Based on these figures sourced by the Employer Branding Institute, you could be forgiven for thinking that many employers don’t really care too much for their employees. Or aren’t they aware of this ‘employer branding thing’? Is it a new phenomenon in the developed world only embraced by the biggest of corporate achievers? Is it too expensive to entertain by ordinary companies? Will it distract HR managers from their recruiting tasks and holding exit interviews? Is it not on the CEO’s vision-for-the-future agenda? Was it a good idea that got swept under the carpet when these recessionary times hit home? Are employers sitting on the fence waiting to see if it can make the early adopters some money and keep employees in their place? Do they think it’s an overnight sensation and will be quietly forgotten in 2010? Is it a new Chinese idea designed to corrupt the minds of honest workers? Is it something those good people from McKinsey dreamed up in their lunch hour? Is it a crank idea published on Youtube by geeks working in the Social Sciences Dept at Manchester University? Are they confusing it with Facebook? Is Tom Cruise promoting it? Are they adopting the stance “We’ve already got a logo and a Flash website and we don’t need another one”? “We bought one on the internet and it only cost US$49”. “The CEO’s wife says that they should be happy to work for us”. “We’ll perhaps try it next year when we have more time”. “Our competitors don’t have one so there doesn’t seem much point in us having one”. “We have to get the car park re-surfaced which is our No.1 priority right now”. “We’ll have one so long as it doesn’t conflict with the staff Christmas Party”. “Can we have one for a trial period?” “Does it come with a guarantee?” “Our new uni graduate studied employer branding so I guess we’re OK for the moment thanks”. “Is this EVP stuff something your company has dreamt up?” “This other crowd came in to see us last week and they’re selling employer brands for $2,500, and they’re including a free course in NLP”. “Our sales team are dead against anything that takes up their valuable time and hampers their sales efforts”. “My PA looked at your literature, laughed and told me that employees only ever want one thing... more money”. “Sorry, we’ve already developed our own EVP with some help from our interior designers”. “We’d love to take you up on your offer of developing for us a new employer brand, but we’re just about to enter into a merger with another company – call us again this time next year”. “Our HR manager says she’s too stressed to think about employer branding right now”. “The CEO’s son is developing one for us as part of his school project”.
Where was I? Oh yes. You need a clearly defined strategy before you start off down the super highway to developing an effective employer brand. There are many potholes and a collapsed bridge waiting for the unwary. Just like M&A branding, the chances of success can be remarkably low if you don’t decide up front what and how much you want to get out of it. And it makes a whole heap of sense if the CEO and senior management are leading the process. It needs to be totally aligned with the organisation’s overall business strategy and not just a ‘one-off’ initiative from the marketing department. With some careful planning it will make a significant contribution to the organisation’s ability to attract, engage and retain talent.
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
*down from 37% – info received from Brett Minchington of renamed Employer Brand International
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
A powerful business tool
Believe it or not there are still some organisations out there who don’t rate employer branding in the ‘must have’ category (yet). They don’t even realise they have one and that it probably isn’t performing quite as well as it should. Do they spend all their time trying to get more customers to buy more product and wonder why it’s one long struggle? Do they wonder why the big advertising dollars they’ve entrusted to their advertising/communication/keepers-of-the-brand aren’t getting the results they want... or are they just blaming it all on the financial downturn? Did they commission research to find out from their customers and potential customers why they aren’t too enamoured with the product/brand on offer and why wallets/purses are remaining closed? Did they ever wonder if it might be something to do with the fact that employees haven’t been quite as engaged with their employer and job these last twelve months or so?
Employees have had it pretty tough this year. They’ve seen markets fall, companies go under, unemployment rise, promotion prospects die a death, house values plummet and disposable income reduce. No wonder sales teams are distracted and disengaged, morale is low and they don’t quite have the same enthusiasm to engage with customers the way they used to. They’ve lost faith in the organisation and what it used to stand for. They’re questioning its ability to survive/grow/provide for them excellent career prospects. They’re keeping their heads low or, if they’re really worried, scanning the employment pages. And it doesn’t help if employers aren’t too forthcoming with information on what’s happening with the business, thereby leaving employees in a bit of a vacuum. The future for many employees is presently looking a bit fuzzy, and will probably remain so for some time.
Customers have a knack of picking up on changes in companies, products and sales staff. They’re fickle and unforgiving. They want to believe sales staff are really enthusiastic about the product they’re selling, have complete faith in it and are being really honest about its attributes. That slightly disengaged look, the hesitation, the distant gaze, the forced smile, the curt responses... won’t sell product. The customer has second thoughts and walks away.
People sell products and services. They’re essential to the sales process and convincing customers that the brand is aligned with their needs and the product is something they really need to own.
There’s a big market readjustment going on out there. It’s called competitive advantage. In 2008 organisations were going at it hammer and tongs fighting the marketing wars striving to gain market advantage by optimising sales techniques, increasing advertising budgets etc ... all the usual stuff that goes on. This year much of that has gone out the window. Money is scarce. Everyone has pulled back so we’re lead to believe. Canny organisations however, those with vision who recognise that a distressed market is an opportunity to get ahead of the competition, are investing in their people right now to get them primed and pumped up to take advantage of the recovering markets and leave competitors behind. This is where the value of employer branding comes to the fore. Because as we all know... you start on the inside first don’t you? Unless you do, customers will never be inspired by your sales staff.
Unless sales staff engage with their employer, customers won’t engage with your sales staff, so they won’t engage with your product. And everything will grind to a halt. And we don’t want that now do we? I recommend that organisations channel some of those precious advertising dollars into something more immediate. It’s called employer branding.
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
Employees have had it pretty tough this year. They’ve seen markets fall, companies go under, unemployment rise, promotion prospects die a death, house values plummet and disposable income reduce. No wonder sales teams are distracted and disengaged, morale is low and they don’t quite have the same enthusiasm to engage with customers the way they used to. They’ve lost faith in the organisation and what it used to stand for. They’re questioning its ability to survive/grow/provide for them excellent career prospects. They’re keeping their heads low or, if they’re really worried, scanning the employment pages. And it doesn’t help if employers aren’t too forthcoming with information on what’s happening with the business, thereby leaving employees in a bit of a vacuum. The future for many employees is presently looking a bit fuzzy, and will probably remain so for some time.
Customers have a knack of picking up on changes in companies, products and sales staff. They’re fickle and unforgiving. They want to believe sales staff are really enthusiastic about the product they’re selling, have complete faith in it and are being really honest about its attributes. That slightly disengaged look, the hesitation, the distant gaze, the forced smile, the curt responses... won’t sell product. The customer has second thoughts and walks away.
People sell products and services. They’re essential to the sales process and convincing customers that the brand is aligned with their needs and the product is something they really need to own.
There’s a big market readjustment going on out there. It’s called competitive advantage. In 2008 organisations were going at it hammer and tongs fighting the marketing wars striving to gain market advantage by optimising sales techniques, increasing advertising budgets etc ... all the usual stuff that goes on. This year much of that has gone out the window. Money is scarce. Everyone has pulled back so we’re lead to believe. Canny organisations however, those with vision who recognise that a distressed market is an opportunity to get ahead of the competition, are investing in their people right now to get them primed and pumped up to take advantage of the recovering markets and leave competitors behind. This is where the value of employer branding comes to the fore. Because as we all know... you start on the inside first don’t you? Unless you do, customers will never be inspired by your sales staff.
Unless sales staff engage with their employer, customers won’t engage with your sales staff, so they won’t engage with your product. And everything will grind to a halt. And we don’t want that now do we? I recommend that organisations channel some of those precious advertising dollars into something more immediate. It’s called employer branding.
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
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Do employees have a high regard for a company’s commitment to CSR?
Just when you thought you’d mastered corporate governance... CSR arrives on the scene.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines it as ‘... the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development, while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large’.
The Australian Human Rights Commission describes it as ‘corporations having a degree of responsibility not only for the economic consequences of their activities, but also for the social and environmental implications.’
No longer is it sufficient to simply provide jobs, pay taxes and provide customer service. It’s all about your organisation committing itself to the present and future wellbeing of society, and actively supporting a sustainable global economy. CSR is widely recognised as a major contributor to company reputation – and we all know how important that is to business success – inevitably impacting on share price and product sales.
Potential employees are more likely to seek out organisations who can demonstrate a commitment to CSR. An organisation’s CSR activities can have a measurable influence on employee morale and retention. Employees who are satisfied with their organisation’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility are likely to be more positive, more engaged and more productive than those working for less responsible employers.
Ask yourself this. How highly is your organisation regarded in the local community? What measure does it take to protect the environment? Does it actively support good causes? Does it look after its employees? Does it have a reputation for caring?
There is increasing demand for organisations to be more open, more accountable and willing to report publicly on their performance in social and environmental arenas – no matter what their size or activities.
Common views on CSR range from...
‘It is fundamental to the positive reputation a business builds in the minds of its employees’
‘It distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses’
‘It is nothing more than superficial window-dressing’
‘It is an attempt to place more control over powerful multinational corporations’
“Organisations with no measurable commitment to CSR are less likely to attract top performers”
What is your view?
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
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines it as ‘... the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development, while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large’.
The Australian Human Rights Commission describes it as ‘corporations having a degree of responsibility not only for the economic consequences of their activities, but also for the social and environmental implications.’
No longer is it sufficient to simply provide jobs, pay taxes and provide customer service. It’s all about your organisation committing itself to the present and future wellbeing of society, and actively supporting a sustainable global economy. CSR is widely recognised as a major contributor to company reputation – and we all know how important that is to business success – inevitably impacting on share price and product sales.
Potential employees are more likely to seek out organisations who can demonstrate a commitment to CSR. An organisation’s CSR activities can have a measurable influence on employee morale and retention. Employees who are satisfied with their organisation’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility are likely to be more positive, more engaged and more productive than those working for less responsible employers.
Ask yourself this. How highly is your organisation regarded in the local community? What measure does it take to protect the environment? Does it actively support good causes? Does it look after its employees? Does it have a reputation for caring?
There is increasing demand for organisations to be more open, more accountable and willing to report publicly on their performance in social and environmental arenas – no matter what their size or activities.
Common views on CSR range from...
‘It is fundamental to the positive reputation a business builds in the minds of its employees’
‘It distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses’
‘It is nothing more than superficial window-dressing’
‘It is an attempt to place more control over powerful multinational corporations’
“Organisations with no measurable commitment to CSR are less likely to attract top performers”
What is your view?
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
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