Organizations generally have good intentions when building an employer branding strategy. Unfortunately, there are a number of strategic mistakes we see employers make with their employer brand all too often. These critical errors can result in an employer brand lacking authenticity and negative outcomes such as damaged employee trust and reduced productivity.
Mistake #1 – Making Assumptions about the Employee Experience
Your employer brand narrative needs to reflect what your team loves about their workplace. It’s all too easy for HR and senior leaders to make assumptions about the employee experience and move forward with a strategy based on what they perceive to be valued by employees.
Unbiased research with all key stakeholders (employees, external talent, leadership, vendors and customers) is critical the first step in building a strong foundation for your employer brand. When your employee value proposition reflects what employees truly value about working at your organization, employees will better connect with your employer brand and you will be in a position to develop an employer brand strategy to drive business results.
Mistake #2 – Strategy Misalignment and Lack of Executive Commitment
What keeps your CEO up at night? Talent. We hear this from senior level executives all the time. Yet there is a frequent disconnect between talent acquisition, engagement, productivity and business strategies. Employer brand is a core business strategy for good reason – it aligns talent and business strategies to drive bottom line results.
When leadership begins to understand the power of a fully coordinated approach to talent, amazing things start to happen. An executive champion and employer brand team made up of senior executives from Human Resources, Marketing and communications will build organizational commitment and produce high quality employer brand outcomes.
Mistake #3 Treating Employer Branding as Recruitment Marketing
Every organization wants a great careers website and talent attraction tools – but taglines and cool videos do not make an employer brand. It can be a challenge to hold off on these creative elements when the urgency in a refreshed employer brand is strong.
Creative assets are an investment which will be wasted if your content doesn’t resonate with the right audience. Take the time to make sure you’ve uncovered an accurate employee value proposition before proceeding with taglines or creative.
Don’t let these employer branding mistakes haunt your organization! Take a good look at your approach to employer brand strategy and the authenticity of the underlying EVP.
Happy Halloween
About Blu Ivy Group
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, visit us online at bluivygroup.com or contact Stacy Parker at sparker@stagingbig.wpengine.com