‘Employer brand’ – what is it? and why and how to take control of it
Every company has an ‘employer brand’ and, especially with the talent market as competitive as it is currently, that brand can make a huge difference to the quality of candidate a company can attract and retain, the amount it needs to pay and how quickly it can fill roles. So, what is an employer brand and how do you take control of yours?
What is an ‘employer brand’? and how is it different to the ‘employee value proposition’
The employer brand is the overall perception of what an organisation is like to work for – a combination of the company’s reputation as an employer and the employee value proposition.
Typically, individuals will focus on the elements (good and bad) of the employer brand that differentiate that company from other employers – for example a company may have a reputation for paying top dollar but being especially results oriented; or for being innovative in developing new insurance solutions but lacking career options for support personnel such as finance, marketing or HR; or for expecting long hours but with a very supportive culture, a leading commitment to sustainability and excellent career development opportunities.
Because the hard and soft benefits of an employee value proposition (EVP) are written down and communicated publicly, for example in job adverts, the EVP will typically be one of the major factors that shape an employer’s reputation in the marketplace. However, there will often be gaps between what a company promises in its EVP, what it delivers in reality and what individuals perceive it delivers. These differences also contribute to the company’s reputation as an employer.
While the EVP is a major contributor to employer brand, there will be dozens of other factors that influence what a company is like to work for ranging from the cultural and physical office environment through leadership approaches and beyond. The result is that ‘employer brand’ is an ever-shifting melting pot of factors which will influence each individual to a different degree and in a different way.
How do people develop an impression of an employer brand?
Existing staff will have a nuanced understanding of what it is like to work for their employer even though it may be at odds with the vision the employer has of its own employer brand,
For prospective employees their impressions of what it would be like to work for that company will come from the marketing and branding conducted by the company, third party insights into the employer (from current or former employees, others in the industry, suppliers, clients, media and social media etc), recruitment consultants and, of course, impressions from the recruitment process itself.
Taking control of your employer brand
Given the variety of factors that can impact an employer brand and the number of influencers which shape a company’s reputation as a good or bad place to work, when trying to proactively manage employer brand it is important that the vision and implementation mirror the company’s values, people strategy and policies as well as being linked to the company brand. Here is a simple approach to taking control of your employer brand:
Step 1: decide what you want to be known for as an employer (your desired employer brand) – the employee value proposition is a good starting point for creating a vision for the company’s employer brand as it is generally already defined and outlines the transactional offer between employer and employee. However, employer brand goes beyond the transactional relationship employees have with a business and so companies need to articulate the employment experience they aim to nurture while ensuring this is aligned with the company values, brand and other policies. In order to differentiate the company from competitors it is it is worth identifying a handful of areas where the company intends to excel relative to the competition e.g. training, social purpose or technical excellence. It is the areas where the company excels or falls short that will typically determine the calibre of employee it is able to attract and retain.
Step 2: understand how the business is currently perceived (your current employer brand) – typically this is a straight forward data collection exercise. Speak with external recruitment consultants and ask for brutally honest feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your employer brand and how it compares with your competitors. As mentioned above current and former employees will be influential in shaping the employer brand so review entry and exit interview feedback as well as looking at employee satisfaction surveys. Ask customers and suppliers to describe how they perceive your company as an employer and why they would or wouldn’t recommend your business as an employer to their friends or colleagues. By understanding the varying perspectives of different influencers that shape your employer brand it is then possible to try to shift the perceptions that carry most influence with the people you are looking to attract and retain.
Step 3: identify and bridge the gaps – before addressing the gaps between current perceptions (irrespective of whether they are fair or not) and the desired employer brand the company needs to map where those gaps are, understand why the gaps exist and put in place strategies and plans that will help to bridge them. This stage can highlight how the vision for the employer brand is misaligned with the company values, brand and/or policies resulting in a need for wider change in the business.
Step 4: proactively change perceptions – so long as the company doesn’t have a track record of crying wolf, it is possible to start to change its employer brand very quickly by communicating internally and externally the sort of employer the company is trying to become and how it will deliver this experience. Ensuring there is a plan with timeframes and actions to reinforce the commitment to the new employer brand and reinforcing this with case studies as the culture changes will accelerate the speed with which perceptions of the company as an employer will change.
Step 5: ongoing employer brand perception monitoring and strategy refinement: as is true of any element of a brand’s reputation, employer brands evolve constantly. In order to ensure the company maintains control of the brand, it needs to make someone accountable for regularly monitoring its reputation as a place to work and nurturing it. Without this accountability a valuable strategic tool is being largely left to chance.
