The words “employer brand” are today firmly established in the lexicon of HR – perhaps not always fully understood but definitely talked about.
One of the major drivers for interest for many organisations – demonstrated by our own global research and most recently reinforced by a CIPD survey – is recruitment and for many a clear and compelling employer brand is seen as a necessary weapon in winning the war for talent. At Hodes we would not disagree although we would argue that unless a holistic approach is taken to the entire employee lifecycle, you really are only talking about a recruitment brand.
Putting that to one side, the real issue right now is the challenge we all face in extra-ordinarily turbulent economic times. And as recruitment freezes bite, not just in the UK but around the world, do organisations put their employer brand investment on hold – a good idea but only relevant for the good times?
As I’m an employer brand advocate, you won’t be surprised to hear me say no! There are three key reasons why this is precisely the time to be absolutely clear about what your employer reputation is and to be sure that you have a handle on the deal that lies at the heart of any employer brand.
Firstly in tough times it is all about the “flight to quality”. Secondly the most successful employer brands are built inside out. And finally if none of that convinces you, there is no doubt that ignoring your employee deal in tough times only stores up problems for when the recovery comes.
Let me set out the case behind each of these reasons. But let me also take a moment to contextualise “the deal”.
The books on employer branding – including our own, which was published earlier this year – use the expression “employee value proposition”. This can be described as “the unique and compelling attributes that combine to make people join and stay with any organisation”. At Hodes we like to think about this as “the deal” not least because “attributes” can seem lacking in emotion and actually it’s a combination of heart and head that binds employee to employer and vice versa. And this dynamic plays out across the lifecycle of employment with any organisation – and beyond.
Thinking of the deal helps practitioners avoid the branding trap – focusing on the window dressing (the cosmetic elements of communication) rather than concentrating on the more important question of engagement – but more about that in due course.
We first argument for the relevance of employer brands in tough times was based on the “flight to quality”. Tough times brings uncertainty and faced with this our natural reaction is to seek out assurance.
Let’s consider our buying habits right now. Faced with tightening our belts we make trade offs. There are certain brands we hang on to whilst there are other brands we sacrifice, taking a more commoditised approach to the consumption of the particular products they represent.
Our attitudes to employer brands are no different – in fact research has shown that at all levels the choice of employer brand represents a major “purchase” and therefore as consumers we are particularly discerning. This examination is all the more acute in uncertain times. Employment is a “higher risk” purchase and we will choose and stay with brands that we trust – brands we see as quality.
This brings me to the second argument – the law of building employer brands inside out. There are various frameworks of engagement we can draw upon to understand the attributes of our deal. However what is vital to consider is where the point of proof really lies for the employee. Internally the constant is the relationship we have with our immediate boss. Whatever the organisation attempts to do in building overarching processes and policies, the person who has the most influence over how you and I feel each day we are at work is the person who sets out our work agenda and judges our performance against it – our manager.
This is ever more important in a recruitment context where potential employees are more likely to build their view of an organisation based on what they hear from existing employees rather than “official corporate messaging” not least because “the real story” is available in abundance through today’s social networked world.
The need to manage information and communication holistically and consistently has never been more acute than it is right now. Most organisations are facing the classic dilemma that recession presents – keeping vital talent and recruiting to key roles whilst trimming roles surplus to requirements either through reduced hours or ultimately redundancy. At the risk of stating the obvious employees have to be with you on this journey – both those that take your reputation with them as they leave your employ and those that remain dealing with survivor syndrome. Employer reputation management in this environment is not just vital in an immediate sense it is also essential for ensuring the ability to capitalise on a recovering market – my third supporting argument for continuing to advocate your employer brand right now.
Don’t get lulled into a fall sense of security by your turnover figures. Measure your engagement – and ask questions that get to the heart of your deal and how it is playing out. There will be people in your workforce who have never been through times like this before. They don’t know whether all of this is down to the economics of the market or whether the enterprise itself is partly at fault. With less loyalty to the organisation and more to colleagues, as people see their work friends go, the deal is being chipped away – what are you doing to help reinforce their trust in your brand? The answers are not easy but the transparency of effort is a powerful start.
Making the case for employer brand investment has never been easy for HR. The case studies we feature in our forthcoming book all have the advantage of enlightened senior HR leaders who have influence at the top of their respective organisations. They have ensured that their employee deal and their employer reputation are seen as key elements of the people agenda – in good times and bad. In fact they have used employer brand thinking – overtly in some cases and less directly in others as a framework for their people agendas. It’s not been a question of investment; it’s been a case for common sense.
