Don't Be Fooled by Employment Branding: What it Is and What it Is Not!
There is little doubt that employment branding is one of the hottest topics in recruiting these days. Unfortunately, what a lot of firms implement in the name of branding really has nothing to do with employment branding. $ Y3 f7 z% i& i1 ^2 f' j% ~% E/ G
* U* x& J u' Y. z9 JDefining Employment Branding* p" @" q0 @/ ^6 f
8 |6 s2 G: t- G; [Employment branding is unique in that it is the only long-term recruiting strategy. The viral-based perception management program designed to attract top-quality applicants is based on the premise that the organization is well-managed in the eyes of the target candidate population. 7 ?/ k) y3 E" U7 b
/ d, m0 [( ^8 q+ Y1 LIt has many critical elements, only one of which pertains to getting the message out through awards programs, editorial content in target publications, presentations at conferences, and through viral marketing driven via the employee referral program. It is not the same as recruitment marketing, although recruitment marketing should be aligned with the employment branding effort. ( @$ G% I8 L9 D8 U! R
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Advertising is Not Employment Branding
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Unfortunately, a number of organizations have built employment branding programs that are little more than recruitment marketing programs redressed in a different name. Supporting this is a vendor community that sells a multitude of recruitment marketing-related services under the name of employment branding. 8 Z$ O+ X# z/ b6 b2 ?0 m8 ]' U
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If you are thinking of going down the advertising road, here are some reasons to pause: R7 x# L( d: N# |1 x
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Advertising is expensive. An employment branding campaign should be based more on a PR model than traditional advertising. While PR is relatively cheap, placing full-page glossy ads requires a huge cash outlay. Responding to reporters' and writers' questions requires no cash. The same is true for speaking at conferences, where the travel expenses come from a budget outside of HR, and writing articles in professional journals, where manager or employee time is the only major cost. , v: k+ X9 ]% M1 V
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Believability counts. The basic premise of building your brand is that your brand must be built "virally" by others. In this case, viral means that your great people management practices need to be "talked up" by others in order to be credible and believable. Because advertising is paid, it just doesn't have the credibility that comes from others praising the way you manage your firm. For example, the premise is the same with restaurants as it is with firms. A great restaurant review or a friend telling you about a great restaurant carries 10 times more weight than any ad placed by the restaurant. If you want to attract serious diners, rely on word of mouth.
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It's a distraction. Advertising sends the message to your employees and managers that they don't need to take an active part in employment branding because the advertising will suffice. Any advertising emphasis might reduce the number of employer referrals and the willingness of managers to speak at conferences and to respond to reporters' calls.
- S& Q/ Z3 q l$ dAds appear desperate. Paid advertising might send a message that your firm is desperate. Some might see advertising as neutral or harmless, but the fact is that if you want a great employment brand, you need to avoid it like the plague. Tooting your own horn through any "paid channel" may actually hurt your employment brand.
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Articles are widely read. Most top performers don't read ads, yet they are almost always interested in learning about best practices. This means that they will read and pay attention to articles and case studies written by neutral professionals in their field. The same premise holds for presentations at conferences where attendees assume that presenters are closely screened, so that only factual information about industry-leading practices is presented.
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Advertising can't tell a story. Anyone who knows anything about product branding already knows that the best product brands are built through powerful stories based on "personal experience," usually spread from one product user to another. The same is true of employment branding. Nothing is more likely to be listened to, believed, and passed along to others than a great story that illustrates what it's like to work at a particular firm. Stories can best be spread in articles, in person, and during presentations. Unfortunately, ads are one of the weakest mechanisms for spreading great and credible stories.
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' w- @' |4 O! S( n2 {Advertising is not interactive. Because of the high costs, almost all advertising must be brief. Thus, its limited amount of information minimizes the ability to tell a company's "story" in-depth. Instead, customize the story with the necessary details to meet the needs of each individual. Employees can best spread the word by answering questions, going into more or less depth as necessary, and giving specific information to each individual. Have employees spread this detailed information at conferences, via e-mail, and through the most powerful tool, the employee referral program.
. p$ W3 \1 C2 ]) T5 ^0 S' eSlogans aren't enough. Many advertising-oriented firms push to develop a cute slogan to sell the company. Unfortunately, top performers are not impressed with slogans. Instead, they need real, detailed information that differentiates the management practices of your firm from the others. It might require compelling stories, real examples, and hard data to prove that your firm is superior. What doesn't work is simply declaring yourself as an "employer of choice" or espousing that you have "work-life balance" in an ad or on your website.
