Case Study: Marathon Oil
Building an employer brand from the inside out
Marathon Oil recognized that to attract and retain the right talent it needed the right employee brand.
1
% increase in female professionals in the workforce
0
Increase in open job applications
0
Improved retention of critical talent
01.
The Brief
With a new leader, transformative new business strategy, and a need for new employees in a competitive market, Marathon Oil, a global independent energy company based in Houston, Texas, wanted a partner to help build and execute an employer brand strategy.
They understood that employer branding connects every aspect of a role to the organization’s values, policies, and ethical standards and most importantly, it does this naturally. They also realized that the same rigor applies to people management as it does to customer management.
Their objectives were clear: help Marathon become a recognizable brand to prospective hires and offer clear and compelling reasons why talented people should join and stay with them while bolstering the culture and building trust among current employees.
“When an organization embarks on a transformational journey, the people they choose to work with on that path are an essential part of the success of the efforts. Hundred Brands has been a unique partnership for Marathon Oil.”
Deanna Jones
Senior Vice President Marathon Oil
02.
The Approach
Hundred was brought in to help develop an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) — a clear definition of what makes a company’s culture, values and ambitions unique to employees — and a campaign to share this brand vision both internally and externally.
The team recognized that digging deep to discover what values and character traits made Marathon unique, and finding authentic ways to tell these stories, would address objectives in ways that would resonate with both internal and external audiences. The Employee Value Proposition had to start with that almost existential question: why would the people we need want to join, do their best work here, and stay?
Decoding patterns that emerged from in-depth interviews with dozens of employees within the organization, and some facilitated leader introspection sessions, produced clear themes which formed the heart of the Employee Value Proposition. Some of the most interesting discoveries were in what non-financial and non-traditional aspects current employees highlighted as being important to them.
Once the Employee Value Proposition was defined and delivered, there were several activities that took place as part of an internal awareness campaign. These included:
- Revamping the careers section of the corporate website
- Developing new recruiter and candidate materials focused on values
- Using authentic employee stories
- Increasing networking and peer-mentoring opportunities to cultivate a culture where talented, diverse women could connect with and support each other
- Recommending training programs specifically for female leaders to accelerate Board access and opportunities
Source: https://www.marathonoil.com/sustainability/metrics/workforce-metrics/
03.
The Results
The new Marathon Oil brand:
The new Marathon Oil brand delivered
