How to Develop an Employer Branding Strategy
In a scenario where unemployment is high, you would think that employees wouldn’t be fussy about who their next role is working for. However you’d be wrong. Those employees who are highly skilled or qualified for their chosen field know that there is always work out there for them and that they have the power to choose which company they wish to work with. So what is stopping potential candidates for applying to work for your competitors instead of you? The answer is employer branding strategy.
What is Employer Branding Strategy?
An employer branding strategy is a relatively new term in the world of marketing. It is used to describe how a company markets itself to potential and existing employees. Just as marketers utilise a number of techniques to help attract customers, communicate effectively with them and maintain brand loyalty, employer branding strategy involves a similar approach to people management. The aim of the employer branding strategy is to link the values of the company with their people strategy and HR policies whilst also staying in line with the core brand of the company.
How to Develop an Employer Branding Strategy
Although the above makes employer branding strategy sound simple, it is actually much harder to achieve than it appears. There are some companies who are highly desirable to work for based on their kudos and reputation. A few examples would be Nike within the sports clothing industry, Coca Cola in the soft drinks market and Weta Digital in the film industry. However other firms find it much harder to be able to attract the right kind of employees who will add value to their business. This is where an employer branding strategy is most vital.
Part of Coca-Cola’s Employer Branding Strategy
Source: http://www.saslondon.com/usercontrols/ImageGen/ImageGen.ashx?image=/media/38842/employer-branding-agency.jpg&width=310
Typically to develop an employer branding strategy, you need to go through four processes. The first is discovery. This involves undertaking research into how the employer brand is currently perceived by various stakeholders in the company including current employees. It looks an answering question’s such as what is the culture of the business, what are the perks or drawbacks to working for the organisation etc.
Determining company culture is an important part of creating an employer branding strategy
Source: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2694/4445223427_67cdececff.jpg
Once this has been done, the next stage is analysis and interpretation. Again research is done to build a picture of what the company stands for, what it offers employees and what it requires from its employees. Basically this stage is about determining the ‘vale proposition’ for the company.
The next stage is implementation and communication. At this stage, the employer branding strategy is applied and communicated to not only existing employees but potential ones too. The final stage of developing an employer branding strategy is to measure, maintain and optimise it. This stage involves checking the effectiveness of the new branding, answering the question – are we attracting the right type of candidates? The employer branding strategy is then maintained or amended accordingly.
As an employer branding strategy is so hard to achieve, the above process should really be completed by a company who specialise in this type of branding and not done in-house to ensure its effectiveness. Try a service like SAS Employer Branding for optimum results.
Image Credits: SAS London and happykatie.
