Recent trends in the economy and the labour market in specific have altered the balance of power between employers and job applicants, making the idea of employer branding increasingly significant.
The HR professionals who have an in-depth understanding of the linkage between effective employer branding and talent acquisition must also understand that investing in building and promoting the company’s employer brand can have great positive impact on other internal metrics link job satisfaction, employee engagement and retention.
A company which has made branding a priority should evaluate the strength of its brands: the corporate brand, leadership brand, the customer brand and the employer brand. All these brands go hand-in-hand and their existence cannot be separated from the other. A company’s brand is not just the logo, the colour scheme, website or the career page. But it is the emotional response people have to the idea of working for a company.
A company must identify the employee value proposition (EVP i.e. the value it will add to employees lives) it is offering to its current and potential employees. It can be done through surveys, interviews and feedback. The EVP can be communicated through various medium to the current and potential employees. Media used for communication can range from company website, career pages, job portals, social media, PR, events, to employee referrals too. Each medium has its own strength. Nowadays social media is the perfect place to flaunt company brand to capture the attention of both audiences. Various researches say that there exists a significant relationship between level of engagement and social media activity. Employees sometimes tell their own stories on various platforms of the company which gives the employees recognition and in turn gives the employer brand an emotional touch. This helps highlight and amplify the employment brand.
Thus, when measuring the return on investment from a branding activity there must be clear understanding of why the activity was initiated. Depending on the company goals, it can be specified which key performance indicators branding could affect.
Like all the activities which fall under HR, branding must also follow the methodology of assess, design, implement and measure. So, if a branding program focusses on enhancing talent acquisition, it would be imperative to measure the impact of branding on employee referrals. Professionals approve that a high referral rate directly indicates a healthy employment brand. When employees feel strong and have positive feelings about the company they work for, they invite others to work for the company thus turning into brand advocates. If referrals are high, it is a strong endorsement of the company brand from those who know it the best. Hiring candidates via referrals is much less expensive than through advertising campaigns or job portals and are of much better quality. The company thus benefits on the recruitment metrics of cost of hire, time to hire etc.
Employee referrals also show that the workforce is highly engaged. Indicators of employee engagement are:
· Envisioning a future with the organisation
· Intending to stay with the organisation
· Inclination to refer the organization
· Having pride in the organization
· Being inspired to put in extra effort
However, many companies often overlook these benefits and only focus on employer branding as a tool for talent acquisition.
Candidate experience is one more such area which is affected by employer branding. If a rejected applicant leaves the company with a negative impression, he may stop buying the company product and even go to the extent of sharing the negative experience with others. The implication is clear: how a candidate is treated and how he has perceived employment brand will in turn affect costumer brand and repute of the company in the marketplace.
The talent acquisition professional’s carry out an important job: if recruiters become successful brand ambassadors, it will affect the overall organization. HR practitioners must work cross-functionally with colleagues in marketing and communications as customer and employer brand should both portray the same image. The benefits of pooled resources and brain power cannot be overstated.
Thus, in the era of war of talent and companies fighting to be employer of choice one must not forget to measure all the benefits of employer branding. When investing in any branding initiative the focus should be to rise above talent acquisition and consider other probable benefits as well.
- Author is Dr. Samrudhi Navale who is an academician, a researcher and a passionate photographer
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