Employer Branding: Your guiding light in stormy conditions (continued)

Get back to basics and get them right
It may be difficult for organisations to shift their focus from the effects of storm battered markets but the situation will end sooner or later, just like it always has done. The big question on everyone’s minds is when will it improve?

When distressed market conditions dictate that recruitment activities are temporarily shelved, the more astute companies crank up their engagement and retention machines. They will recognise that core employer branding principles are now more valuable and necessary than ever before. The ability to attract correct-fit talent, satisfy them that the organisation has solid prospects and engage them with experiences that inspire them to produce their best work and motivate them to stay has become a determining factor in an organisation’s ability to achieve and sustain success.

Judging from past experience, once the media decides that the worst is over, that we can breathe again and start the rebuilding process, we will witness a race to regain lost ground and re-engage with the jobs market. Those employers that have done their homework and honed their employment offer will be the ones attracting the cream of new talent and forging ahead with a committed and resilient workforce.

So where do you start? This is the time to stop worrying and to start planning. It’s time to get back to basics, strengthen your employer brand and ensure your own employees and key external audiences are exposed to it and recognise its value. Make sure it is differentiated once and for all from those of your competitors. Put your efforts into gaining an in-depth understanding of your employer brand and what it is capable of achieving.

1/. Employee Value Proposition
If you don’t have a well defined Employee Value Proposition (EVP) in place you are severely disadvantaged. An EVP sits at the heart of your employer brand. It is what your employment ‘experience’ delivers on functional and emotional levels – the essence of what makes you different and attractive as an employer. At Heywood Innovation the EVP model we embrace as part of our EmployerBrandGuidanceSystem comprises the EVP as the ‘beam’ supported by 12 ‘pillars’ as shown in the illustration.  

These pillars represent the essentials that must be addressed in your employment offer.

2/. Communicate with your employees
Be honest. Tell them the truth. Don’t gloss over the reality of the situation and don’t pretend the company is immune to the changing market conditions, because they just won’t believe you. Be open and transparent. Reassure them. Explain simply and clearly the steps you are taking to address the changes. Tell your employees how much you value them and the important role they play in the organisation’s future. This should come from the organisation’s leader and be reinforced by group leaders all the way through the organisation.

3/. Take engagement with employees to the next level
What steps did you take to engage and motivate your staff before the market downturn? If they were proving less than effective, then I recommend you quickly review the reasons why and make improvements, because the coming months will prove a considerable test. Do you know to what extent employees are engaged and motivated? If not, it makes sense to find out now and plan accordingly.

4/. Don’t stop marketing
If you stop marketing your employment offer into the jobs market, future job candidates and your own employees may fear the worst and conclude that all is not well. If your competitors have stopped marketing their presence in the jobs market, take advantage of this and gain the upper hand by being top of mind when conditions improve.

5/. Reduce your recruitment and training costs
As organisations count the cost of staying in business and trying to make headway, positioned near the top of the list is the significant investment paid to recruiters to source new talent and the associated internal costs of inducting and training these people. These processes will be increasingly scrutinised.

My predictions for 2009 are that:

> more recruitment activities will be brought in-house
> induction processes will be reviewed and more closely aligned with employer brands that are well defined
> a new generation of intranet will appear that is more interactive with employees and is seen as a communications tool rather than an information repository
> internal communications will become more frequent and constantly reinforce the organisation’s values, vision and commitment to its employees
> 2009 will be the year when the value of employer branding rises considerably and claims a greater share of an organisation’s annual budget

Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg

10 essential considerations for your employer brand

1    Employer emphasis has shifted significantly from recruitment to engagement and retention. Employers now realise more than ever that employees are the life blood of their organisation and can make the difference between success and failure.
2     The ongoing strength of an organisation’s brand relies heavily on its ability to maintain communication with employees and address concerns regarding their employer’s ability to withstand the downturn and protect job security.
3    Companies are looking for ways to reduce recruitment costs. Reducing costs however, is not about less communication and less marketing. It is about looking at ways to be more efficient and perform more recruitment tasks in-house.  
4    The downturn will differentiate those organisations that adopt a defensive stance from those that embrace the opportunity to engage with their employees and strengthen resistance to adverse market forces.
5    A new style of company leader will emerge who is people-focused and can inspire employees to make deeper commitments to their employer. These newly engaged and motivated companies will be the leaders in 2009 and beyond.
6    Employer branding will be recognised as a critical complement to a company’s corporate brand. An increasing proportion of advertising and marketing budgets will be channelled into employee focused activities.
7    Companies who define and strengthen their employment proposition, and the promise they make to their employees, will be favourably positioned ahead of competitors when markets recover.
8    Recruitment companies will increasingly realise the value of employer branding to themselves and to their clients. They will stimulate closer relationships with practitioners of employer branding, particularly those with end-to-end service offerings.
9    Employees will expect their employer to be open, truthful and consistent in what they say and what they do. Alignment is very important – the recruitment promise with the employment experience, and the corporate brand with the employer brand.
10    Organisations will increasingly realise that people are the essential fabric of their business and critical to future business success. Consequently they will commission on an ongoing basis deep research on how candidate and employees perceive the employment experience, with a view to monitoring the results and realigning where necessary to optimise those perceptions.

Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg

Focus on growth

Despite the doom and gloom pervading the markets there are still plenty of companies focused on growth. The smarter ones realise that this can only be achieved with top talent on board - working in harmony and suitably inspired by the organisation they are employed by.

To achieve this requires that you brand your organisation as a truly sensational place to work and then prove it. When companies are under stress top talent turns its eye to new opportunities - namely those companies who can shrug off the effects of the recession and leverage their people’s skills to get ahead of competitors and gain market share.

Taking on top talent when markets are distressed can have an extraordinary effect on an organisation. It can rejuvenate and provide inspiration and new impetus to move forward.

What steps does an organisation need to take during a recession to prove it is an exceptional employer?

> consider a four day working week to reduce operational costs and reduce the potential of redundancies - the work/life balance may be greatly appreciated
> remember that top talent is attracted to organisations who deliver a combination of security, sustainability, vision and innovation
> define and promote the benefits of your Employee Value Proposition at every opportunity - remember that your employer brand has to work harder now than ever before and must be fully optimised
> maintain or even increase exposure of the benefits of working in your organisation - it is essential not to let your awareness fall away, either internally or externally
> review your online employer branding/recruitment presence - is it portraying you accurately and effectively as an attractive employment proposition?
> keep an eye on what competitors are doing - don’t let them get ahead of you while you are distracted
> review and upgrade where necessary your preventative health programs
> consider letting employees work from home to minimise travel expenses
> now is a good time to review your induction materials for consistency with the main employment proposition you are promoting to the market
> meet with your recruiter to review your recruitment strategy in line with the changed markets and your changing requirements
> take the opportunity to find out how well the recruiter understands your employer brand
> look for every opportunity to communicate employment benefits to employees and keep them updated on how the organisation is managing the economic downturn
> review your intranet - is it giving employees the information and insight they need to fulfill their role?
> focus on promoting to employees the organisation’s stability, security, innovation and growth opportunities
> above all else be true to your brand promise - who you are, what you are, what you are capable of and what you can offer, and then go after those people who will be most attracted to it and will dovetail into the organisation

Now is a good time to foster relationships with graduates - get your name in front of them and identify the most talented individuals.

The need for a skilled workforce will only increase when we climb out of the recession. There is much discussion on the facts that here in Australia in the next few years there will be an increase in the demand for skilled workers compounded by the retiring generation of baby boomers.

There is nothing like a good round of cost cutting and retrenchments to kill trust and loyalty from employees and prompt them to look for other opportunities. And it is a hard job to rebuild that trust and loyalty.

Remember that the cure for diminishing employee engagement starts with more and better communication. 

Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg