We asked one of our most tenured team members, Zeeshan, to share his thoughts with us on the culture at Blu Ivy, and his predictions on the future of Employer Brand strategy and its impact HR and business. Zeeshan’s role at Blu Ivy Group is Senior Director, Employer Brand & Culture.
Here are his answers to the four questions we gave him:
1. What do you love about the culture at Blu Ivy?
I love that everyone is working towards the same end goal. We have a shared passion for creating people-first cultures and having a positive impact on the world of work. There’s this strong sense of collaboration. There’s a lot of partnership with each other and with our clients.
As an organization, we’re growing, optimistic, ambitious, and investing in ourselves and the future. There’s a lot of drive and energy directed at achieving our goals.
Other things I love about the culture internally are that you are encouraged to be you and show up as yourself. I see this from the top down. Because of leadership’s transparency, vulnerability, and openness, it feels safe to also bring your whole self to work every day.
2. What do you think is the biggest impact Employer Brand strategy will have on the HR industry in the next three years?
I believe that all parts of the talent and employee experience cycle will be looked at through an employer branding lens. From talent attraction to offboarding, what we call the “blue thread” will be apparent. Basically, employer branding will be embedded in the DNA of the employee lifecycle.
How will this look? We’ll see more organizations asking, “Does this reflect our employer brand and our Employee Value Proposition?” as they roll out programs. In other words, is everything that we’re doing at the organization reflect our commitment to our employees?
Employer brand strategy will not just sit with Human Resources or Talent Acquisition departments to drive forward, either. There will be buy-in across all stakeholders at organizations.
3. Why does [that impact] matter for business performance and for human work experience?
This shift and impact will bring about more consistency and a more seamless journey for employees. There will be no surprises for talent in the reality of what they experience at work versus what was promised to them at the start of their employee lifecycle.
When there’s consistency, employer brand “equity” can be measured; we’re already seeing this in the consumer brand world. Organizations can measure both the strength of the brand and its name.
There will be a great focus on building strong employer brands, which will surface a better understanding of a brand’s value, growth, and equity in its talent market. Once internal stakeholders are comfortable with how the organization’s talent cycle represents employer brand, the deeper rooted the employee cycle can be in that framework. The stickier it is, the easier it’ll be to measure your employer brand value against key business metrics.
4. What is one recommendation that you have for Employer Brand leaders in 2023?
PWC’s 2023 CEO survey informs us that many CEOs still anticipate the war for talent to remain fierce even amid nervy economic conditions and that most leaders also don’t plan to reduce their workforce this year.
To me, what this means is that retaining top talent will be a top priority in 2023, along with a focus on employer brand efforts internally. Organizations need their employer brand to reinforce the key components of your company’s culture and DNA.
Where to start: Look at the different talent management and retention practices you have right now and evaluate if they reflect your employer brand in its truest and most authentic form. If not, this is the opportunity to understand where there might be gaps versus aspirations to address.
Interviewee:
Zeeshan Merchant
Senior Director, Employer Brand & Culture
Blu Ivy Group
Blu Ivy Group is a global leader in employer branding, organizational culture, and recruitment marketing. We help organizations across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors build extraordinary employee experiences, magnetic employer brands and high-performance cultures.
From C-Suite to Employer Brand and Talent Acquisition leadership, we partner with our clients to transform their organizations and design the most compelling workplaces of the future.
For inquiries, please contact sparker@bluivygroup.com
