The Employer Brand Proposition - There yet?

For those late to the party, those two words up there might affect you in more ways than you know. Ah, not the 'There yet"....the other two.."Employer Brand". :) You are/need to be super involved - As an employer, as a job seeker & even as  a service provider to either of the two. Seemingly innocent, these two words could easily get lost among any other new age management jargon you could think of. But let me pick them out, set them separately on the table for you, while we learn why/how they're important to you today.

 So what is Employer Branding all about? Is it a new fad?:

Gone are the days when all that was spoken about company descriptions belonged in the 'About Us' section of a job description or just on the company website under 'Vision, Mission, Values, etcetera..' Job/career seekers seek more now. And this does not just refer just to the salaries on offer.

Organizations now understand that just like with other premium investments close to their hearts like expansion, sales & marketing, they also have to 'sell' to prospective employees in this day & age of the enlightened job seeker & the expectant employee. Talent is shrinking with the advent of hordes of entrepreneurs & businesses who hire everyday by dipping into the same pool. And since many of these companies are doing their fair bit in being 'Great Places to Work', sharing with the world - their culture, perks, flexi-work options, work life balance, & other interesting practices to keep their employees happy, others have to follow suit. Big brands, fat paychecks, now aren't the only tick marks on the checklist. I was talking to someone the other day who recently quit a high paying job with a bank to work with a startup who just 'had the thing nailed down to an art', basically shrugging off the shackles, & asking for more than humane conditions to work. Just like putting in efforts to attract+retain customers, companies now have to roll out a red carpet approach to prospective / current employees too. 

What is an Employer Brand?:

In layman terms, it is an employer's resumé for the applicant's review! And for employees already within the system, it is a company's scorecard, continually being assessed & adjudged by employees, just like employees are appraised regularly by their employers.

A walk-through of the indispensable merits employer branding brings to the table is a real eye opener. It shows that it attracts/retains talent with factors above & beyond salaries & HR benefits, & is much deeper than that, having a positive retaining/productive impact over very, many other areas in people strategy at work., & yes, it is a thesis of what the company has on offer as compared to a two line 'About Us' on their website or in a job description, why people choose to work with who they choose to work with.

Here to stay, Not a fad:

When Jack Welch made Six Sigma a fundamental part of G.E's functioning almost 2 decades ago, I'm sure he had the vision to see that it was indispensable  & not just a fashion statement/experiment. With the continuously evolving workforce, emigrating global cultures, unorthodox hiring practices, advent of millennials who look beyond just money - there is a sea change that is gearing towards age old HR/management practices. And no amount of trying to make Noah's ark to preserve the old will do any good. You need to surf the waves! And how. It needs to be made into a way of life, just like crash diets don't work.

No, thanks, we're good:

You think you're able to attract talent easily, & don't need this? Think again. As a company, you put thought, R & D, & whatnot into your products/services right? After sales, you even take the pain to keep customer service on their toes which deals with aggravated customers, gives them resolutions until they are 'happy customers' who will buy again/continue to buy from you. So even if you're able to attract talent, is that talent staying with you? Is your employer brand delivering on its promise? The employer brand proposition also needs ambassadors & executors, right from the CEO to the Manager. Employees join on a great brand promise, but leave due to poor/incapable managers. But you know that.

If I recently parted ways with a brand, having made a purchase that totally failed to deliver on it's promise, & was a bad judgement on my part, it reflects poor/exaggerated/vague/insufficient marketing/advertising on their part & they've lost a customer for life. The same applies to a company/employer brand. Are you sure you don't want to take the opportunity to communicate your brand value & might I add, keep delivering on that promise. Don't promise them Harleys & Gold bars if all you've got is a stocked pantry & a couch. :)

The changing talent acquisition curve:

The talent acquisition curve has been stuck on broken recruiting practices, with the managerial pool only executing the bare minimum laid out calculatedly by top management. But as markets get meaner, workforces (want to be) leaner, recruiting faux pas' a no brainer, hiring with the same mediocre propositions will stop getting you incredible talent.  A consciously maintained, healthy employer brand which is high on delivering on its brand promise, is the most effective talent attraction tool. It will get you the real rock stars who will define your company's success, other than retaining the high performers. In essence, reducing/eliminating the lead time taken in attracting/ getting prospects on board as they need no hand-holding & can self-induct by envisioning/scripting their role in the organization more clearly, the employer brand proposition is the secret sauce companies have been looking for.

Keep tuned in for my next post which will discuss:

1. The employer brand experience - Go big or go home
2. Employer brand offerings V/S expectations.
3. Success Stories

I would love to hear from you, just what exactly your experience of your employer's brand was pre joining & after. This could be talking about wins & fails both. Until then!