Employment Brand Management
Employment brands (e-brands) are increasingly recognized as the single most important factor influencing the selection of an employer by top talent. A strong e-brand will both attract even the most passive prospects to an organization and predispose them to consider its employment opportunities even when they wouldn't consider openings anywhere else. Brand management, therefore, is now among the most important responsibilities of Staffing Departments. It involves the development, promotion and oversight of an organization's value proposition as an employer.
E-brand Development
An e- brand is not an advertising jingle or tag line. Such phrases work with consumer brands because the consumer has, in all likelihood, actually experienced the vendor's product or service. For example, when GE says it "brings good things to light," we can appreciate the double entendre of the phrase because we have all used a light bulb. The same is not true when GE or any other employer is trying to recruit talent. The vast majority of the "consumers" they target with their e-brand ads will not have had the experience of working for their organization. To be effective, therefore, an e-brand must be a complete expression of the attributes that characterize the employer's workaday experience. It is not a ponderous mission statement, but a window into what it's like to work in and for an organization.
Which attributes of employment should an organization include in its e-brand? I believe that depends upon three tests. The selected attributes must be:
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Real. An e-brand is not the place for wishful thinking or spin. It must be believable to both the external audience and, equally as important, to an organization's employees.
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Relevant. An e-brand should highlight the attributes that are most important to the high caliber workers an employer most wants to recruit. The best way to identify those factors is to ask the consumer. What made the top talent already in the organization say "Yes" to its employment offer and what keeps them there?
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Recognizable. An e-brand must differentiate an employer and set it apart in the minds of the skilled performers the organization is trying to recruit. It should be a unique combination of attributes expressed in a way that is unique to the employer.
E-brand Promotion
E-brands are meaningless statements if they are not seen by the "consumers" an employer is trying to reach. Since the best talent are often employed and/or passive in nature, however, these e-brand ads must be visible far beyond where they're typically posted-in the Career area on corporate Web-sites.
Where else should an e-brand be advertised? At sites and in any other venues that are popular with the top talent an employer is trying to reach. Among the former, these might include:
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Job boards that offer features for passive as well as active job seekers,
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Association sites,
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Newspaper sites, and
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General search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo!).
Among the latter, these might include:
No less important, the e-brand advertising must be durable. Before the advent of the Information Age, advertisers counseled that an ad had to be seen seven times before it would break into the consciousness of a potential consumer. Today's omnipresent, 24/7 information distribution has only increased the clutter in consumers' minds. As a consequence, the number of required ad repetitions has increased by at least a factor of ten. Said another way, your e-brand must be promoted even when you're not hiring in order to ensure it has an impact when you are.
E-brand Oversight
Like personal reputations, e-brands are fragile creations that can be destroyed in the click of a key. Moreover, an e-brand is not only what you say about your organization's employment experience, but it's what others say about that experience, as well. For that reason, organizations must continuously monitor outside commentary about their employment value proposition. They can't, of course, violate the free speech rights of others (including their employees), but they can (and should) identify inaccurate, misleading and/or harmful statements and correct or counter them.
How can you monitor your organization's e-brand? Keep an eye on sites:
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That target your specific company and/or its employees. For example, StarbucksGossip.com covers everything from the public response to the company's new products to the latest personnel moves in its corporate headquarters.
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That solicit commentary about all employers. For example, the Electronic Watercooler at Vault.com encourages people to do online what they do at water coolers in the real world: gossip, gripe and exchange "information" about employers.
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That solicit commentary from all employees. For example, OfficeBallot.com lets people rate their coworkers, boss or anyone else in their company and do so with complete anonymity.
The goal is not to keep track of everything that's said about an employer-that's the job of the Public Relations function-but rather to oversee what's being said about its attributes and practices as an employer. Critical or false statements can quickly do serious harm to an e-brand. Therefore, uncovering such assertions as soon as they occur and, if appropriate, counteracting them effectively are essential to the maintenance of a strong and attractive e-brand.
Thanks for reading,
Peter
Who is Peter Weddle? Peter Weddle is a recruiter, HR consultant and business CEO turned author and commentator. Described by The Washington Post as "... a man filled with ingenious ideas," he has earned an international reputation, pioneering concepts in Human Resource leadership and employment. He has authored or edited over two dozen books and been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The National Business Employment Weekly and CNN.com. Today, he writes two newsletters that are distributed worldwide and oversees WEDDLE's LLC, a print publisher specializing in the field of human resources. WEDDLE's annual Guides and Directory to job boards are recognized for their accuracy and helpfulness, leading the American Staffing Association to call Weddle the "Zagat of the online employment industry."
© Copyright 2008 WEDDLE's LLC.
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