ATTRACT, ENGAGE, REGAIN
Preparing, implementing and measuring an effective employer brand requires the combined efforts of a variety of communicators. What does research carried out in partnership with Emperor and Rethink Group reveal?
Emily Andrews investigates
A company’s employer brand is its ticket to the best staff, the best company culture and the best reputation. Companies are recognising the importance of putting employer brand firmly on the corporate agenda, yet, as research conducted by Communicate magazine in partnership with Emperor, a corporate and brand communications agency, and Rethink Group, a recruitment and talent management company, shows, organisations have yet to understand how best to implement and measure a strong employer brand.
The surveys, conducted in the UK and Ireland, show that the majority of organisations are committed to the strategic development and continual management of their employer brand, yet most concede that there is still work to be done. For 85% of UK survey respondents, employer brand management is on the corporate agenda, the same is true for 73% of Irish respondents. Some companies might not refer to this agenda as employer brand, they may just regard it as one aspect of their overarching brand strategy, or they may refer to it as the employee value proposition (EVP), but essentially, the employer brand is the brand as experienced by current and potential employees.
At events run alongside the employer brand management research, communicators from a number of well-known brands including Post Office, Deloitte, Paddy Power and Tesco, were able to share their personal experiences of employer brand. One attendee said, “For us it is about every single person in the company feeling that they represent our brand, that they are engaged with it, that they are proud of it and that they want to go out and talk about it.”
The study shows that in the majority of organisations, responsibility for employer brand lies with the HR team, the corporate communications team or the CEO and leadership team; it doesn’t matter too much who takes responsibility for an organisation’s employer brand although ownership from the executive team is crucial. Those attending the invitation-only events in the UK and Ireland were from a range of different roles and backgrounds from marketing to HR to recruitment.
Employer brand’s greatest purpose, according to the study, is the attraction and retention of talent. For attraction, letting prospective employees know about a company’s strong internal culture is a key challenge. One senior in-house professional said, “What we’re now realising is that, although we’ve got this amazing culture internally, we don’t tend to shout about it, so no one else knows.”
External stakeholders’ perceptions of a brand can sometimes get in the way of effective recruitment. Now that almost every major brand needs people with strong digital skills, such as web developers, some brands that are not traditionally associated with this line of work can struggle to secure the best talent. A representative from a company in the financial sector said, “To a degree, we have a very receptive audience type. They will come to us in certain areas for certain roles, which we don’t struggle to fill (If anything, it’s more about how we get to the best of those people.).
“For us it is about every single person in the company feeling that they represent our brand, that they are engaged with it, that they are proud of it and that they want to go out and talk about it”
But then there are entire other areas, particularly in digital- and technology-focused roles, where the history of the firm has not been associated with those kind of roles. How do we go up against a Google or a Facebook and say, actually, we are the place to build your digital career or technology career?” A degree of bravery is required for brands to talk about the work they’re doing and to share their company culture with external audiences. The strength of company culture among existing employees can also improve perception of the brand externally. Ultimately, the employer brand journey should be a joined-up one and the employee is a potential brand ambassador, as well as a consumer in many cases. Retention is a key issue and one that gets brand and communications professionals speaking about Millennials and the unique challenges that they present. One of the factors used to define the Millennial generation is the importance they place on sustainability and CSR, due to a wider interest in ethics and values. They also favour an exciting career path with plenty of new opportunities. In this group, retention is of particular concern. The younger generation tend to move on faster so it is important for companies to engage them with the brand.
One event attendee said, “We’re adapting to the new graduate market. We know that they will probably be gone within two or three years, but we’re trying to get value while they’re with us in the short term. We accept that people are going to leave but we want them to go off, spread the brand and then come back.” Some organisations are looking at schoolleavers, rather than graduates, because they believe there is greater loyalty in this group. Another professional described having the opposite problem to retention; disgruntled employees who have served the brand their whole life, are unhappy with the way the industry has changed and are unmotivated, but who will stay in their roles until retirement despite this. In general however, people tend not to stay in jobs as long. Therefore, retention is no longer one of the best ways to measure the strength of an employer brand.
The survey shows that cost and quality of hire are considered the most popular means for measuring the effectiveness of employer brand management in Ireland and internal surveys are ranked as the most popular means for measuring the effectiveness of employer brand management in the UK.
However, at both events, there was a general misunderstanding of how to measure employer brand. For many, employer brand is in its infancy and organisations do not yet have a measurement strategy in place. Companies should consider that effective measurement relies on it commencing before new procedures are put in place. The earlier the better. 
A surprising, and perhaps alarming, finding of the employer brand research is that nearly half of all UK respondents describe internal awareness of brand values as average, low, or very low. In Ireland that reached as high as 75% of respondents. Therefore, a huge priority for brands is to work on their internal communications and on maintaining a strong company culture beyond the head office.
One event attendee said, “We have a few hundred people that work until two in the morning in a call centre. It’s probably our biggest team of people. There’s high attrition; it’s just a pure call centre environment. How do you make people embody brand values when they’re just there to do a job, rather than a career?” This kind of set-up isn’t rare and it can be difficult to engage staff members who are working out of necessity rather than for career progression.
The survey shows that internal teams and senior management are credited with having the greatest influence on the creation and development of brand values; it is up to management to ensure that they spend time communicating and engaging with staff.
Once a brand achieves a strong culture internally, it must then be communicated to external audiences. To create that consistent brand journey, the brand itself needs strong roots and an identity that preferably stems from the staff itself. An overarching brand will keep a company strong during times of change, will help in the attraction and retention of talent and will make it stand out from its competitors.
