Hays unveils branding

28-October-2009 | By DeeDee Doke

Hays has unveiled a major company transformation programme aimed at securing the specialist recruiter’s place in the league of top quality brands, such as professional services firm Accenture, BMW cars and Ritz-Carlton hotels.

From a new corporate identity to a new training programme for consultants, the transformation is intended to assert Hays’ claim on recruitment market leadership.

A Hays statement said: “We are at the start of a journey aiming at aligning every part of Hays behind this goal. We have clarified what we stand for as a market-leading brand; we are rolling out a new identity; improving the service we offer clients and candidates to offer even greater levels of insight, expertise and consultancy; and updating our IT systems to improve responsiveness, insight, quality and customer care.”

Hays is not defining “market leadership” by size, but by three other measures, group marketing director Sholto Douglas-Home told Recruiter: in terms of leading the market “by us providing the basis by which others are judged”, profitability by “relentlessly growing marketshare” and by status as a premium brand. The last of the three, he said, “allows us to defend our fees and commissions. A BMW costs what it costs. We want to be respected for our expertise, and our fees should not be seen as a cost to be reduced.”

The change programme was initiated last year at the direction of chief executive Alistair Cox to take the company from being “a profitable, successful business to a powerful global brand”, Douglas-Home said.

The visual part of the transformation incorporates new corporate identity elements such as brand positioning (‘Powering the world of work’) and a new company strapline (‘Recruiting experts worldwide’). A new ‘H’ logo has been created to reflect all of the specialist recruitment services Hays offers in its visual brand identity.

However, Douglas-Home added: “This is not just about making the logos look pretty; the PLC has made a real commitment to become brand led.”