2 Industry-specific websites
From the top down councils offer a range of career pathways in trade, technical and professional
positions, all of which contribute to the common goal of keeping a town, city or region functioning as
smoothly as possible (Woulfe, 2014). Some of the professional roles are planning, engineering, law,
social work, psychology, environmental protection, teaching and economic development.
To better target specialist professionals, some councils use industry-specific job websites to
advertise job vacancies. These job boards are said to be ‘the outback of Australian recruitment
advertising’ (Hansen, 2013) because, despite the small audience size of these job boards compared to
those of the generalist websites, they provide at least two valuable advantages for employers:
 You know that 100% of the people browsing your ad are already working within your industry, or at
the very least have an interest in your field of work, rather than the large amount of unqualified
applicants that visit generalist job boards. (Hansen, 2013)
 Your advertisement has far less competition for the attention of browsers, so not only are you sure
that relevant candidates will see it, but with lower number of new ads uploaded each month, it will
stay visible for longer. (Hansen, 2013)
Also, industry-specific job boards are effective channels to advertise to passive jobseekers, or people
‘who currently have a job but would be open to taking a better one’ (Fankhauser, 2013). Some of the
industry-specific job sites used by the participating councils are the following:
Job board
Audience
Infoxchange.net.au
Information and Communication Technology
professionals.
Childcarejobs.com.au
Early childcare education and care professionals.
Ethical Jobs
‘People who want to work for a better world’ through jobs
in communities, nonprofits, environment, and so on.

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Planning Institute Australia
Urban planners or town planners.
Arts Hub
Visual artists, publishing professionals, architects,
designers, screen professionals, performing artists.
SportsPeople
Sports, fitness, fishing, aquatics and coaching practitioners.
Australian Institute of
Environmental Health
Environmental health professionals.
Parks and Leisure Australia
Urban planners, conservationists, horticulturists,
biologists, arborists, ecologists, health and tourism
professionals, parks and garden helpers, and so on.
Jobs in Safety
Professionals in Occupational Health and Safety, Injury
Management and Return to Work,
Workplace/Occupational Hygiene.
Library Jobs
Librarians, bookshop assistants, research librarians, digital
curation specialists.
Public Libraries Victoria
Network
Library professionals in Victoria.
3.3.3 Traditional print media
Traditional print media are also used for advertising job vacancies by all the participating councils. The
most frequently mentioned paper is The Age, which has 3.2 million readers each month (The Age Media
Kit, 2014). Fifty three per cent of its readership is tertiary-educated. According to the representative
from the City of Stonnington, the council advertises senior positions at the Early General News section
of The Age.
LGs also advertise at community papers, usually local Leader newspapers, to reach active and
passive jobseekers in the local community. Only Stonnington mentioned advertising at mX, the free
afternoon daily paper commonly distributed at train stations in Melbourne CBD. mX’s audience
demographic and reach make it a potential channel for promoting employer brand. As of December
2013, mX’s total audience is 657,000 (mX Media Kit, 2014), most of which are aged 25 to 54, or people
in their working age.

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3.3.4 Careers fairs
Only three of the nine participating councils say they participate in local careers fairs, graduate
information days and universities in attracting talent and promoting themselves as EOCs, but the
councils that use these channels understand the need to target new graduates across a range of
disciplines. Knox City is one of the few that uses these channels; the council even goes further by
attending local high schools’ annual career days, where council representatives actively participate in
mock interview panels. This is one way ‘to encourage students to think about LG as a career pathway’
(Knox). The representative from Stonnington also mentioned the city’s plan to have a ‘greater presence
at careers fairs and university/secondary school careers nights… to better actively promote [our] brand
without it simply being tied to the need to recruit for a position.’
3.3.5 Social media
Social media is yet another underutilised channel for advertising LGs as employers of choice. Only three
out of nine participating councils use social media for this purpose, and only at minimal levels. The
Mornington Peninsula Shire advertises from time to time on LinkedIn and Facebook, depending on the
vacant position. As regards the City of Stonnington, mid-tier roles are often advertised via social media.
The use of social media for staff recruitment is still a work in progress for most councils. However,
as marketing and communications are redefined by the advent and rise of social media, employer
branding strategies also have to adapt to the world of online social networks. Ellis Jones Consulting
(2014), a Melbourne-based management consulting and PR agency, outlined why employers have to use
social media to promote their brand:
… the majority of current and future employees of any sizeable business are using
social media – definitely Facebook and, depending on the industry, potentially
Twitter. Secondly, let’s remember that – at any given time – only 10% of the
population is actively looking for alternative employment. The other 90% has to be
reached indirectly, using the channels and themes of communication they (not you)
use and respond to. Finally, let’s agree that attracting talent – real talent – is not
going to get any easier. Good people are always in demand.
Knox City is considering to use LinkedIn ‘as a way to attract talent – particularly talent that may not be
actively job searching.’ LinkedIn is increasingly becoming the popular online social network for
businesses and professionals. In March 2013, LinkedIn has registered ‘four million users in Australia,
accounting for four out of five professionals in the country’ (Fitzsimmons, 2013). Members post their
resume on LinkedIn, making the platform the ‘modern-day equivalent of a business card’ (Jones, 2013).
The platform allows companies to set up their company pages where members can view information
about the firm, its description, services, number of employees, company logo and feed from the
company blog – essentially, this social media platform is suitable for employer branding.

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3.3.6 Other channels
Interestingly, the City of Whitehorse places its job vacancies mostly only through its e-recruitment
system, available at http://whitehorse.mercury.com.au, which sends emails of relevant job vacancies to
registered users. The HR representative said that owing to the council’s reputation in the sector, they do
not do any targeted marketing of the employer brand. Currently there are over 8000 prospective
candidates registered to the council’s e-recruitment emails.
3.4 Value of EOC branding: the LG perspective
A brand management strategy involves spending an allocated budget for the campaign. The Knox City
Council revealed that the council spends 2% of its HR resources on promoting its employer brand. The
eight other participating councils said they either allot a very minimal, even zero, amount on such
branding, or take advantage of community events, recruitment and various advertising channels to
promote council as EOC without having to spend public funds (See Appendix 2 for detailed responses).
Despite having very limited resources exclusively for employer branding, most participating
councils place high value to being an EOC. Using a rating of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), four out of
nine councils thought being an EOC is of middling to high value (6 to 7), while four believes it is of high
to very high value (8 to 9), and one said it is of absolute highest value (10). Here are the councils’
responses:
Council Value of being an EOC
Brimbank 7
Casey 7
Knox 9
Mooney Valley 7 to 8
Moreland 8
Mornington Peninsula 10
Stonnington 8
Whitehorse 8 to 9
Yarra 6

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3.5.1 Link between sustainable cities and branding of councils as EOCs
As stewards of communities, LG has become increasingly responsible in enabling the productive use of
local resources for the long-term benefit of fostering sustainable cities. A widely accepted definition of
sustainability is to ‘…meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs’ (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).
The participating councils believe there is a strong link between sustainable cities and branding LG
as an Employer of Choice.
Brimbank, Mornington Peninsula, Stonnington, Whitehorse and Yarra mentioned that being an EOC
will help councils attract and retain the right people for the right positions. As a result, there will be
savings in recruitment costs, which can be channelled to other council projects. Also, the employment of
high quality candidates into councils adds to a strong knowledge base, improves productivity, and
allows councils to deliver outstanding services to their communities. Brimbank also mentioned that
staff retention means vital local knowledge is as well retained, which helps in developing effective
programs for the community.
Knox, Moreland and Yarra mentioned that a strong employer brand encourages local residents to
work in their LG. The Knox representative said ‘less travel contributes to a sustainable city’.
Also, Yarra mentioned that EOC branding results in having engaged employees, which then reduces
absenteeism and improves quality of work, thus helping the council achieve its objectives.
Yarra also touched on the benefits of EOC branding in remote areas, as local indigenous populations
will be more encouraged to participate in their LGs.
In general, branding LG as EOC helps in attracting highly talented people to contribute to the
community’s larger future. Casey sums it up: the employees themselves are residents of communities,
and hence want a sustainable city. An employer brand that strongly links to achieving sustainable cities
‘gives employees a real purpose to their role and that is incredibly powerful in creating an engaged
workforce.’
3.5 Perspectives on a sector-wide branding
LG currently represents itself to the general public as individual councils and not as a ‘single employer
with multiple branches’ (LGMA SA, 2006). The participating councils are asked whether they see any
merit in a coordinated sector-wide communications program to promote LG as an employer, and—if
they did—what strategies can be included in such a program.

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Except Moreland and Whitehorse, all of the participating councils believe that a sector-wide
branding approach will be beneficial. The reasons that many of them have mentioned are the following:
 It will change the public image of LG—from an organisation that deals only with ‘roads, rates and
rubbish’ and parking tickets—into an employer that provides a broad spectrum of services to the
community.
 It will help eliminate the stigma on LG as an uninteresting, non-productive and dull workplace,
when in fact LG provides a demanding and challenging work environment.
 It will position LG as a top career option.
The participating councils also suggested some methods that may help in a sector-wide branding
strategy:
 Brimbank: Advertise graduate opportunities across LG through broad channels.
 Casey: Gain a 1:1 funding match from State Government (on the premise that LG delivers many of
the services expected of State Government) and then secure funding from all councils on a pro-rata
basis and run a sophisticated advertising program similar to the Nursing ad campaign5 a few years
ago.
 Mornington Peninsula: Run an ad campaign similar to that of the Australian Defence Forces6, which
was advertised on TV and had successfully painted the Defence Forces as a place of good and steady
employment and one that values its employees.
 Stonnington: [As no two councils are exactly alike], there may be a need for differentiation between
promoting smaller Councils and larger Councils as the workplace culture and diversity of roles can
differ greatly; Commence an advertising campaign utilising various mediums to promote the
industry.
 Yarra: Identify the differences and challenges between regional and metropolitan councils, and
develop actions/programs to best address these; Develop a targeted marketing approach for
specific role types and regions.
5
The ad campaign ‘What kind of nurse will you be?’ reinforces the message that nursing is more varied than ever before
(Department of Health, n.d.).
6
The Australian Defence Forces has various ad campaigns, one of which is the ‘Proud to Belong in the ADF’ campaign, which
aims to involve ‘Australians from all cultural backgrounds’ in order to ‘reflect the diverse society that is Australia today’
(DefenceJobs, n.d.).

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On the other hand, Moreland ‘considered a broader branding campaign [through MAV years ago] but
there was not enough interest across Councils.’ Moreland suggests that councils should instead consider
using digital and social media more effectively.
Whitehorse believes that ‘sector-wide strategies are difficult to promote as the calibre of some of the
smaller and more remote municipalities make it difficult to have one consistent theme for all councils.’

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4 CONCLUSIONS
Employer branding in the LG context means there is little money to spend on sophisticated advertising
programs to promote councils as Employer of Choice. However, the participating councils in
metropolitan Melbourne understand the role of communication in the attainment of the organisation’s
objectives, thus placing high value on promoting themselves as EOC. They believe branding LG as EOC
will provide the following benefits:
 It will change the image of LG—from an organisation that deals only with ‘roads, rates and rubbish’
and parking tickets—into an employer that provides a broad spectrum of services to the
community.
 It will help eliminate the stigma on LG as an uninteresting, non-productive and dull workplace,
when in fact LG provides a demanding and challenging work environment.
 It will help educate the public of the LG’s generous employer value proposition.
 It will help councils attract suitable talent more easily, and save recruitment costs.
 It will position LG as a top career option for the next generation of employees.
There is also a consensus among participating councils that the quality of the workforce adds to the
councils’ knowledge base and productivity, which ensures the delivery of outstanding community
services. In the long-term, a strong employer brand will help attract and retain the best talents, whose
quality of work will help LG foster a sustainable future for its communities.
However, despite the strong link of being an EOC to the development of sustainable cities, the
current communication efforts of councils lack the strategies needed in creating a compelling employer
brand, as gathered from the following indicators:
 Councils’ employer brand is not actively promoted. The advertising of councils’ EVP is mostly tied to
recruitment activities, which generally take place only when there is a need to fill vacancies.
 Digital and social media channels are underutilised. If used appropriately, these channels can
effectively reach out to potential candidates, such as the emerging workforce (young people) as well
as passive jobseekers.
 Universities, high schools and careers fairs are also underutilised channels for promoting LG as
Employer of Choice. As a result, the young people who are expected to replace the ageing workforce
are not aware of how they can practice professional disciplines within the LG.
 Councils’ generous EVP and engaging organisational culture are not effectively reflected in their
employer slogans. Some councils do not even have a slogan to capture their employer brand.

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A few councils lamented the stereotyped perceptions on LG—such as the limited view that councils deal
only with ‘roads, rates and rubbish’, and parking tickets—that leaves the wider public unaware of the
breadth and diversity of careers in the LG sector. As a result, LG as a sector does not make it to the
consideration list of most candidates. This is essentially a result of the lack of communication strategies
to educate the public of what it is about to work in councils.
If LGs are to compete successfully for talented applicants and retain high-performing employees,
they have to more actively promote themselves as an Employer of Choice. In reality, LG can be a very
attractive career option as it already offers benefits that job seekers look for in an employer:
 The top employer offerings that metropolitan Melbourne councils advertise in the careers section of
their websites match at least two of the top five employer offerings that jobseekers look for in an
employer: work-life balance and pleasant work atmosphere.
 In the same manner, the factors that participating councils used to describe their organisational
culture match what job seekers look for in an employer: pleasant working atmosphere (as can be
gathered from the highly engaged workforce of some of the councils) and interesting job content
(due to the emphasis on innovation, diverse professions and making a difference to the community).
 LG offers an inherent advantage as a place-based employer with an organisational culture based on:
o connection (working in the local community),
o contribution (produces a diverse set of high quality services to the community)
o credibility (an organisation focused on public value and community wellbeing).
This differentiation as a place-based employer could be a strong point in brand management, but more
work is yet to be done on this aspect. For instance, none of the surveyed slogans highlight the pride of
being a public servant that interacts with the community on a daily basis. If developed, this message can
potentially be a powerful element of employer branding.
A bold branding approach is necessary in order to maximise LGs’ limited resources. This study found
that the participating councils favour a sector-wide branding program to promote LG as EOC. The
strength of Local Government as an employer is diluted as each council advertises its own opportunities
as they become available instead of showing strength and stature through combining advertising
sources (LGMA SA, 2006). Recommendations on a sector-wide communications campaign to promote
LG as an Employer of Choice are outlined in the next section.

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5 RECOMMENDATIONS
Coordinate a sector-wide communications campaign to promote Local Government
as an Employer of Choice.
There needs to be a coordinated LG-wide communications program to educate the public of the diverse
employment options and generous benefits offered by the sector. Joint communication initiatives ‘will
ensure a presence and create a sense of size, power and strength that is currently absent’ (LGMA South
Australia, 2006). Consider the following suggestions:
 Establish a single public agency that has the authority, skills and focus to manage a sector-wide
branding program for LG as an Employer of Choice.
LG federations such as the LGMA and ACELG may be interested in rolling out this program. MAV,
which started some groundwork on a similar program years ago, may still revive the campaign and
learn from the lessons of the earlier program.
 Combine advertising resources of individual councils instead of spending money on piecemeal and
separate promotion efforts.
 Develop a banner slogan that will define LG as an Employer of Choice.
Make sure that the message highlights the competitive advantages (LGMA SA, 2006) of the LG sector
as follows:
o connection – working in the local community
o contribution – producing high quality services to the community
o credibility – working in an organisation focused on public value and community wellbeing.
 Run a sophisticated advertising campaign that will highlight the diverse career options in the LG
sector and the pride of being a public servant. Use various channels to promote the ad campaign,
including traditional media, social and digital media, community activities, universities, careers
fairs, posters and so on.
A similar successful ad campaign was that of the Defence Forces, which effectively reflected the
diversity of career options and the challenging work in the department.
 Develop a marketing toolkit that:
o identifies the specific messages and campaigns for promoting different occupations in Local
Government
o identifies the unique characteristics of individual councils, and fits in the message within the
umbrella of the broader branding campaign

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o highlights the generous employer value proposition of the sector
o tailors the key messages to different audiences.
 Maximise online social networks in order to appeal to younger demographic, passive jobseekers and
exiting staff.
o In LinkedIn, integrate campaign slogan to the job profiles of existing LG employees.
o CEOs urged to join LinkedIn’s Global Influencers program, which ‘allows influential and
knowledgeable business leaders to publish posts sharing business advice and opinion’
(Robin, 2013), and attracts internal staff and external audience to engage in the discussions.
o Facebook and Twitter can complement campaign to implicitly show to young people the
various careers that they can pursue in LG.
o To be effective, develop a comprehensive social media plan to tailor messages for specific
platforms, purpose and audiences.
 Develop a centralised website for graduate and undergraduate programs in LG. This will require
coordination among HR managers of different councils and, possibly, the development of a
coordinated graduate program.
 Develop a new website where all LG jobs are advertised, and where job ads link to the website of the
council that advertised the position.
Note that the aim of these centralised campaigns is to show strength and stature, but the independence
of individual councils should be maintained. The coordinated communications efforts will be a venue
for councils to share knowledge with one another. However, recruitment of staff will still be determined
by the individual councils’ HR department.
As in any communications campaign, a regular evaluation of the campaign is recommended in order
to capitalise on the identified strengths and improve on the discovered weaknesses.

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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Councils’ Employer Value Proposition
As follows are the employee benefits advertised by metropolitan Melbourne LGs when recruiting talent:
Council
Banyule ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Bayside ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Boroondara ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Brimbank ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Cardinia ✔ ✔ ✔
Casey ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Darebin*
NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Frankston ✔ ✔
Glen Eira ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Greater Dandenong ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Hobsons Bay ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Hume ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Kingston ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Knox ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Manningham ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Maribyrnong ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Maroondah ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Melbourne ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Melton ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Monash*
Moonee Valley ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Moreland ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Mornington Peninsula ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Nillumbik*
Port Phillip ✔ ✔
Stonnington ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Whitehorse ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Whittlesea ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Wyndham ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Yarra ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Yarra Ranges ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
TOTAL 11 13 14 16 5 14 22 11 23 0 18 16

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* These councils’ EVPs are not advertised in the careers section of their respective websites.
Appendix 2: Budget for promoting council as EOC
The participating councils’ response to the question, What percentage of your resources is spent on
promoting council as an EOC:
Council Response
Brimbank At present we fill all vacancies with suitable candidates and attract a large number of applications.
Casey Almost zero
Knox 2%
Mooney Valley No data recorded to measure this.
Moreland Minimal
Mornington
Peninsula
Difficult to answer as we don’t work on a % but what is best for the organisation without spending a great
deal of money -- it is about negotiations with various advertising channels to get good exposure. Being
mindful that it is public purse.
Stonnington Currently Stonnington is promoted via a large range of Council events which are run for the community
and also when we undertake recruitment each week.
Whitehorse Zero
Yarra Currently Yarra City Council does not have an allocated budget for branding Yarra as an employer of
choice.

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