We are glad to notice that the topic of employer branding becomes a subject of more and more publications and books. Moreover, the thought leaders, CEO and top managers are putting more attention to it, treating employer branding as a purely business process, that not only HR and recruitment teams are responsible for.
Let’s dive into EBnavi selection of quotes from the best selling authors, thought leaders and top employers, which will allow us to understand the essence and the importance of employer branding.
“A word is a word, and a picture is worth a thousand… but a brand is worth a million.” Tony Hsieh, Zappos
At the beginning, it is important to understand, how complex employer branding in fact is. Quantified by Employer Branding Institute research, it is based on 250 processes within the organisation!
“ Branding is an emotional connection, make it a priority.” – Beth Rudai Senior HR Manager, TD Bank
We are huge fans of data-based approach to employer branding. Yet, we are also aware how much of emotional connection it involves! Make your candidates and employees love your brand, the outcomes will exceed your expectations.
“Becoming a better place to work is not easy.” L. Branham & M. Hirschfeld
We know it’s not 😉 Helping companies to become better employers and treat their people right for around a decade, we have seen many amazing and many not so awesome practices. However, working on it continuously and consequently becoming a happy workplace is incredibly beneficial, on each area of work and business.
“ If the reputation of a company’s products and services is its face, the talent brand is its heart and soul” Hank Stringer & Rusty Rueff
There is a powerful link between a talent brand and a consumer brand. Premium Employer Brand has proven the mutual influence of them. Treating those two types of brand separately means losing the potential of both, as your client and your candidate… might be the same person!
“For an organization to recruit effectively, its brand needs to be known and understood.” Edward E. Lawler III & Christopher G. Worley
There is no question about the employer brand has significant impact on hiring people. It reduces the cost and time of sourcing talents, and helps attract the best ones to your organisations. It is worth understanding and investing in.
“An employer brand is an intangible. However, many tangible practices and behaviors contribute to it.” Edward E. Lawler
The employer branding is practically as set of processes, it starts with the very first contact of a potential candidate with your brand and flows continuously through every step of so called Talent Journey. It includes the data behind the recruitment and selection process, keeping the talent happy, engaged and loyal to your organisation, and also reflects in how willingly your employees recommend working at your company to others.
“The heart of building a market-focused culture is to create an employment brand that is consistent with the customer brand.” H. Rao & R. Dewar
This consistency can be achieved only though a cooperation of HR, marketing and other teams.
“Every brand evolves over time. Keep your messaging fresh and new. Each year, HR should plan and carry out repackaging and messaging to keep the message exciting and fun.” Libby Sartain
Constructing the strong employer brand that lasts is the long-term process. I needs to be fresh, appealing and well designed for the specific target groups, candidates and employees.
“Successful internal branding must involve all constituencies. Involve marketing, public relations, advertising, corporate communications, talent acquisition, learning and development, compensation and benefits, facilities, and any other group that delivers products, experiences, or amenities to employees.” Libby Sartain
When employer branding appeared on the market, it used to be mainly a domain of HR teams. Today we know it requires much more competencies than recruitment only. The joint forces of company’s management, marketing, PR, communications and HR are the recipe for success.
“Simply developing a catchy PR campaign is not enough to make an effective employer brand.” Anne M. Bogardus
Make sure it is great to work for you inside, before you start communicating it outside. The great PR campaigns are cool, but if they don’t reflect the truth inside of your company, the outcomes might be even disastrous. The research and internal data analysis can help you, first of all understand how the situation really looks like, improve the flaws, and highlight the right advantages.
“Efficient employer branding requires innovative methods of personnel market research to control and target the employer attractiveness.” Stephan Erlenkaemper Christian von Thaden
As we already mentioned, there is a lot of data behind the employer brand, and the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods are necessary to run at the very fist stage of your employer branding strategy.
“Employees seek to work for organizations just as customers seek to do business with them: when they feel that the organization offers what they desire.” Edward E. Lawler III & Christopher G. Worley
Define who you are, as an organisation, in order to communicate your message consistently and effectively. Allow the right talents find your employer brand, just as your customers can find your products.
“In addition to discouraging bad applicants, having a strong brand can serve to attract individuals who otherwise wouldn’t apply for the job.” Edward E. Lawler III & Christopher G. Worley
9 out of 10 candidates who apply for the job, research their future employer online. Make sure you manage and communicate your employer brand with the right messages, in the right channels.
“If their employer brand is boring and unattractive, so too will be their talent and performance.” Edward E. Lawler
Keeping your employees excited about what they are doing, about the mission, vision, products and services of the company, brings certain energy to their performance.
“Every organization is known for certain things when it comes to how it treats its employees. This “employer brand” is a key part of what attracts talent to a company.” Edward E. Lawler
What is your company known for, as an employer? If you are unsure of the answer, ask your teams.
“Employees who are thought leaders outside the company improve the company brand and the employee’s own personal brand.” Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha
Personal brands of your employees, especially the leaders, can positively affect the employer brand of the entire company.
“By sharing a common belief system, Zappos employees become the unified brand to the world.” Tony Hsieh, Zappos
The main point in this quote is the common perception of the brand. It has to include all the employees and the entire company ecosystem.
“You can let all of your employees be your brand ambassadors, not just the marketing or PR department. And they can be brand ambassadors both inside and outside the office.” Tony Hsieh, Zappos
The employer brand message are spread into the world through each single employee, candidate and even a customer.
“Our new brand sends a 360 degree message. It starts with our employee audience and extends to everyone we work with and work for” Carly Fiorina, HP
Approaching employer branding as a 360 degree process means being aware how important is it for the overall company’s performance.
“I spoke of employees as the company’s primary assets. I said that if P&G served more consumers better, if it innovated with its brands and products, its business models and work systems, and if we worked together more productively, then the company would grow and prosper and continue to be a preferred place of employment.” A. G. Lafley
We loved that quote, employees should be treated as company’s primary assets. Once they are, they will take care of the rest of the business.
“In today’s transparent job market, employment brand and employee engagement have become synonymous.” Josh Bersin
Precisely, the strong employer brand can really impact employee engagement in your company, the higher it is, the better company’s performance.
“Capturing the employment value proposition in a memorable employment brand that states simply what makes your organization a great choice.” Rob Silzer and Ben E. Dowell
Make your employees and your candidates understand who you are, so they can decide if you are the best match for them.
“Your Culture Is Your Brand” Tony Hsieh, Zappos
Simple as that. The employer brand is very closely related to the company’s culture. The culture is crucial to employee happiness and performance.
“Employers now need to know and understand what is important to today’s workforces and reflect that in their employment value proposition.” Rob Silzer and Ben E. Dowell
Employment Value Proposition (EVP) construction process is not easy, it often requires a lot of data analysis, yet its first rule remains simple: first of all, it should be authentic.
“an employee survey can be conducted to find out whether current employees perceive the organization the way the brand portrays it.” Anne M. Bogardus
We wouldn’t be ourselves, if we didn’t include the topic of a research. Keep your employer brand data-driven. Regular employee surveys will help you monitor your employer brand perception among the employees and the candidates.
“Employer branding is one fruitful avenue for organizations to establish the value they offer employees and to differentiate themselves from competing firms” Crystal M. Harold & Kevin P. Nolan
The top employers are aware that the pool of top talents today is highly competitive, and the outstanding employer brands are the ones who are going to win it.
“… make sure it delivers what it promises. If it doesn’t, new employees will quickly become disengaged and leave.” L. Branham & M. Hirschfeld
The last but not least, in the end you need to ensure that your employer brand delivers its promises. There is nothing employees are more allergic to than a big words with no actions behind it.
Feeling inspired? Share your feedback with us: hello@ebnavi.com 🙂
author: Martyna Karpiuk, Product Specialist at EBnavi
