1. Introduction
I've been working with a number of HR people recently (on creativity and productive thinking), and there seems to be a phrase that's on everyone's lips - Employer Branding. It seems to be the Holy Grail, the flavour of the month, this year's model.
But what is it? What is an Employer Brand? Which companies have successfully reinvented themselves as Employer Brands? How do you build an Employer Brand?
Most views of Employer Branding involve becoming an 'Employer of Choice'. We know the reasons - (relatively) low unemployment, skills shortages in many sectors, severe competition for the best potential recruits. How can your organisation stand out from the crowd?
Well, it might be worth borrowing from Consumer Branding. Think Walkers, Coke, Nike, Orange, Gap, Diesel, easyJet, Nokia, Starbucks. Can we take some of the insights of consumer brand building, and apply them to Employer Branding? I think we can.
2. Insight 1 - First, understand your consumer. Then make it your passion to satisfy them.
Consumer Branding doesn't start with the product, it starts with the consumer. Understanding what he or she does, thinks, buys, feels. Why? Because brands aren't built in boardrooms, or marketing departments, or factories. They're built in the minds of consumers.
'Brand-ness' isn't something you can see, or touch, or taste. It isn't even anything in your company's product or service or advertising -a brand only exists in the mind of its consumers. A brand is an entirely mental and emotional thing - it is the sum total of what people think about you.
As an employer brand, it's the sum total of what 'consumers' (staff, potential staff, ex-staff) think about your organization as a place to work.
3. Insight 2 - Consistency in everything you do. Every time.
Your communications must, must, must be consistent.
It's not just about how you look for recruits - although that's important. It's not just about internal communication - although that's important too. It's certainly not just about the rewards package you offer, or the career development programme you promise - but they're important too.
It's all of that, and more. It's everything you say, the way you say it, and the sincerity and trustworthiness behind it. It's everything you do, the way you do it, and whether what you do matches what you say.
Brands ooze consistency. Do you? Look at your company's advertising, your office environment, your physical presence at recruitment fairs, your internal communications, what the staff say about the company down the pub, and how you treat people when you have to lay them off.
Is what you say and do consistent? Do all your communications look and sound like they come from the same heart, and the same mind?
4. Insight 3 - Brands win hearts and minds.
If you want to create an Employer Brand, think about how people make choices. Few purchasing decisions are taken on a purely rational basis. Emotional drivers are probably more important than rational. Perhaps people 'buy' employer brands in the same way?
Here's a challenge - what is there in your organization that makes people proud to say 'I work here'?
Ask it of yourself. Are YOU proud to say, 'I work here.'? Is your assistant? Your most recent Graduate Recruits? Your Finance Director? The people in the postroom? Your telesales operators? If so, as an Employer Brand you're probably in pretty good shape. If not, what do you need to change to build the brand? Most consumer companies have Brand Managers - but few of them really work on true brands. In the same way, few companies can truly say they are an 'Employer of Choice'?
Can you?
Kenny's company, HeadSurf, helps companies and organisations think more productively and creatively.
