The media are convinced about it and the Liberal Party is too. Australia is experiencing a downturn. Interest rates are up, house sales are stagnant, petrol prices are high, retailers are taking out second mortgages, tunnel operators are going broke, tourists are staying away in droves, Macquarie Bank and B&B aren’t as vocal as they used to be and even Harvey Norman’s getting worried. So, as we cringe when the ‘empty’ light on the petrol gauge suddenly illuminates, scrutinise the small car ads, scowl at the price of vegetables for the family dinner and plan a nice holiday in a caravan park close to home... let’s look at what’s happening in the world of employment.
A skills shortage still remains. If you can operate a bulldozer in a quarry or help engineer a new mineshaft, you’ve got it made. For the rest of the country though, the good times are rapidly disappearing about as fast as our ability to beat the All Blacks on their home turf. When things get tough with the economy, companies batten down the hatches, relieve themselves of poor performers and misfits, and job ads start to disappear.
Employers’ focus is now on keeping their top employees engaged and happy. Replacing good employees who leave is going to become much harder. This is where employer branding comes to the fore.
When things start getting tough in the jobs market, employees tend to stay put. Moving becomes more of a risk. The trend will be for employers to take stock of who in the company is performing and who isn’t. Guess what’s going to happen to those who aren’t performing? They’re the ones who are going to be out there looking for new jobs. And if you’re not careful, you’ll be the employer who they finish up with! One thing is certain, the good employees will still be asking for more money. And they’re going to be more confident that they will be harder to replace in the current climate.
So where does that leave you as a responsible and concerned employer? The strength of your employer brand is going to be under greater scrutiny. More than ever will you need to demonstrate that you are differentiated by having a strong employment proposition based around a solid reputation, values, vision and messages that you are communicating effectively both internally and to the marketplace.
Those companies with strong employer brands will gain significant advantage by being able to keep in place high performing talent. How strong is yours? In these changing times, it is now critical to invest in your company’s future by protecting your most important asset – your employees.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Which Employer Branding Consultant?
Employer branding – is it a lot of hot air? What happened to the creative content?
If you need help with employer branding challenges there are three options available.
1/. The recruiter/employer branding consultant
This category of consultant has arisen from the need for recruiters to:
a/. look for an additional revenue stream,
b/. get better results from their recruiting efforts, and
c/. help clients enhance their employment proposition.
By leveraging existing relationships with clients on a recruiter level, their main focus is to help clients develop an EVP (Employee Value Proposition). In my experience, these can be developed quite proficiently, usually involving workshops with employees from various levels within the organisation. The consultant then analyses the results and creates the EVP, which is handed over in report form. End of story.
What confounds me about this approach is that it makes little sense if the report provides no guidance on how the brand can be expressed creatively with messaging and imagery. Yes, the client can hand the report over to their incumbent designer, but not many designers have a competent understanding of employer branding. If they have not been part of the process from the beginning they are at a distinct disadvantage and it tends to show in the results.
Conclusion: they only go so far.
2/. The employer branding consultant
There are consultants out there who are good at the all-encompassing one-day employer branding marathon presentation. They tend to focus on the speaking circuit and writing books on the subject and spend little time practising what they preach.
The better known ones take great pains to inform you that the ‘song and dance routine’ is being replicated at many exciting overseas venues and that they are an award-winning king/queen of the rostrum. These presentations or workshops can be useful if you are looking for a comprehensive information dump on best practice procedures and thinking on an intellectual level.
Their Achilles heel is that they inevitably have no expertise to advise and implement solutions on the necessary creative aspects of employer branding and communication.
Conclusion: they only go so far.
3/. Heywood Innovation
We adopt a holistic approach to building employer brands. We are fortunate in having comprehensive skillsets within our team that cover research, workshops, EVP creation, strategic and creative brand development, communications and brand management. We are confident that our 9-stage EmployerBrandGuidanceSystem has no equal as an end-to-end solution. Our facilitated TeamPlanSystem workshops are dynamic and fast-paced. They are the definitive process for gaining buy-in, generating ideas and perspective, and motivating attendees to focus on issues and opportunities.
Successful employer branding is about the harsh reality of attracting, engaging and retaining top talent with an attractive employment proposition. To achieve this demands more than lashings of theory or an EVP report landing on your desk.
Conclusion: you need expert ‘end-to-end’ help.
If your employer brand needs some work, contact Tony Heywood at Heywood Innovation.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
If you need help with employer branding challenges there are three options available.
1/. The recruiter/employer branding consultant
This category of consultant has arisen from the need for recruiters to:
a/. look for an additional revenue stream,
b/. get better results from their recruiting efforts, and
c/. help clients enhance their employment proposition.
By leveraging existing relationships with clients on a recruiter level, their main focus is to help clients develop an EVP (Employee Value Proposition). In my experience, these can be developed quite proficiently, usually involving workshops with employees from various levels within the organisation. The consultant then analyses the results and creates the EVP, which is handed over in report form. End of story.
What confounds me about this approach is that it makes little sense if the report provides no guidance on how the brand can be expressed creatively with messaging and imagery. Yes, the client can hand the report over to their incumbent designer, but not many designers have a competent understanding of employer branding. If they have not been part of the process from the beginning they are at a distinct disadvantage and it tends to show in the results.
Conclusion: they only go so far.
2/. The employer branding consultant
There are consultants out there who are good at the all-encompassing one-day employer branding marathon presentation. They tend to focus on the speaking circuit and writing books on the subject and spend little time practising what they preach.
The better known ones take great pains to inform you that the ‘song and dance routine’ is being replicated at many exciting overseas venues and that they are an award-winning king/queen of the rostrum. These presentations or workshops can be useful if you are looking for a comprehensive information dump on best practice procedures and thinking on an intellectual level.
Their Achilles heel is that they inevitably have no expertise to advise and implement solutions on the necessary creative aspects of employer branding and communication.
Conclusion: they only go so far.
3/. Heywood Innovation
We adopt a holistic approach to building employer brands. We are fortunate in having comprehensive skillsets within our team that cover research, workshops, EVP creation, strategic and creative brand development, communications and brand management. We are confident that our 9-stage EmployerBrandGuidanceSystem has no equal as an end-to-end solution. Our facilitated TeamPlanSystem workshops are dynamic and fast-paced. They are the definitive process for gaining buy-in, generating ideas and perspective, and motivating attendees to focus on issues and opportunities.
Successful employer branding is about the harsh reality of attracting, engaging and retaining top talent with an attractive employment proposition. To achieve this demands more than lashings of theory or an EVP report landing on your desk.
Conclusion: you need expert ‘end-to-end’ help.
If your employer brand needs some work, contact Tony Heywood at Heywood Innovation.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
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