With the focus on giving insights into what makes or breaks the reputation of an organisations Prof. David Collings says which the organisations which have a clear identity as an employer, with strong and consistent values that underscore the way they manage their employees and conduct their affairs, are the employers that hold a strong employer brand. These organisations are often considered the employer of choice for the employee groups that are central to their strategy.
On the mechanism behind employer branding he says, “your employer brand sends an important message to employees and potential employees about what it means to work in your organisation. It reflects the way you place value on your employees and what they can expect when they work for you.
Thus, it is important that your employer brand reflects the values that underscore the mission of the organisation.” Indeed, one of the best ways to attract the people who think just like the organisations do.
It is imperative for organisations to have their actions support their words. There should be an alignment between the decisions and the values of the companies, else it might have negative impact on the reputation of the company.
Prof. Collings confirms that the organisations whose decisions are based on their strong values have greater consistency in the employee’s experience in working for that organisation, regardless of the manager or situation. This leads to a strong employer brand which is clearly displayed and experienced in a consistent way by employees and potential employees alike.
An employer brand will quickly fall apart if it is not premised on solid foundations such as values and mission of the organisation.
In the corporate world, what you offer defines your attractiveness. A strong employee value proposition can make employees choose you over others. Prof. Collings elaborates that despite high unemployment rate in many economies, employers struggle to recruit key talent with certain skills. The employee value proposition gives potential employees a sense of what they would do to work for a particular organisation over the others, competing for it.
Developing a clear and consistent employee value proposition provides the focus for an employer brand. It provides potential employees a compelling reason for why they should work for you, which represents a key point of differentiation in the war for talent.
HR needs to clearly articulate what the employee brand should be. This should be based on the organisational mission and strategy and the HR strategy. It is also important to take into account the expectations of those potential employee groups which are central to the organisation’s strategy.
Through an example he highlights, “a number of professional services organisations have placed a far greater emphasis on corporate social responsibility, as it has become apparent that this is something which younger employee relate to. Thus, an emphasis on corporate social responsibility certainly helps in recruiting such employees.”
He further says that it is important that the employer brand is reflected in the presentation of the organisation to the outside world. This could be through various channels like corporate websites, employment advertisements and development of new HR policies and practices.
Who will fall, who will rise and what challenges can the companies face? Many organisations may have problems in finding what to follow, so as to get an attractive employer brand. Prof. Collings says, some companies are well down the road in developing employer brands, but for many more it is a much more organic development.
Today the industry has relatively little empirical evidence to inform practice on employer branding, which is a key challenge. Organisation might have sophisticated HR systems and have a relatively well developed employer brand, this can all fall down if line managers and leaders fail to follow the HR practices as intended.
This again brings to the fore the importance of alignment with organisational values. Once such values have been articulated, it is imperative that the organisation integrates them into decisions around selection and promotion to maximise the chances of the employees experiencing HR in a consistent way.
While companies are extensively using social media for recruitment, they still have to tap the potential of this channel in branding themselves as employers. With opportunities come challenges too, he warns that disgruntled employees can quickly damage an employer’s reputation in the labour market through social media. There are numerous websites set up solely to articulate how bad it is to work at specific organisations. Through presence of websites like glassdoor.com that provide employees’ views on working for different organisations, an employer brand can quickly be damaged and such damage is difficult to repair, he says.
Prof. Collings advises that the key is to understand what your organisation stands for in HR terms and the expectations of those key groups of potential employees which you may target during hiring.
He says, organisations need to ensure that their employee value proposition is articulated in a clear way is the first step. However it then becomes imperative that employees experience HR in the organisation in a way that is consistent with brand. Otherwise the brand will quickly fall apart.
