Busting Employer Branding Myths

Considering how important employer branding is, I still encounter a lot of confusion and misinformation about it. So, as a public service, I thought I'd bust some of the myths about employer branding.

Myth #1: Employer branding is unnecessary

Some clients tell me, "We're an employer of choice; great candidates will find us." And yet you never hear executives at Apple or Disney or Coke say "Everyone knows our products; customers will find us." In fact, those brands have massive marketing budgets. You can't assume that your exact desired demographic, whether it's MIT grads or truck drivers, will actively seek you out. Or think about this: What if great candidates do know you -- and don't like what they see? Employer branding can increase awareness and engagement by refocusing your messaging on your company's mission, vision, values, and business strategy.

Myth #2: Employer branding is expensive

Good employer branding actually saves you money, through lower recruiting costs, higher engagement, and increased productivity/sales. Depending on the plan goals, a basic research project can be launched for as little as $10,000. You can start small with communication audits and internal surveys, and then add executive interviews and employee focus groups. If you can secure a larger spend, we recommend surveying external constituents to provide context to your internal findings. 

Myth #3: Employer branding is completely separate from consumer branding

It better not be! An employer brand must be absolutely aligned with and inspired by the consumer brand. After all, candidates are customers, investors, and influencers. One of the first things we do on any employer branding project is break through organizational silos and align the employer brand with the company's current messaging. We try to get all stakeholders -- Marketing, HR, Internal Communications -- into the same room to make sure we have a consistent brand that's authentic on both sides of the house. Along the way, we often help Marketing and HR become friends!

Myth #4: Employer branding research can be done in-house

It can, but it's much more difficult. Employees are reluctant to share their true feelings with their HR department for fear of reprisal. Executives interviewing each other often leads to an "echo chamber" effect, where no one advocates change. And external constituents, such as customers and former applicants, think surveys are a marketing ploy and stay away. Brandemix is a neutral third party; we take empathetic listening to the next level by listening, probing, and processing. An outside set of eyes can reveal things about your employer brand that you never saw.

Myth #5: Employer branding only helps the hiring managers

Au contraire! The entire company benefits from a strong employer brand. You'll attract employees who are a good fit for the culture, who stay longer, perform better, and recommend the company to others. More referrals and lower turnover makes for a happier, more stable workplace. HR will have more time to work on other initiatives, like workforce planning, talent management, or diversity. Eventually, you'll have weeded out the underachievers and filled your roster with satisfied employees, which studies have shown create more profit for the entire organization.

Don't let these myths fool you. Employer branding is crucial to the success of any company, from a nonprofit to a regional chain to a global corporation. It cuts costs, generates profits, and can turn your company into a true employer of choice.

Any other myths you want busted? Drop me a line.

Brandemix Bonus Reel: The Importance of Employer Branding

A strong employer brand can lead to more engaged employees, which leads to great productivity, which leads to higher profits. So why do so few organizations have one? Director of Interactive Branding Jason Ginsburg explains how an effective employer brand is created.

If you'd like to learn more about Brandemix's employer branding services, write to employerbranding@brandemix.com.

How to Build an Employer Brand

Many organizations pay attention to branding but overlook the importance of an employer brand, which defines who you are as an employer. Just as your consumer brand tells the public what your brand stands for, an employer brand speaks to your employees – from the newest hire to the CEO – and to your potential employees, the job-seekers whose first encounter with your company may be through your employer brand.

Employer brands also help job-seekers self-select, help HR recruit and train to the brand, and help the entire workforce promote the brand through their actions and communications. The effect it has on quality of hire can separate a good company from a truly great one.

A few statistics from Employer Brand International

With that in mind, here is a brief overview on the process to create an effective employer brand.

An employer brand deserves the same study and due diligence as any other major decision your company makes. That means embarking upon a solid research plan that involves employees from every level.  Typical research plans include quantitative, in the form of an objective, anonymous survey; qualitative, in the form of focus groups and one-on-one interviews; and ideation sessions, workshops for collective brainstorming. Participants can include employees, potential employees, executives, customers, and even vendors. Be sure to align the findings with your company’s mission, vision, business objectives, and consumer brand.

Once you’ve discovered how people feel about your brand, you should find your niche, the areas where you deliver a singular employee experience that no one else can match.

These concepts can be illustrated through an “employer brand architecture.” Your organization’s vision is the foundation of the structure. Your differentiators make up the “pillars.” The “roof,” your employer value proposition, is the single-minded expression of the benefits of working for your organization.

All this work isn’t just to have a catchy slogan on Monster.com. An employer brand positively affects a number of talent management concerns, from attraction to retention to employee referrals. A strong employer brand creates more engaged employees, which leads to higher profitability.

In 1994, a group of researchers from Harvard University published a study (and later a book) on the Service Profit Chain, arguing for a direct link between employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit. Some subsequent studies put the difference between the best “chains” and the worst as high as 20% – which could mean billions of dollars. More recently, a study by Aon Hewitt found that companies with engaged employees outperformed the stock market by 22% in 2010.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a non-profit, a local business, a national chain, or a global powerhouse; every organization succeeds with the best talent. Build your employer brand and you’ll enjoy greater profits, happier, more productive employees, and a great culture that attracts and keeps the talent you need to fulfill your business objectives. Ready to create or refresh your employer brand? Contact me.

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Jason Ginsburg, Director of Interactive Branding at Brandemix, shows how any organization can become an employer of choice.

For more information, email us at employerofchoice@brandemix.com.

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Director of Interactive Branding Jason Ginsburg explains why a strong employer brand is critical to an organization's success.

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Employee Engagement: Important Yet Elusive

A recent article in Fast Company has once again shown how important employee engagement is to any organization. The more engaged the employees, the lower the turnover, the lower the shrinkage, the higher the customer service, and the higher the profits.

And yet, despite the preponderance of engagement surveys, software, and programs, true employee engagement remains an elusive goal for many companies. While there are several key drivers of employee engagement (corporate image, leadership, job function, work/life balance, managers) that require significant operational changes to move the engagement needle, below I present some tips that can be easily implemented and drive engagement results.

Better Internal Communications 
Treat your employees like your best customers or shareholders. Customers get fancy newsletters, interactive websites, personalized emails. Investors get elaborate annual reports. What communications do your employees get? Often it’s a simple newsletter with employee anniversaries, “articles” that are little more than press releases, and the latest information about open enrollment. Worse, they live forever on dull, decade-old intranets that are bare-bones, black and white, and boring – the 3 B’s of awful web experience. How can employees get excited about their workplace when the workplace doesn’t seem excited about them? 

Internally, your employees are your audience, and you should treat them the way you treat your most valued customers. That means creating internal communications that are interesting and entertaining.

Collaborative Corporate Social Responsibility
Some organizations have established CSR programs, allowing employees to select their own cause, which is a wonderful means to truly engage. Employees feel empowerment and camaraderie as they stay involved and seek volunteers for their own “social good.” They also feel a greater sense of purpose. Meanwhile, your organization gets great press and a big tax write-off. It’s a win/win/win/win!

Listening
Sure, this seems obvious, but one of the most frequent complaints I hear in client focus groups, is “Management doesn’t listen to us.” Just as social media allows a dialogue with your customers, you must find some mechanism(s) to create a conversation with your employees. Instead of a yearly survey, do it quarterly. Or monthly. Have an hour of “open door” meetings every week, where any employee can approach any manager in any area with any idea or concern. Use your intranet or enterprise software to let your employee collaborate and ask each other questions. Today, everything is crowd-sourced, from American Idol to Wikipedia to presidential debate questions. What can your employees teach you?

Little Things
There are many free or low-cost methods of employee engagement. Casual Fridays are just the beginning. Be sure to acknowledge employees’ birthdays and work anniversaries, whether it’s an email, an announcement at a weekly meeting, or an actual gift (I’m a fan of Starbucks gift cards). Bringing in treats every week or month is always nice – try cupcakes, pizza, gourmet coffee, or flavored popcorn. If you can’t afford to send employees to conferences, encourage them to attend free local seminars or online webinars. Give them a small “education budget” to learn software, read books, or subscribe to industry publications.

As you can see, there are all kinds of small ways to engage employees. There are big ways too – gamification, employee referral programs (ask me about this one), social engagement strategies. How to know what’s right for you? When looking at your engagement strategy budget, remember that, according to a recent Gallup poll, employee engagement can mean a 22% increase in profitability.

Want to learn more about these or other HR initiatives, including training videos, benefit communications, or wellness programs? Email me with your questions and I’ll help you out.

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To learn how Brandemix can help your branding or employer branding campaign, visit www.brandemix.com.