It is a known fact that a happy employee is a productive employee. So, what does it take to make the employees happy, apart from fat pay cheques and endless holidays? A lot of researches today say that it is imperative to understand the needs, drives and expectations of people and aim at satisfying them. The companies that understand their workforce well and respond as per the requirements become known amongst employees, customers and in the market.
Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ defines the needs of human beings and puts them in a hierarchical order. He keeps psychological needs at the bottom of the pyramid and moves up explaining needs like safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation. While defining needs like financial security, health and well-being, he stated that a certain kind of imbalance in them can dominate the human behaviour. The organisations which are able to satisfy the safety need of employees see a sense of belongingness in their employees for their work and organisation.
It is not just the marketing, production or HR department that should be held responsible for converting a company into a brand, but key drivers such as employee satisfaction rate, niche in the market and customers too are responsible for building it. Richard Mosley in his article on employer branding quoted a study by Sears that concluded, a four per cent increase in employee satisfaction would translate into more than USD200 million in additional revenue.
A document on building employer brand by Randstad defines how to build a strong and compelling employer brand. It says research on your internal and external factors such as focus groups, whom do you want, what do the people want from you and then based on that research work on your employer value proposition. It is also a promise that you make to your current and potential employees. And it is important to deliver on your promises, so as to be known amongst the target people.
Once an organisation starts delivering what it promises, it starts to develop its niche in the market, employees and competitors. It becomes a priority; people develop a positive image for it and this is also helpful in retention of employees. The University of Lincoln quotes that employees who are engaged in their work and committed to their organisations give companies crucial competitive advantage – including higher productivity and lower employee turnover. According to a wide-ranging global survey from Employer Brand International (EBI), companies that invest in developing their employer brand can expect an increase in employee engagement and ease in attracting candidates with 38 per cent of companies rating them as the main benefits of their employer brand strategy.
Other key findings of the global study include:
• 84 per cent of the companies believe a clearly defined strategy is the key to achieving employer branding objectives.
• 71 per cent of the employees say obtaining an adequate budget is their number one challenge in managing an employer brand.
• 59 per cent of the companies leverage their career website for communicating the employer brand.
• 55 per cent of the employees believe it is important other people want to work for their employer.
• 44 per cent of the companies use social media to enhance their employer brand.
• 18 per cent of the marketing departments are responsible for the employer brand strategy.
• Defining the employer value proposition (EVP) is the most effective initiative (9 per cent of respondents), whereas the emerging practice of talent pool development is ranked number 16 at 2 per cent.
The importance of strong and engaging leadership is a key ingredient to the success of the employer-brand strategy. Career development (86 per cent), corporate reputation and culture (84 per cent) and work environment (84 per cent) are the most important attributes a company can promote when trying to attract talent to their organisation.
The EBI’s global research study of more than 2000 companies explained essential features of employer branding which are:
1. Understand your organisation.
2. Create a compelling brand promise for employees that mirrors the brand promise for customers.
3. Develop standards to measure the fulfilment of the brand promise.
4. Ruthlessly align all people practices with support and reinforce the brand promise.
5. Engaging the CEO and senior management in the benefits of employer branding also ranks high.
The future of employer branding
At present, the use of social media in branding the employer is a bit less; however, it is expected to speed up shortly. A research on the future of employer branding by the University of Twente stated that building and promoting employer brand will be done through optimum usage of social media. As traditional media is now being replaced by social media, effective branding would require innovative methods of personnel market research to control the employer attractiveness of the company. The key elements of this would be organisational culture, management culture, image of current employees, image of what company can offer and the organisation’s reputation. Thus, branding yourself as an employer should be based on strategic internal and external marketing of what you are. Externally, it would mean creating a different image in front of the targeted population that will allow potential candidates to picture themselves within the company. And internally, it would mean creating a workforce that is self-driven, motivated, proud to be a part of you and most importantly a workforce that cannot be replicated by anyone else.
Once employees and customers get what they expect and potential employees know your worth, it will be time to celebrate what you are
