Employer Branding: More than a convincing paint coat – from recruiting to branding
The term “employer branding” first appeared in an article in the Journal of Brand Management in 1996. Today, in times of skills shortages and multi-crises, its relevance has never been greater. Finding and retaining the best and most suitable talent for your organization can be a key competitive advantage and essential for business success. In the Global Talent Trends Study 2022, four out of five executives believe that HR and business issues have never been more closely linked. We are now in an employee-centric labor market, which is a game changer compared to 1996.
As in marketing, the challenge is to optimize the customer or candidate journey. The entire process must be goal-oriented and “SMART”. More and more providers are emerging with the best software and consulting offers to make the recruiting process faster, more efficient, and more successful. If you look at the recruitment funnel, you will notice that these offers focus primarily on lead generation, the middle part of the funnel. They try to convince talent with endless promises. But how can a company attract attention in the jungle of generic messages? What makes it unique and leads to motivation and retention?
Shape and manage the beginning and end of the recruiting funnel.
This is exactly where we at Heads come in with our approach to employer brand analysis. We find the inner beauty of companies and shine a light on it. That’s what drives us. With Heads Brand ProfilingTM we capture the uniqueness and relevance of a brand in a structured process that has been tried and tested over many years. We find out where the impact and motivation of the employees lie, and what values and attitudes define a company. We are on the trail of authentic, relevant and differentiating messages.
For our client, the Comet Group, we have found a focus that sets them apart on an emotional level in the highly competitive global technology market. The promise “We are curious. Are you?” emphasizes a key success factor is emphasized: the mindset of the employees. The global employer branding campaign raises awareness among suitable talents and shows that it pays off not to be there for everyone.
Attraction from within as an effective lever
According to a LINK survey (August 2022), one in four people in Switzerland seriously considers changing jobs. To avoid losing hard-won new employees, it makes sense to think about what an employer needs to build up sustainable preferences. Recommendations from satisfied employees are one of the most powerful recruiting levers. And clarity of attitude and values has been shown to have a significant influence on employee engagement and satisfaction. An emotional connection between a organisation and its employees has been shown to have a positive impact on loyalty, intrinsic motivation, and thus productivity, according to the Gallup Engagement Index. One of the greatest and often neglected sources of energy for a strong employer brand is therefore the power of attraction from within: Identity and Culture.
The new rules of the game
Today, companies must compete for talent – not the other way around. In this change of perspective, companies have failed to look at themselves. They offer the perfect working environment and outdo each in terms of flexibility and benefits. When people talk about “employer branding,” what they really mean is “recruitment marketing.” What is overlooked is to talk about the independent identity as an employer. It is one of the different roles of a brand and should therefore be considered and managed holistically. Often, employer branding gets caught up in the silos between HR, marketing, and communications and is only action-oriented.
Four relevant rules of the game at a glance:
- 1. Walk your Talk: if the experience does not match the promise, trust is lost.
- 2. Voice your opinion: being “right for everyone” is not effective in the long run.
- 3. Show who you are: Your attitude and values are just as important as meeting the needs of the employees.
- 4. Be one brand: the sum of all encounters between people and brands shapes the experience – perception cannot be separated into company and employer.
Sources:
Cover picture: photography by @davisuko on Unsplash
1 Global Talent Trends Study 2022, Mercher
2 LINK survey August 2022, on behalf of JobCloud
3 Gallup Engagement Index