Powerhouse organizations invest consumer brand strategies that will not simply attract new customers, but will build loyal, engaged customers that consistently talk with pride about the emotional connection that they have with the brand and the company.

Similarly, “an investment in employer brand strategy should never be just about attracting new talent, but also the power of building loyal, engaged employees that consistently talk with pride about the emotional connection that they have with the culture and the company. “ Leandra Harris, Managing Director, Blu Ivy Group.

Employer branding is gaining so much momentum because of its power to impact the overall HR strategy, culture and business performance –There is little doubt that employer brand strategy will soon have equal weight and impact on organizational performance as does corporate branding.  Let’s be clear though, this will not happen by simply uncovering an EVP, building a tagline or even a fantastic recruitment marketing campaign.

True cultural and business impact will come from the alignment of that EVP and employer brand promise in all aspects of the employee lifecycle.  True cultural change management will not happen from recruitment marketing, social media content and candidate experience programs alone. It needs to come from the top down. This takes a concerted effort, focus and employer brand change management expertise.

Here are 3 ways that your organization can begin to align your leadership team to the EVP:

Communication

Although most companies have a mission and vision statement, and clearly articulated values, there are few organizations whereby the entire leadership team, let alone the employees can clearly articulate what they are.  In hundreds of interviews, workshops and surveys, this gap consistently emerges. It is no wonder then, that communications are often cited as one of the key areas requiring improvement in a company. It may not be about how much is being communicated, but what employees want to hear about.

Top performing brands go beyond the Mission, Vision and Values statements. They have identified a shared purpose and employee value proposition. That emotional reason why people get out of bed and come in to the office every day. The recognition of what your employees value in the employment experience are critical drivers of corporate performance and engagement.

“The task of leadership is to communicate clearly and repeatedly the organization’s vision…all with the intent of helping every person involved understand what work needs to be done and why, and what part the individual plays in the overall effort.” James O’Toole, author of Leadership from A to Z.

“I would add that all leaders should be consistently communicating the employee value proposition and its role in steering ongoing investment in people, communications and recognition programs.  This is critical to integrating the EVP into the company vernacular and evolving into a best in class culture.  Employees need to know that leaders are equally committed to market share growth, shareholder return AND the employee experience.” Stacy Parker, Blu Ivy Group

Consistency is critical. The best practice is to ensure that the EVP and employer brand strategy and evolution is communicated not only at town halls but in all divisional monthly updates, talent programs, organizational updates, and restructuring changes.  Consider a variety of communication platforms including in person, internal content and storytelling, press releases, video messaging, and employee recognition announcements.

Leadership Training and Onboarding

So much time is spent focused on the development and onboarding of non-leadership talent, but there are real costs and impact to the employer brand if new leaders are not properly on-boarded and developed through each stage of their growth.

Research indicates that close to 40% of all new leaders fail within 18 months of starting a new job at a new employer. That failure rate increases to more than 50% for leaders that are coming from outside of the industry.  Now when you consider the costs to the organization for that turnover, the impact on employee productivity, the impact on leadership trust and culture, you are looking at costs that far exceed 10x that leader’s first year salary.

Before new leaders begin to modify strategy, redirect employees, organizational structures and activities, it is imperative that they understand the employee value proposition, the promise and commitment that the organization is looking for from management to ensure a consistent employee experience. Leaders and new managers need to understand their role in both communicating, modelling and integrating that EVP into all of their business strategy.

When new leaders and managers are on-boarded poorly, they will rarely reach their full potential often because the understanding of purpose, EVP and behaviours are so critical to the impressions made within the first six months of a leader joining.

As organizations will typically hire and promote managers and leaders for skills, and often times technical expertise, it is critical to provide them the training, onboarding and mentoring required to deliver a branded employee experience. This is not a week one, training program, but is rather an ongoing coaching and review process to ensure you are building best in class leaders, a high performing business and highly engaged culture.

We suggest having an executive and management level onboarding coach. This coach should ensure that among other things, there is a clear leadership agenda identified, with employer brand, EVP, Purpose, Mission, Vision and Overarching strategy identified.

Leaders that are aligned on the employer brand and its ultimate value to a top performing culture ensure a much more rapid shift to a best in class employer brand.

Performance Management & Recognition

Finally we recommend building the employee value proposition into leadership performance management and recognition. Leaders care passionately about delivering what they are most often measured on. When leaders are measured on the delivery of the employment brand experience, it becomes even clearer to talent that your organization lives the brand promise and is transparent in its efforts.

Often time’s engagement scores have been used as a part of a leadership assessment. Those scores can potentially impact overall recognition and financial rewards, but often the impact is negligible. What in turn happens is an inconsistency in the investment that leaders make in helping to build a best in class culture.

Look to what your EVP and employer promise is. Use 360 reviews to measure and analyze how consistently leaders are delivering that employee experience within their divisions and across teams. The more consistently and pervasively the employer brand experience is delivered and measured, the greater return on investment an organization will have.

Leadership play a critical role in how successfully the EVP impacts engagement, productivity, ambassadorship, customer loyalty and corporate performance. This ROI is what has lead more organizations to recognize that the investment in employer brand is equally if not more powerful than the investment in the corporate brand.

Great cultures depend on great people leaders across all divisions, regardless of function. Great cultures require a branded employee experience and promise. Ensure your leadership team understand the impact that their role will make in delivering, communicating and improving that employer brand experience.

Every brand, leader, workplace and employee is human. Your leadership team is not only needed to deliver that human experience, they are hungry to deliver it effectively. They are hungry for a purpose greater than profit.

About Blu Ivy

Blu Ivy Group is a leading employer branding and employee engagement consultancy that aligns your organization with contemporary workplace paradigms. Blu Ivy Group’s mission is to help client’s build award-winning people practices, inspire extraordinary employee engagement, and cultivate unique and desirable workplaces.

Blu Ivy Group provides integrated solutions in employer brand and engagement research, strategic consulting, employer brand integration, creative and talent communications.

Blu Ivy Group is a trusted partner to many of North America’s most respected employer brands. For more information, go to www.bluivygroup.com