Building your Employer Brand??

Building Your Employer Brand to attract, Engage and Retain Talent

In an increasingly competitive economic and business climate companies must focus their collective efforts on developing their employer brand if they are to attract, engage and retain talent better than their competitors.  No longer should the firm’s employer brand strategy be the sole responsibility of the HR department. A successful employer brand program must be sponsored by the CEO or Managing Director and should demand a high level of visibility in the company’s strategic plan. Employer branding should be viewed from the top as a ‘whole of business strategy’ for the management of people and managers at all levels must be engaged in the process. 

The following four-phase Employer Brand Management process (see figure 1) will assist HR Directors and heads of other strategic business units to develop an employer brand that builds competitive advantage. Executed correctly your employer brand will position your company at the forefront in today’s ‘talent competitive’ market.

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STEP 1 - CONCEPT PHASE

The Concept Phase involves a 360 employer brand audit to determine the strength of your current employer brand and to determine its level of synergy with your corporate brand and business objectives.  Survey tools such as the Minchington/Thorne Employer Brand Global Index™  which benchmarks employer brand activities against world’s best practice can be used in the audit.  Results from employee surveys (e.g. engagement, commitment or satisfaction surveys) and candidate/stakeholder surveys can also be used to gauge the perception of the company’s employer brand amongst internal and external audiences. Existing employee measurement research data and HR data should also be compiled and analysed during this phase.   Research conducted during the concept phase can result in significant savings further along the process continuum.

STEP 2 - DESIGN PHASE

The Design Phase is the process to formulate your employer brand strategy. The following Employer Brand Excellence Framework™ provides a strategic tool to guide your firm’s employer brand program and acts as a platform from which all employer brand actions flow.  The components of the framework include:

(i) Defining your Employer Value Propositions (EVP’s)

Your EVP consists of a set of associations and offerings that characterise an employer and differentiates it from competitors.

Focus groups, online surveys and/or collaboration with your recruitment and advertising partners can be helpful in defining your EVP – their independent views and knowledge of your organisation will be useful.  A good example of this is when the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) required 60 Part-time Quarantine Officers to start in June 2006.  AQIS’s recruiting partner, Select Australasia’s (now Vedior Asia Pacific) strategy was to attract a high volume of applicants that ‘best fit’ the AQIS’s employer value proposition - diverse, female friendly and flexible work patterns.  Various print and television advertisements were designed around this theme.

Select Australasia collaborated with recruitment advertising specialists, Advertising Energy to design an advertising campaign to run in both print and internet media.  The objectives were to attract return to work parents whose lifestyles might suit the part time hours on offer.  The campaign resulted in over 6,000 applications. – an outstanding result that demonstrates the value of clearly defining your EVP.

Once managers have defined the EVP (be patient as this may take time!) the next step is to define your Employer Brand Identity (EBI).

(ii) Defining your EBI
The EBI is made up of two components – the Employer Brand Employee Platform™ and The Employer Brand Strategic Platform™

In collaboration with managers across all strategic business units, the custodians of the employer brand program must determine the objectives, strategies, targets, measures, timeframes and responsible persons for managing the employer brand touchpoints across these platforms.  Adequate resources should be allocated to ensure the plan is achievable.

• Employer Brand Employee Platform™

The Employer Brand Employee Platform™ consists of the employer brand elements that are closest to your employees and impact on the ability of your company to attract, engage and retain employees with the 'right talent/culture' for your organisation. These include

• Recruitment & induction


• Compensation and benefits


• Career development


• Employee research


• Reward and recognition


• Communication systems


• Work environment

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  Employer Brand Strategic Platform™

On completion of the assessment on the Employer Brand Employee Platform™ elements, the next step is to consider the performance of the firm against the Employer Brand Strategic Platform™. These elements include:

• Your firm’s mission, vision & values


• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)


• Leadership


• Corporate reputation and culture


• People management policies and practices


• Performance management


• Innovation

 
(iii) The Corporate brand

All the elements of your brand - the name, logo, tagline, and design - combine to form a message about what it is like to work at your company. The messages become synonymous with your company in the mind of existing and prospective employees. The message articulated by your corporate brand should closely align with those communicated by your employer brand.

(iv) Market forces

An analysis of the eternal environment using a PESTEL analysis should be completed.  The PESTEL analysis will scan the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal environments to identify the key issues that impact on the firm’s employer brand e.g. recent legislative changes in Australia has made it more attractive for workers eligible for retirement to stay in the workforce longer to maximise their superannuation benefits, thus retaining much needed knowledge and experience.

(v) Customers

The most successful brands are built on an intimate knowledge of their customers. In much the same way, successful employer brands are built on an intimate knowledge of employees. The attitudes and actions of employees impact on the promise delivered to customers. Research shows that engaged and satisfied employees deliver higher levels of service to customers, and the expression of customer satisfaction has a motivational effect on employees, inspiring them to voluntarily give even more of themselves for the purpose of increasing customer satisfaction.

(vii) Prospective employees

The attitudes that individuals hold about employers are informed by their 'affective responses' to situations, people or things. Attitudes are affected by their own employment experiences or those of their family, friends, and colleagues. If the employment experience with an employer in a particular industry is a negative one (e.g. call centre), then that may impact on the attractiveness of the industry as a future employment prospect for the candidate. 

(viii) Stakeholders

As part of employer brand research efforts it is recommended that a survey of includes a sample of company stakeholders be undertaken to determine how they perceive your employer brand. Consider how stakeholders perceive your company's work practices. How do they rate the service delivered by your employees? Chances are that if the service level is poor, the employee is likely to be disengaged in their work.

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STEP 3 - INTEGRATION PHASE

The Integration Phase involves communicating and cascading the firms EVP(s) to you internal and external audiences.  The communication must be relevant, consistent and measurable across all communication touchpoints using a variety of communication media and integrated IT recruitment and talent management systems. 

These may include:

• Career website


• Company intranet


• Careers fair brochures


• Company newsletters


• Policy and procedures templates


• Recruitment advertising


• Sponsorship

The recruitment and induction periods are critical times for a new employee.  It is a time when they are forming views of the organisation’s values, leadership, and culture.   Careful consideration should be made during this period to ensure the actions of the organisations and its partners (e.g. recruitment agencies) during recruitment and induction activities are aligned with the EVP’s that the organisation is trying to communicate about “what it is like to work here.”  Failure to do so will result in a disconnect between the candidates expectations and what they actually experience. 

Organisations who do not deliver on the employer brand promise and EVP’s will experience higher turnover of talent and a negative impact on corporate culture. 

Activities which need to be monitored for EVP alignment include:

• the application and screening process, including the functionality and usability of the careers website and the online application process;


• interview (phone and in person) and initial contact with the company;


• hiring manager interview and attitude;


• quality and content of corporate communications material detailing the employment experience


• reference checking process;


• offer/negotiation/rejection process; and


• induction activities including understanding of strategic direction, business objectives, corporate culture, etc (beyond OHS & transactional activities)

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STEP 4 - EVALUATION PHASE

The Evaluation Phase involves measuring the impact of the Employer Brand program against the company’s financial and operational indicators using robust evaluation techniques.

There is no set standard of measurements (or dashboard) that fits every organisation, nor should there be – all organisations are different.  Cost per hire, turn over rates, absenteeism, head count, engagement levels, time to fill, retention rates, time to productivity, total costs of labour to revenue, and candidate satisfaction rates are all examples of metrics that will assist managers to measure their ROI on employer brand programs.  Other less traditional measures include promotion readiness rating, external vs internal hire ratio, quality-hire ratio, performance ratings of newly promoted managers, manager/executive failure rate, cost-per-hire by channel and offer-to-acceptance ratio among candidates by channel

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And some final thoughts

In the increasingly difficult labour market for attracting and retaining talent, organisations need to apply brand management thinking and techniques to this issue of creating meaning and relevance to current and future employees. Employer branding is one such strategy that ensures the organisation is able to attract, engage and retain the building blocks of what is rapidly becoming a firm’s source of greatest competitive advantage – its human capital.

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Should You Put Your Blog on a Diet?

Blog obesity is a growing epidemic. With all the plugins, widgets and modules available, blog owners often allow their blogs to become bloated. It’s not just the aesthetics of your blog that need to be streamlined, some practices of content production can also add to the problem. Isn’t it about time you put your blog on a diet?

NAVIGATION

It is easy to stick every great new plugin and widget on your website. We all want to have the latest ajax tool and a badge for our online activities, but it shouldn’t interfere with the usability of your site. Focus on making it easy for your users to navigate your website’s content and archives, your website shouldn’t be a maze.

We know that everyone belongs to communities that they may want to showcase, and there’s nothing wrong with doing so; just make sure that your readers do not have to hire a private detective to find your most popular stories.

The most important rule of usability is to make it as simple as possible for your users to find what they are searching for. Do not sacrifice this for the latest badge or widget.

Why not get some feedback with a simple poll on your site?

SUPERLATIVES

Using great superlatives is an excellent way of writing the ultimate headlines and content. Do you use superlatives to describe every single article you write? Even the best writers can’t knock out a classic every time.

In moderation, superlatives will draw your reader’s attention and highlight your best posts. If everything you write says it is “fantastic”, the effect will be lost. Use this technique where it will give you the most effective return.

ADVERTS AND AFFILIATES

You may love ads, but your readers don’t. Take a step back from your site, try to see it through your readers’ eyes. Do the ads get in the way? Do they blend in so well with your navigation that you click on them by mistake? No one is saying you can’t have ads, especially if your business model revolves around them, but if the focus of your blog is to build an asset then less can be more.

Choose the right ads and do not try to deceive your users into clicking on them. You will loose their trust and probably never gain it back. Every link doesn’t have to be an affiliate one.

This is probably where most sites can trim off a few pounds.

JUNK POSTS

There are many types of junk posts and fillers, i.e. top 10 list of your favorite social networks for the umpteenth time. We are all busy and have to resort to them from time to time. They serve to let your readers know that you’re alive. But when your blog is more filler than content, you should think about what value you are adding to the web. If the answer to that is none, why are you blogging?

Regular updates maybe be good for for Google, but if the content isn’t interesting to your readers, then you’re wasting your time and theirs. There are many tips on coming up with article ideas on the web. One of the best ways is to mindmap, Problogger have a good mindmapping guide here. Put in the effort and you should be rewarded. Regular junk posts show that you are either unable to write anything good or are just lazy.

BLOG FILTER

There is no denying that publishing your blog posts more frequently will reward you with more traffic. On the other hand, post too much and risk alienating your loyal readers. These readers are the most valuable to you. They leave comments, interact with your website and spread your content around the web.

Too much posting will make it difficult for readers digest all your output. Instead of serving out 20 posts a day, you may find a lesser number with more quality may give you a higher return of investment. Get rid of the noise and focus on content.

LENGTH OF POST

We have been guilty of occasionally writing with word counts closer to a thesis than a blog. Due to time constraints we’ve been writing shorter posts recently. We’ve found since our shift to shorter posts our feed numbers are growing faster and we’re getting roughly the same amount of links back. You don’t always have to say everything at once.

Bulshoy, a content manager over at ShoutWire.com, suggested in our comments that the minimum threshold for a quality post should be at least 500 words. Obviously, every niche is different, but if you are blogging at high wordcounts or very low ones, you may want to experiment with different lengths to weigh up your optimum return.

COMMENT PACKING

It is good practice to respond to your readers, however is every other comment yours? You might need to tone this down if that is the case. Certainly, if all you have to say is “thanks for commenting”, you can wait until you have received a few comments and respond to everyone with one reply. We’ve already read your post, now let us read what others have to say about it.

These are just a few ideas for reducing some of the saturated fats of the blogging world. Can you think of anything other bad practices, or good practices that can turn bad?

Personal Branding Basics

by Dan Schawbel, Personal Branding Expert


The concept of personal branding is revolutionary and has changed our perception of those around us. People, instead of products or corporations are now being regarded as brands, sharing similar characteristics. Both personal and corporate brands have values, identities, personalities, an image and equity. Today, this concept has been adopted by both recruiters and applicants alike, all for the common goal of capturing the best-fit match. The competition in both the job and college marketplace has never been more severe. In order to alleviate this fear and threat, students and professionals have turned to Personal branding. According to a recent survey from Korn Ferry, personal branding accounted for over 11% of getting an executive recruiters attention.

Personal branding describes the process by which individuals and entrepreneurs differentiate themselves and stand out from a crowd by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether professional or personal, and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal. In this way, individuals can enhance their recognition as experts in their field, establish reputation and credibility, advance their careers, and build self-confidence.

The audience in this equation is recruiters, other professionals or members of your network. In order to brand yourself, you must have some form of differentiation, so that your audience can separate you from other applicants vying for the same position.

Your personal brand consists of three elements:

Value Proposition: What do you stand for?
Differentiation: What makes you stand out?
Marketability: What makes you compelling?
Online personal branding (eBranding) focus areas:

YourName.com: Your own domain should be your first focus area because it is a collection or central location of all your work and your branding materials. After purchasing your domain and adding pages, such as your resume and portfolio, you need to communicate the site with your audience by using marketing tactics such as word-of-mouth. Other tactics you may use is viral marketing through direct contact with others through email and phone mediums and by submitting your domain to search engines like Google. If you already have a blog or another website, be sure to advertise your brand domain name on it. Connecting with people in your network is also a smart strategy to drive traffic to a newly created brand domain.

Avatars: These small graphical elements should be a professional picture of you. Avatars are used in a variety of different ways on the internet, but are especially concentrated in social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Second Life and many blog networks. Your Avatar should display your professional photo. Corporations use Avatars to illustrate their logo’s as a form of advertising. Whether you are posting in a blog or sending an email, you want your Personal Brand to represent your true appearance. Avatars have recently been deemed the standard in portrait displays for all of web 2.0 on the internet. After developing one, it can be leverage in almost all social media websites, which is why it’s important that you make one immediately before investing in other parts of your brand.

Social Networks: Today, most of the population is registered in at least one social networking website, whether it is MySpace, Facebook or others. Issues do arise from messages that are posted that have a negative impact on Personal Brands. If you join one of these networks, be sure that you set your privacy controls, use professional pictures and moderate comments and messages. Recruiters view these websites and may turn you away after finding out certain information.

Blogs: A content distribution system, that not only creates a community of people that share similar interests, but acts as its own subscription service, where your words are syndicated through emails or other websites through RSS. Blogging is one of the most remarkable Personal branding channels because the content is personable and direct. When starting a blog, you may register with a host such as Google Blogger or Wordpress. The idea with blogs and your brand is to stand out through taking a niche topic and blogging about it on an ongoing basis. Blogs consist of posts that are either written or in a video format, where you can express your interest and expertise in a given topic. Typically, you should avoid any ideas or visuals that would give your brand a bad reputation. Photos and video’s should be used to re-emphasize your points, as well as links to other blogs that directly connect with your topic. Be sure to comment on other blogs, as that creates a network, where you will get more visitors and more people writing on your topic.

Podcasts: Video content is especially useful for your brand if you have a vivacious personality in front of the camera. In the future, resumes may be formatted into multimedia, where individuals will have to pitch their core message in 30 seconds and forward it to a recruiter. Podcasting is useful because it highlights your overall brand, in the form of dynamic content.

Forums: Discussion forums give you the ability to learn from others, display your brand through an avatar and for self-promotion purposes. By participating in forums, especially ones involving recruitment, you are able to connect with others who share your interests or recruiters that may have open positions.

LinkedIn: A networking website that allows you to connect with previous coworkers, schoolmates or new acquaintances. Your resume should be visible, including recommendations and a core message summary. Your network is your most powerful tool to excel in your career, so make sure that as you meet new people you connect with them through this site.

Never compromise a Brand....

Brands - be it employer or consumer - should stand for ...well, something! I do not believe businesses that compromise, build strong brands..

- Never compromise on talent to fill a role. Demand the best - seek out the very best.
- Never compromise to appease people, or to get a consensus. Collarboration and listening is not the same as compromising...compromise a decision and it will never fully succeed.
- Never compromise on values. Think about the word...if you compromise on value you automatically devalue or dilute the offering.
- Never compromise on quality, service or safety. Your product/service can only demand a premium if it delivers reliability, and an experience that excites the consumer.
- Never compromise on long term growth for short term gain.
- Never compromise on leadership skills. Pay people well for specialist skills, only promote on people/thinking skills.
- Never compromise on searching for the dreams inside the people, never compromise your personal mission of delivering those dreams. If the dreams are not matching the organisation...don't compromise, just say goodbye...

Poor interviewers driving away talent

Many organizations are fatally undermining their recruitment and retention efforts because inept or downright rude interviewers are making a negative first impression with job seekers.


Two-thirds of job seekers report that the behavior of interviewers influences their decision to accept a position, according to a study released by consulting firm Development Dimensions International (DDI) and Monster.com.

Based on a survey of almost 6,000 staffing directors, hiring managers and job seekers, the study reveals that despite the fact that companies are increasingly desperate for talent, many are becoming their own worst obstacles when interviewing qualified candidates.

"An interview can quickly escalate from being a 'meeting of the minds' to a 'clash of personalities' if both parties are not prepared and respectful of one another," said DDI's Scott Erker.

"Interviewers sit inches from the candidate, but there's a wide gap between what they think candidates are looking for and what would actually motivate interviewees to become employees."

Among the sort of behaviors that adversely affect job seekers' willingness to work at a company are interviewers who are aloof and act as if they have no time to talk, withholding information about a position, turning interview into cross-examination, interviewers showing up late or appearing unprepared and asking questions unrelated to job skills.

"The interview is not only a crucial assessment touch point in the recruiting process - it's an important marketing and branding opportunity," said Monster's Neal Bruce.

"Amid today's war for talent, successful interviewers will quickly determine the marketing messages that resonate with each individual candidate and reinforce those messages."

To make matters worse, hiring managers too often struggle to identify what job seekers want in a new job and misunderstand the elements that are most important to potential employees.

For example, while two-thirds of job seekers say that working in a compatible team is a significant factor in their job hunt, only around a third of hiring managers attach the same importance to this.

Similarly, three-quarters of job seekers view having a good line manager and working for an organization they can be proud as among the most important things they look for in a new job – but both factors are underrated by employers.

Another gap exists between employees and employers in assessing whether job seekers misrepresent themselves when interviewing for a position. Although almost six out of 10 hiring managers say job seekers misrepresent their experience on a resume or during the interview, only five percent of potential employees admit to doing so.

Lest employers think that mishandling the interview process doesn't matter, the study also highlights just how cavalier today's job seekers are about staying with an organization.

Not only did half of those surveyed say that they have had between two and three jobs over the last five years, but almost a third have been in their current job for less than six months but are already in the market for a new one.

"Employers often don't know what motivates their employees to accept jobs or what drives them to look for a new one and leave," Scott Erker said. "The war for talent hinges on employers closing the gap between their perceptions and employee realities."

Culture and reputation count more than money in war for talent

A company's reputation and its workplace culture are more important than pay and benefits when it comes to attracting top talent, new research has suggested.

An international survey of more than 500 HR executives by global talent management firm, Bernard Hodes, has found that the quality or reputation of products and services, the corporate culture and the work environment were a business's most important attributes when it came to bringing talent aboard.

Ethical reputation also scored highly. But benefits and compensation were, perhaps surprisingly, bottom of the list.

The research also concluded that four out of 10 employers did not have a formal programme in place to position and promote their employer brand to new recruits and top talent.

Just a quarter of those polled felt their organisation had the tools and capability to measure their employer brand in terms of recruitment and retention.

Even fewer - only one in eight - indicated that the value of their employer brand was calibrated by their overall company performance.

One possible reason for this discrepancy, argued Bernard Hodes, was that employer brand programmes have traditionally been notoriously hard to justify to the bottom-line.

Nevertheless, just over one third of those polled who worked for organisations that did not have an employer brand programme in place said there were plans to formalise existing ad hoc branding efforts.

And two thirds (66 per cent) said they hoped to have a programme in place within the next five years.

The advantages of an building employer brand were also clearly recognised, with 81 per cent saying it made it easier to attract candidates, 79 per cent feeling it made them more of an employer of choice and nearly two thirds (63 per cent) believing it improved retention.

Organisations that fail to recognise the power of the concept are limited in their ability to attract and retain the new generation of talent, the survey warned.

Surprisingly, a quarter of employer brand initiatives were managed outside the HR function, the poll found.

Other departments that took a lead included the Board and marketing, it emerged.

Encouragingly, just over half of those polled said there had to be an internal as well as an external component to their brand as an employer if it was to be maintained and to be successful.

Helen Rosethorn, chief executive of Bernard Hodes, said: "Employees are increasingly asking some tough questions of their employers. These days people think about the implications of aligning their own long-term career reputation with the brand of a particular organisation.

"The brand of an organisation as a good employer plays an essential role in attracting and retaining a new generation of employee talent, and allowing them to align their interests and aspirations with those of the organisation,".

Employment Branding Tips

What impressions do candidates have of your company as an employer? Are they vague or misleading? If so, it's time to create an Employer Brand. Read on for suggestions!

Dos and Dont's
Can you delete electronic resumes received from unqualified applicants?

(Answer provided at the end of the newsletter.)


Candidates Shop Employers!
Prospective employees are increasingly behaving like consumers when selecting an employer. Candidates research, compare, and shop prospective employers via the Internet in their search for employment. Knowledge has made them very savvy consumers/candidates.

What do candidates learn about your company on the web? Do you have a compelling message in the employment marketplace?

A positive employer brand differentiates you from your competition. It captures the essence of your company in a way that engages prospective employees. Your employer brand answers the question – “Why should I work here?”

To create your employer brand, take the following three (3) steps:
Construct - Analyze current perceptions of your target audience.

Experience - Align policies and practices with your corporate values.

Communicate - Tell your story clearly and consistently.

(Adapted from “Employment Branding,” Chris Johnson, Shaker.com. and “Employment Brand: Promise Only What Can Be Delivered,” Theresa Minton-Eversole, SHRM)



What Makes Your Company So Special?
Nearly half of all American workers (49%) indicate their company’s employer brand or image played a key role in their decision to apply at their respective workplace according to a 2001 Maritz Poll.

To attract top performers, your employer brand or message should answer these tough questions:

What makes your organization so special?


Why would anyone want to give up another job for the one you are offering?


What are you prepared to offer candidates in exchange for their services?


Does your company's website provide answers to these imperative questions? The “Careers” section of your website is an ideal place for candidates to find positive, compelling information about your company, its mission, its culture, and most importantly, available job openings!

(Ann Clifford, President, Safari Solutions)


BrandoHR Interview Tip
Try this question to learn what prospective employees value at work - “If you could wave a magic wand, what would your ideal opportunity look like?” Candidates should light up like a Christmas tree as they share what brings them joy!


Did You Know
The three (3) biggest job posting turnoffs to passive candidates are:

Unclear job titles
No salary information
Insufficient company information
BrandoHR Quiz
What was the single best source of New Hires in 2005?
A. General Job Boards
B. Employee Referrals
C. Organization’s Web Site

THE ANSWER?

Organization’s Web Site!
A study of hiring practices at more than 70 leading U.S companies shows that over 50% of new hires in 2005 were found through Internet sources.

This study, conducted by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton for the nonprofit consortium DirectEmployers Association also reveals that an organization’s web site was the single best source of new hires in 2005.

Employee referrals were the next best resource, followed by general job boards.