Employer branding is increasingly recognized as a critical business strategy. Organizations realize that this represents a long-term initiative, not a one-time event. With this shift in perspective, it is not surprising that we have seen a significant increase in employer branding roles, as organizations look for someone to help manage their employer brand on a daily basis.
In addition to developing the overall strategy, here are 4 ongoing responsibilities of the Employer Branding Leader:
1. Alignment
The Employer Branding leader needs to ensure that the employee experience is aligned with the Employee Value Proposition.
This is an ongoing process that requires checking in at multiple points, at multiple levels in the company. There are several data points the EB leader can use to help determine if there are any gaps. Monitoring information from sources like engagement surveys, new hire turnover, or financial results can help pinpoint where the EVP and employee experience are out of synch.
2. Reputation Management
It’s important to have an EB leader who can take an active role in developing the strategy to address the negative feedback and leverage the positive feedback.
Keeping an eye on traditional and social media, it’s important to understand what the perception of your company is with your market and your target candidate communities. In their role, the EB leader should monitor and manage the organization’s reputation.
Part of their responsibility should be to know what employees and non-employees are saying about the organization.
They should lead the implementation of policy on how to address any negative feedback or respond to the positive feedback. They can monitor employee engagement and partner with the owner of employee engagement to develop a clear action plans where necessary to address areas for improvement.
3. Brand Awareness
Creating brand awareness requires a multi-pronged approach. Yes, having a presence on social media is a must these days; but what is your overall strategy?
The EB Leader needs to partner with other senior stakeholders to determine which KPI’s will most benefit the company and implement the approach that will target those KPI’s.
They will need to develop, and maintain, a well thought out digital and social media policy, and content calendar. They will need to be involved in creating and implementing the internal communications plan to reinforce key messages across the organization and keep the EVP alive and authentic.
4. Build Relationships
The EB leader will need to be the chief brand ambassador for the company. There are many interrelations that a company needs to invest in and nurture.
It’s important that the EB Leader evaluate how the organization can maintain relationships with their current employees and their alumni. They will need to evaluate what, if any, connections exist with the schools that supply the talent the organization needs. They will need to foster and grow relationships with the industry professional associations, and evaluate what relationships, if any, exist with thought leaders. This is role that involves a lot of visiting/connecting/engaging within the organization, as well as outside in the market. It calls for a high-volume networker.
In the end, the Employer Brand is integrated into every aspect of how a company runs.
The Employer Branding Leader will need to be someone who can integrate into all those aspects, cooperate with all the different stakeholders and help the organization leverage their unique brand.