Did we tell you that Employer Branding is not just an HR initiative? Point of fact, Employer Branding is more than an HR-initiative – it’s a key business strategy. When a key business strategy touches all aspects of the employee life cycle – it makes sense for HR to be a key player. Here are 5 reasons why HR should want to own Employer Branding:
1. It is a business strategy that will dramatically impact the way you recruit and engage talent
It’s not a process-oriented playbook, but a strategy aligned with business objectives. Employer Branding is not about administration. It elevates the role of Human Resources at your company and puts you clearly at that executive table, with all the accountability that goes along with it.
2. It is a long term strategy
Branding initiatives are not fads or short-term plans. It’s more than rolling out a marketing initiative or an advertising campaign. It is an ongoing approach to the way your company differentiates itself in the market place. The deliverables should be long-lasting and set your company up for success in the future. To successfully impact the bottom line, the branding initiative will need steering, measurement and ongoing recalibration.
3. Employer Branding addresses the top concerns of CEO’s
One of the things that keeps CEO’s up at night is the ability for their organization to attract and keep their talent. At the very base of it, employer branding addresses those concerns. Understanding and investing in the EVP will pay off in talent retention. Understanding what makes your organization different from your competition will help the company target new employees who share the same values, reducing new hire turnover and improving the company’s overall reputation in the market.
4. Employer Branding requires collaboration.
It fosters collaboration across business units at every level. If HR is leading the efforts, it will provide an opportunity to lead discussions across your peers and to help break down any silos that exist. These discussions will encourage departments to think more holistically, promoting innovation. Bringing everyone together to work on this critical business strategy opens the doors for ongoing cooperation on other initiatives.
5. HR has the expertise and the opportunity.
HR is generally responsible for the entire Employee Experience. From the recruitment efforts that introduce the potential candidate pool to the culture of the organization, to the development of senior leaders up through the ranks; HR has the opportunity, at each point in the employee lifecycle, to ensure that the employer brand is represented.
Through ongoing conversations, engagement exercises, onboarding conversations, or individual development sessions, HR has access to the information and the expertise that will allow them to certify that the employer brand is authentic and is aligned to the real employee experience.
To be successful, HR will need to be aligned.
Leaders of this effort over the long haul will need to be fully engaged in ongoing communication. The specialists in each area of the employee life cycle will need to understand how the branding strategy success will be measured in their area of expertise (recruitment, compensation and benefits, training and development and others). This opportunity to sit at the executive table and collaborate with leaders across the organization will increase the visibility of the HR functions and the positive impact on the overall bottom line.
