Graduates in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Vietnam are now more aware of, and attracted to, the diverse career opportunities offered by Jardines. They were the target of a recent Jardines Employer Brand campaign – in particular, high-potential graduates eager to lead, explore new boundaries, and bring fresh thinking to the Group businesses as part of the Jardine Executive Trainee Scheme (JETS).
Turning Heads and Changing Minds
The branding initiative aimed to refresh the Jardines brand and highlight the innovative, diverse, and exciting career pathways offered to Jardine Executive Trainees. Relaunched in mid-2018, the programme has had a significant impact, especially in driving up the number of applications for JETS – this increased by more than four times compared to application numbers received in 2016.
Brand awareness and appeal has also improved. At the end of 2018 a customised employer brand attractiveness survey was run by Universum – an employer branding specialist – to see where Jardines stands compared to competitors and if this ranking has improved since 2016.
Singapore registered the biggest upswing, with Jardines rising 35 places from a ranking of 58 in 2016 to 23 in 2018. In Hong Kong, the ranking improved 11 places to 21 in 2018 from 32 in 2016. Students in the United Kingdom are also more aware of Jardines with a ranking of 34 in 2018 compared to 39 in 2016.
Commenting on the campaign, Jardine Matheson Group HR Director John Nolan said, “The launch of the Jardines Employer Brand campaign clearly demonstrates that the more people learn about our story, reach, and impact, the more they want to join us and pursue the opportunities offered by our diverse businesses.”
Outreach Makes a Difference
Social media and digital channels were also used extensively to connect with potential new talent, noted Mr Nolan. A new careers site: careers.jardines.com, featuring testimonials from current trainees, was also created. In addition, pop-up JETS Cafés set up at Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore were visited by more than 1,000 students in a day.
Other related activities included the launch of JETS in China and Vietnam in 2018, as well as an internship initiative in China, which has subsequently been introduced in Hong Kong this year – collectively, close to 3,000 applications have been received for the new internship programmes.
Given the significant rise in JETS application numbers, the Employer Brand campaign has achieved its primary objective. It has also dramatically increased awareness of both the Jardines brand and the exciting career opportunities offered by the Group, among top graduates in the target markets.
