Employer Branding: An Innovative Approach Essay Example

employer brands have employer value propositions ("EVPs") which are communicated in company actions and behaviors and evoke both emotive (e. g. I feel good about working here) and tangible benefits (this organization cares about my career development) for current and prospective employees.

These EVPs reflect the image that the organizations want to portray to its target audience. A company’s employer brand is reflected in the actions and behaviors of leaders and is affected by company policies, procedures, and practices. A orporate understanding of employer Branding concept across the Globe: American Express, Cisco Systems, Amgen, Starbucks, and Intel, all of which have received recognition on The List of 100 Best Companies to Work for in America are leaders in Employer Branding as well. "

They all share the common trait of treating their employees better than their peers in their industries, and all invest heavily in employee training and development," states Hornung . Companies who don't invest in developing an effective Employer Brand will, in the long run, be less financially successful than those who are.As stated by States Woltzen, "They will not be able to recruit or retain the high-performing employees they will need to run a successful business.

" 2002 Gallup survey reported that less than a quarter of American workers are fully "engaged" in their work, costing the US economy $300bn (and ? 50bn in the UK) per year. Gallup surveys in Great Britain, France and Singapore revealed similar findings in 2003. The surveys revealed that more than 80% of British workers lack any real commitment to their jobs, with a quarter of those being "actively disengaged," or truly disaffected with their workplaces.Gallup estimates that actively

disengaged workers cost the British economy between  37. 2 billion ($64. 8 billion U. S. ) and  38. 9 billion ($66. 1 billion U. S. ) per year due to low employee retention, high absentee levels, and low productivity.

Gallup survey results in 2003 also showed that only 12% of French workers are engaged in their work, with approximately 2. 5 times as many workers (31%) being actively disengaged, or disconnected from their jobs. In Singapore's workforce, the percentage of actively disengaged employees is on the rise. At 17%, this figure is up five percentage points from 2002.Gallup estimates that the lower productivity of actively disengaged workers penalizes Singapore's economic performance, costing between $4.9 and $6. 7 billion annually.

Employer branding has become more critical in today’s times, as most professionals are looking at a stable career and establishing a long-term relationship with the company. D K Srivastava, the vice president of HR at HCL Comnet says, “It is said that an unsatisfied customer tells ten people about his experience while an unsatisfied employee tells a hundred. Employer branding reflects the work culture in an organization.Therefore, it is of much significance.

Through right branding, the company can recruit the best talent and reinforce its positioning amongst its employees. ” A survey conducted by Hewitt Associates reveals that more companies are now focusing on employer branding to “attract employees” and keep them engaged. There is a direct correlation between an effective employer brand and achieving business success. It helps in retaining current employees, increasing employee satisfaction, attracting job candidates, and motivating employees in their work, which leads to excellent business gains.

The purpose is to use the internal brand as

the seedbed for aligning their people programmes to deliver significantly improved business results. This is evident from some of the recent initiatives taken by organizations to make the workplace more employer-friendly and implement development concepts like “spiritual quotient” and “value-building”. Some companies have gone even further and appointed “internal branding consultants”, targeted to have a better relationship with their employees.

For example, Texas Instruments, whose brand mantra is “conscious” and “consistent”, which gets reflected in all their activities, be it company journals, awards or regular meetings. HCL Comnet, whose brand value signifies “exuberance”, has developed a “Force of One” campaign that signifies innovative attitude and the ability to individually make a difference. Or Cognizant, whose employer brand is “Celebrating Work”, which gets reflected in its participative, empowering and transparent work environment.

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young on the other hand, likes to lay emphasis on both internal and external customers. “Paying attention to what matters to employees, and then delivering on that promise, keeps CGE at the top of the list for the most talented employees,” says Atul Srivastava, who heads people relationship management at the company. “The greatest goal of Cap Gemini Ernst and Young is to be the ‘Employer of Choice’, a company that can deliver a wide range of career opportunities, a company known everywhere for its ability to develop top professional talent delivering work of top professional quality.We have used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the basis for categorizing retention programmes and selecting a broad range of programmes which can best address employee motivation and satisfaction issues,” says Atul Srivastava, the head of people relationship management at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.

Commenting on

the changing scenario, Arun Tadanki, the chief executive officer of Monsterindia. com, says that it also gets reflected in the kind of advertisements taken out by the companies. “Till recently, employment ads were just showing the job description of the vacancy.The focus in the last two-three years has shifted and is largely driven by the IT & ITES employers, to create a powerful image for the organization as a “dream place to work”.

In the ITES industry, the job of a customer service agent is more or less the same irrespective of the company he is working in. What differentiates one ITES company from another is largely its employer brand image. This depends on a whole host of factors like how successful the company is perceived to be; what is the vision and mission; what kind of work culture they have; what kind of career growth opportunities they offer, etc,” he says.On the contrary, Srivastava of HCL Comnet has a different viewpoint: “We expect to see more innovation within organizations to improve our corporate image.

Training programmes, motivational classes, employee career plans have become a common phenomenon now days. These things are employee deliverables. What organizations would be aiming towards is not employee satisfaction but employee delight! ” Building an Employer Brand In the present job markets, where companies compete for attracting the best of the talent, employer brand, sometimes, becomes more relevant when compared to various critical factors like job profile and the compensation.Employer brand is the image of an organization as a great place to work in the minds of its current employees and key stakeholders. It is the development of such an organizational culture

which fosters a sense of belongingness with the company and encourages the employees to share organization's goals for success.

In short, it is the value of the company in external marketplace. The goal of employer branding is to create loyal customers; the customers here being the employees. An employer brand represents the core values of an organization.Companies that are considered good employers have a strong identity and an image in the marketplace. Building such a brand requires a lot of introspection by the company, and answering the questions, "what kind of company we are, and want to become? " and "how do we live up to the expectations of our stakeholders? ” What makes an employer a brand? Simon Barrow, who is president of a successful consulting firm in London that specializes in employer branding services, describes four elements that work together to make an employer brand.The first element is the Employment Package which is the offer that an employee gets including job responsibilities, financial compensation, work/life balance, the employee's role in organization and professional development.

Next comes the Culture and Environment which includes the physical working environment, the size of the organization, and the organization's approach to work. Then there is Integrity. Delivering what has been initially committed always counts. The consequence of a lack of integrity is seen in the form of high attrition rates.And finally Management Performance that plays as a vital role in the Employer Branding Building a brand is typically a twofold process.

One is for prospective employees and the other for the current set of employees. While building brand for prospective employees, initiatives are targeted at building repute in potential recruits about

the company as a preferred place to work. On the other hand, while building brand internally, the company has to live up to its standards and incorporate a culture of respect and trust for employees. Growing importance of Employer branding:It is said that an unsatisfied customer tells ten people about his experience while an unsatisfied employee tells a hundred. Employer branding reflects the work culture in an organization.

It has become more critical in today's times, as most professionals are looking at a stable career and establishing a long-term relationship with the company. Research shows that employees of industrial brands feel a much greater sense of pride, attachment and trust towards their employer. They are also significantly more likely to recommend their company to others and claim it treats employees well.Through right branding, the company can recruit the best talent and reinforce its positioning amongst its employees. It helps build trust and reliability.

A good employer brand makes it easy to attract good talent and curb attrition. The strength of an organization's brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. Working with one of the largest or most innovative companies in a specific industry acts as a motivator too. But as one moves higher in his career, brand name becomes of little significance as job role takes over.

Brand name is the most important factor but at entry level only. When one is a fresher and embarks on one's career, the brand of a company matters. It helps in reflecting a stronger resume. With career growth, one places importance on things that are more meaningful to one's sense of purpose.

It is also being argued that

in most cases, companies treat employer branding as a mere short-cut for attracting the talent. Instead of self-analysis, the HR departments tie up with ad agencies to conjure up an image that may be attractive to their target market, even if not their own.While some argue that organizations like Google with strong employer brand hardly spend money in building the brand; instead they focus on living the brand. Sasken, for example, has a stated 'People First' policy to emphasize that employees are the focus.

Fedex has a core philosophy of 'people - service - profit' to indicate what comes first. Bill Marriott of Marriott Hotels does not tire of repeating the founder's belief "Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back. " These organizations reveal a high degree of trust in the management of the organization.Managements must understand that the core value offering of the organization is to engage employees towards being productive and responsive to customers. In the end, it is believed that if the company takes care of people, people will take care of the company. Employer branding as the" Right Fit" model Effective employer branding also helps in hiring, retaining the right stuff.

Considering that 85% of job changes are attributed to organizational incompatibility, and one quickly recognizes employer branding as a critical factor in effective recruitment, says Donald DeCamp, COO of Comp Health Group, a health-care staffing firm. Employer branding goes beyond a company's reputation," says Kurt Mosley, vice president of business development says that. " Becoming an employer of choice and increasing retention rates means that an organization's branding message truly

aligns with the reality that exists for its workers because loyalty is no longer the dominant paradigm of the employer/employee relationship, attracting and retaining talent relies much more on being able to fulfill a different promise, and that promise varies from organization to organization, depending on its culture, mission and ability to achieve its goals.

Knowing Employees expectation: - The foundation for employer branding : When properly planned and executed, an employer branding initiative can generate lively dialogue between an employer and its employees, build a rationale for a 'mutual working arrangement', and establish compelling reasons to commit to the arrangement.

Whatever is a corporate or an employer an employee expects the following from employer:

1. Fair treatment
2. Trustful and open channeled communication
3. Ability to provide security and benefits in present and future
4. Planned and systematic career and succession planning
5. Motivating and morale building team and management
6. Smooth Disciplinary procedure and I. R
7. Employee benefit oriented culture and practices
8. Adequate talent acquisition , management, retention and utilization
9. Proper advancement and up gradation of employees
10. Participatory management
11. Industrial democracy
12. Clarity in roles and goals
13. Clearly defined authority responsibility charting
14. Timely decision making
15. Impartial , fair and growth promoting organization structure.

Creating the Right Mix: Defining the Employment package:The Employment Package includes those that often "close the deal" for the Prospective employee, such as financial compensation, work/life balance, the Employee's role in organization and professional development. Every organization as per its need , workforce , level of competition and forecasted demand or business plan should match its expectation – Requirement matrix in such a way so that it becomes easier for both employer and employee to create a perfect brand name

resulting in satisfaction.It includes the following

• Focus on Culture and Environment: - It includes items such as the physical working environment, the size of the organization, and the organization's approach to work.
• Brand Image and Reputation: - It helps in establishing integrity. The consequence of a lack of integrity is the employee does not stay with the organization for long, contributing to the organization's well being. To attract people to something you cannot deliver is a waste of your time and money.
• Management Performance:- It is a vital part in the Employer Branding process. Senior management must be committed and involved in recruitment or the Employer Branding process or it will be a failure.

Combination of Functional, psychological, and Economic benefits which a new entrant expects. Thus by creating a need based employment package an organization is benefited in two-way.   It also helps in Attracting and recruiting "the right" candidates Attending to shortages within the organization Advancing retention rates and reduce turnoverAmplifying employee engagement, commitment, and performance Employer branding process : The employment brand architecture as suggested by Ryan Estis the chief talent strategist for NAS Recruitment Communications, an agency of the McCann World Group for becoming an employer of choice includes the following steps

• Understand your business objectives
• Identify your talent needs.
• Determine the employment brand attributes.
• Look for synergy with the corporate brand.
• Develop a communications plan.
• Develop the messaging and creative content.
• Establish metrics.
• Execute and evaluate.

The company has to have superior leadership, operational excellence and customer focus, and most importantly people-orientation in a genuine way, for the branding exercise to be successful,” he adds. Companies have been focusing on more advertising than

taking concentrated efforts in building relationships.According to “Riding the Wave” survey (conducted by the Career Innovations Research Group), the future might be in danger for those companies who may otherwise invest too much in mass media and little in personal contact programmes. As per the survey, the most believable forms of communication are not the advertisements, literature and websites, but the behaviour of employees and accounts of their own work experience. Srivastava of HCL Comnet states, “I believe that the most credible forms of communication are not the ads, literature and websites, but the behaviour of one’s own employees and accounts of their own work experience.

Employer branding is a part of overall branding strategy of a company. For this to happen, the HR department should ensure that there is a constant flow of communication within the organization and there is no conflict with respect to internal and external image. Both these factors are very significant. “Every single employee should buy into the vision, commitment and ethics of the company and should be a walking advertisement for the company. Doing a major employer branding exercise would be nothing if the company’s own employees do not believe what is being said,” says Sadarjoshi.

Agrees R Shekar, the senior vice president and head HR, corporate strategy and business excellence of Polaris Software: “An organization must adopt a concerted and focused approach to building and maintaining its reputation as a ‘Best Workplace’ and constantly work towards reinforcing this branding through continuous exercises. ” A typical branding exercise would involve identifying the USP (unique selling proposition) of the company and articulating the DNA of the company, highlighting the competitive advantages of

this DNA and creating a consistent brand language across the organization in all forums to all the constituencies.Says DK Srivastava, the vice president of HR at HCL Comnet, “The most significant aspect of any organization is to realise its inherent values and the image that it would like to project to its audiences. The next step is to evolve the right messages and reinforce those values again and again.

And the most important part is to act on what you say. Plain words can’t get a brand. A brand has to be built on action. ” Employer branding is however limited to bigger companies, with very few initiatives taken by smaller players. In most cases, however, companies treat ‘employer branding’ as a mere short-cut for attracting the talent.Instead of soul-searching, the HR departments tie up with ad agencies to conjure up an image that may be attractive to their target market, even if not their own.

That’s a real dampener for new recruits––there’s a perception-reality gap they’re confronted with. The myriad ‘Best Employer’ media surveys add fuel to fire as they bring out checklists. So a ‘fun place’ for some may not be the same for others. However, If one looks at successful employer brands carefully, one finds that companies do not do it consciously.

For instance, when Sasken Technologies was a growing company in 2001, they decided what kind of organization they want to be.Out of this introspection came things like their single-status policy, wherein all employees, whether the CEO or the young programmer, would be treated at par––such as every company executive would travel in the same class, etc. Now this may attract certain kind of

people, and it may also ward off others who wouldn’t like to ‘work in a commune’. Sasken certainly didn’t do this to attract talent.

But later, such policies became the chief constituent of the company’s employer branding policy. Similarly, Infosys, Wipro and TCS never consciously built a brand. They just built a workplace that would be productive and where people would be happy.Employer branding becomes a tokenism when it doesn’t fit in the DNA of the company.

And, there needs to be a lot of self-sustained and conscious effort needed to create such a fit; to ‘become oneself’. The Tatas would never like to become like Reliance, or vice-versa. The brand as an employer must provide a long-term advantage. And this advantage comes only when the profile of the candidate fits well with the profile of the company. Also, one must also appreciate that employer branding works mainly at the entry-level since the mid-level workforce and upwards look at other things, such as job profile, career enhancement etc.

Supportive factors in employer branding:

• Active employee involvement
• Clear understanding of what your employees of choice want in an employer.
• A clear, honest, ongoing feedback loop with employees that enable you to continuously gather information about organizational strengths and weaknesses
• A clear understanding of what needs you address well, and what ones you don't
• A list of organizational practices and policies that weaken your employer brand and those that strengthen it
• A list of moment of truth experiences that help shape employees' overall work experience, and a clear picture of how well you do in each area

Outcome of effective employer branding: Thus, Employer branding gives an organization a competitive advantage.

Employer branding is a tool to attract, hire, and retain the "right fit it also has an impact on shareholder value, creating positive human capital practices, contribute to bottom-line. Strong employer brands have employer value propositions (EVP's) which are communicated in company actions and behaviors and evoke both emotive (e. g.I feel good about working here) and tangible benefits (this organization cares about my career development) for current and prospective employees.

These organizations segment and communicate EVP's which reflect the image that the organizations want to portray to its target audience. A company's employer brand is reflected in the actions and behaviors of leaders and is affected by company policies, procedures, and practices and the same when well planned and implemented results in profitability of organizations.Conclusion: Thus it can be concluded that not only there is a need of creating a satisfaction in minds of employees (Internal customers) but there is an urgent need of creating this positivism in the minds of external customers and stakeholders. The created image has to be monitored and sustain d in such a way so that it will help in increasing profits as well as would create belongingness, pride, self actualization and true commitment in true words and spirit.

Reference: 

1. “Employer branding is tokenism in India”- Madhukar Shukla, The Economic Times, 22nd November, 2007.
2. “Employer Branding: A Ripple Effect for organizational effectiveness”- Ms. Vijt Chaturvedi, http://www. indianmba. com/Faculty_Column/FC669
3. “Brand building to attract and retain the best talent”- Punita Jasrotia, www. itpeopleindia. com
4. `Employer branding key to attract talent'-Anjali Prayag, www. thehindubusinessline.com/2006/09/02 5. 6.