Identifying the competition is an important starting point for a company trying to decide which attributes it should emphasize at what stage of the recruitment process. Traditional recruiting focuses on functional employment benefits, such as job security; opportunities for creativity and individual growth; and compensation. But an employer's intangible, emotional associations—"it's fun to work at this company," "we have a passionate and intelligent culture," "there is a strong team feeling here"—are just as important to recruits as similar associations with branded consumer goods are to potential buyers. So companies would do well to compare themselves with their peers on both functional and intangible dimensions.

Simple comparisons of data about recruits are useful, but multivariate statistical methods, such as logistic regression promote a more precise understanding of what really matters to recruits. Such tools can highlight the way an employer's strengths and weaknesses stack up against those of competitors at each stage of the recruiting process. The greater the insight, the more the brand-building effort can focus on one or two high-priority recruiting stages.

One company we studied, for example, realized that its brand was particularly bad at convincing recruits that it was "for people like me"—one of the top priorities among targeted recruits early in the recruiting process (Exhibit 2). Once the company identified this weakness, it was addressed in a quite straightforward way through recruiting materials and interactive events. It's too soon to measure the outcome of these efforts, but our experience indicates that programs focusing on specific strengths and weaknesses are more likely to yield positive results than scattered efforts are. (McKinsey, Using branding to attract talent, Registration required, worth it)

In this short article, McKinsey hones in on the simple point that most employers do not really understand their competition when it comes to potential recruits. We've agonized through the process of getting a small percentage of the industry up to speed on a tactical level, but the strategic view remains missing in action. McKinsey relies on the time honored approach of asking obvious questions while using good math to assess the data.

The long and short of it is that Recruiters can learn a lot from smart marketers and vice-versa. (Have you read our Roses in the Thornbush white paper that talks about those opportunities?) The people you think are your competitors may well be your allies.

Don't forget to check out the blogs on bert.

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