HRANB Newsletter

Attract qualified candidates; reduce employee turnover; keep and motivate employees; increase company profile. These are but a few of the challenges faced by managers in an increasingly competitive market.

Did you know that there is very unique solution to all these issues? Employer branding. Employer branding is the distinctive feature that makes your company rise above the competition. When a company is well known, both internally and externally, for the quality of its work environment, its superior employee development and its progressive respect in the workplace management practices, its social involvement, etc., that’s employer branding. It’s what makes an organization unique and able to survive.

Obviously, organisational success depends on it. After all, the ultimate goal is to do business well. A strong employer brand improves an organisation’s financial results. While it includes a marketing component, employer branding is also much more than that.

The Power to Attract
An organisation with a prestigious employer brand built on employee interests is incredibly attractive. People want to work for organisations known for being good employers. Such organisations know how to successfully integrate employees while keeping their promises. They do not disappoint employees.

The Power to Mobilize
Well treated and appreciated, employees working for well-branded organisations are usually very proud of their jobs and want to keep them. They believe in the organisation’s values because management applies them daily and they can also make them their own. Highly committed, they display superior work performances. In fact, they feel so included and part of the company that they are genuinely concerned with reaching the organisation’s objectives. They consider the organisation’s successes to be their own. They become its ambassadors, contributing not only to its high profile, but also attracting superior candidates.

So how can one develop a strong and distinctive employer brand? That is where the challenge lies!

Listen Carefully
Listen carefully to what the individuals who are connected with your organisation have to say: clients, suppliers, candidates, former employees. By doing so, you will be able to determine what works and what does not work within your organisation. Why are you having a hard time attracting good candidates? Why did an employee resign?

But most importantly, the employer brand must be developed according to employee expectations. You must find out what your organization can do for its employees and align your management practices with expressed needs. To do this, analyse your work environment. Find out how your employees feel through surveys. They are usually a good indicator of how well your employer brand is performing.

Once you have identified what makes your organization unique and what needs to be improved, it is time to develop an employer branding strategy. But be careful! Your image must faithfully reflect the organization’s culture and values. If not, employees will be disappointed and become unmotivated.

Show Leadership
If you want to build an employer brand that inspires your employees, you must first make sure that you have management buy-in and participation. You must convince management of the value of the changes to be made to the organization.

Since employer branding’s goal is to attract, promote it with employees. Explain its objectives, characteristics, advantages for employees, etc. Use the intranet, internal newsletters, message boards, etc. That is how you will achieve universal buy in.

Employer branding also strengthens an organization’s public profile. In your job postings and your marketing campaigns, share its specifics, for example your attention to employee well-being, career development, ethics, etc.
For employer branding to be successful, you must know your organisation very well and understand your employees’ needs; but most importantly, you must show creativity when initiating employee friendly practices. Tangible results will not fail to materialize rapidly, believe-me!