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HR: Building a Strong Employer Brand
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In a competitive and borderless world, organisations need every weapon in their arsenal to attract and retain their most important and valuable asset – talent. Even in economically volatile times, employees, especially those who possess the right technical and behavioral competencies, continue to be a scarce resource and employers will need to poise themselves well to capture the attention, interest and commitment of the best and brightest candidates.

In their quest for a great place to work, candidates are increasingly looking beyond pay and benefits to other factors including career prospects, what the organisation stands for and how the organisation serves its clients, the community and the world. Therefore, an organization’s understanding of its employees and what attracts people to work for the organisation should be as robust as its understanding of its clients and customers.

altThe composition of the workforce today is changing significantly. International mobility of highly skilled workers across borders is on the rise and Generation Y is an ever-increasingly important segment of the labour force as the first wave of Baby Boomers begins to retire. In addition, there is an increased emphasis on knowledge workers. These trends are drawing organisations to the front line for the best and brightest talent and are bringing to light the need for effective employer branding.

Organisations that are not prepared to confront these challenges and fail to understand the need for increased investment in employer branding to enhance talent attraction and retention will almost certainly see their business performance negatively affected in the long term.

Technological advancements have afforded the talent pool greater access to information; candidates can search the web and immediately discover information on an organisation’s value relative to other job opportunities. Employees’ expectations need to be managed so that attrition, especially for competent and experienced talent, can be minimised.

With today’s volatile economic conditions, no organisation can afford to overlook the value of top talent. Organisations have to start from the inside and work their way out, until brand perceptions of all employees to external candidates are in line.

With a strong employer brand, organisations will be able to attract, nurture and retain talented people who are willing to invest their skills and knowledge towards the business objectives. And that is what today’s competitive advantage is all about.

What is Employer Branding?

While employer branding offers a unique opportunity to differentiate from the competition, it also creates meaningful and enduring reasons for employees to remain loyal to their organisation and employer. Employer branding should be viewed as an ongoing process that is at the heart of the employment experience, providing touch points that begin with initial employer brand awareness and continuing throughout the tenure of employment.

Even during extraordinary periods of economic growth or recession, employer branding is crucial as all employees are discerning clients, to be attracted, engaged and retained by organisations and employers. When properly planned and implemented, effective employment brand strategies can deliver high impact and long-term results including:

• Competitive advantage
• Significantly enhanced talent pipeline
• Increased employee engagement levels
• Greater workforce diversity
• Stronger corporate culture
• Stronger PR tool kit
• Increased support for the organisation and brand
• Increased shareholder value

Balancing Employer Branding with Financial Viability

By getting the employer brand right, less money is needed to bring good people into the business. Employer branding is still critical during challenging economic environments. In fact, during tough times such as these, it is more important than ever. Budgets are under pressure and it is now that HR needs to partner with Finance and other functions to demonstrate that it is true to its principles.

altAs HR is traditionally viewed as a cost center, it will increasingly need to justify the return on the investment for employer branding efforts. To overcome this challenge, HR has to partner with other functions and impress upon the organisation the long-term benefits of good employer branding and the significant impact it can have. One way of measuring an employee’s ROI will require HR and Finance to measure effectiveness and performance against the investment of the employer brand.

Employment branding also increases employee satisfaction and morale. Since there is an established connection between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, branding can increase customer service levels and customer satisfaction, both of which have an established economic value.

Employer Branding Value Propositions

Leadership:
Studies show that strong leadership is the single most potent factor in motivating staff and creating a sense of belonging. Poor leadership will impact not only the success of the organisation but the quality of the work environment and, ultimately an employee’s ability to develop and build a career.
Organisation:
This encompasses everything about the firm, including reputation, values, culture and its contributions to the world and community. Employees might be willing to work longer hours or for less compensation for an organisation with stronger corporate values or a better reputation.
Job:
This involves many of the day-to-day aspects of a job. Specific focus on the emotional associations of the job, such as: To what degree is the work interesting, compelling and/or challenging? Can employees grow and find fulfillment in their jobs? Do they have the resources and training to achieve their goals? How much freedom, autonomy, growth and challenge do individuals have in the job required of them?
Rewards:
This includes compensation and benefits as well as intangible features such as career prospects, development opportunities, work-life balance and social contact with co-workers.

Catering to the Internet-savvy Generation Y

Besides buying ads or placing job postings on popular job websites, interacting with potential hires on social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, or Facebook has become increasingly prevalent.

In addition, organisations are posting video clips with branding messages on YouTube or making them available as webcasts or podcasts. For example, Microsoft has a group of employee bloggers who provides a snapshot of people who work at the organisation as well as the professional challenges they confront.

An effective employer branding exercise should ultimately urge people to find out more about your organisation. It must encourage them to visit your website, to ask others about your organisation and to apply for your job.

Employer Branding:

An Integrated Approach
Employer branding involves several cross-functional areas of expertise. In most organisations, the HR function is responsible for employer branding. However, since it includes marketing the workplace, many organisations involve their marketing and communications departments, in order to bring in cross- functional expertise.

altEvery function plays a role in shaping and determining the employee experience. So whereas an employer-branding program can begin in human resources, marketing, communications, recruitment, customer service, or somewhere else, it will ultimately have to extend across functions in order to holistically impact the employee experience and shape culture.

The intersection of brand and talent is in culture, and an organisation’s brand culture determines both employee and customer experiences. An increasing number of organisations involve their senior management as well, as access to human capital has become vital for the organisation’s business success. Leading organisations are also careful to include employees and key target groups in their employer branding efforts. They can thereby improve the workplace in the best way possible and make sure that the message they send out matches the reality as well as the needs and aspirations of the target groups.

In short, employer branding is a long-term, but dynamic process that requires cross-functional collaboration across different departments, a multiplicity of skill-sets and knowledge, dedication to a set of shared organisational goals and values, continuous execution and improvement, and a willingness to change and adapt to different market dynamics, especially amid challenging conditions.
 
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