Growing importance of employer brands

We are told that we are going through a phase of ‘big resignation’. There is also a word about what is called ‘quiet resignation’. Companies want to call white-collar employees back to office but are facing a serious pushback. And then there is the issue of ‘moonlighting’, an employee working on two or more assignments at the same time. How can companies manage the transition from WFH to at least two days’ WFO and improved employee involvement? Can understanding and managing your employer brand help?

What is ‘employer brand’ and how is it different from all other types of branding we learn about?

If you are a company, big or small, you have customers to appeal to. So you build your customer-facing brand. Then you may have the financial markets, regulators and media to manage — for that you need a corporate brand. Leaders in a company are conscious about their personal brands. In the last two decades, there has been a growing need for companies to attract and manage talent. Will you be able to attract good talent and retain them just on the basis of your corporate brand (high ROI, share price appreciation, etc.) or your consumer brand (trustworthy products, good value products, etc.) or the personal brand of key leaders? Not really.

The term ‘employer brand’ was first defined in the mid-1990s, says Richard Mosley (CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding; HBR, May 11, 2015). Employer brand is the organisation’s reputation as an employer as against its more general corporate brand image. The importance of building a strong employer brand rose in the 2000s since there was increasing competition to attract and retain talent. Companies realised that a good corporate reputation may help in talent management, but more was needed. This led to the development of employee value proposition (EVP), which defined the key benefits offered by a company as an employer (as against shareholder or consumer).

In order to understand employer branding, global research organisations started offering surveys and ratings (such as the great places to work). In addition, there was a rush to study the engagement levels of employees in companies; it was found that in most companies more than 50 per cent of the employees were actively disengaged.

Employer branding was further broken down into four broad dimensions: pay/advancement opportunities; job characteristics; employer reputation/image and people/culture. A strong employer brand will score well across all these four dimensions.

For many years managing employer branding was in the hands of the human resources department. But a report indicates that today 60 per cent of the CEOs feel that this responsibility rests with the CEO’s office. Some CEOs feel that marketing needs to manage employer branding as well, just as they manage the consumer branding efforts.

Where does one start on this journey?

I suppose the first step is to understand the current reputation of the company with employees and prospective employees. The next step is to try and define what EVP (just as consumer branding has its customer value proposition) is. Then comes the task of living this promise every day. Use of social media in a proactive manner will help engage with prospective employees. Town halls can be used to engage with current employees. Some companies also encourage forums that allow past employees to meet and share thoughts (hire-back is also in vogue). Finally, employer branding is not to be left to HR or marketing. Every department needs to know that they play a role in building and nourishing the employer brand.

I suppose it is important for companies to realise that employer branding is not the same as corporate branding or consumer branding or personal branding of their leaders. Just as consumer and corporate branding have their many dimensions, so does employer branding. Ignore it at your own peril.

Ambi Parameswaran is independent brand coach and author of the new book, All The World’s A Stage — A Personal Branding Story, reaching bookstores on October 17, 2022