Although not everyone has fully developed their employer branding strategy, the number of organizations that have put branding strategy in place has greatly increased year over year, since 2013. Employer branding is certainly top of everyone’s mind.
Blu Ivy Group works with clients of different sizes, across different industries. We have pulled together some of what we see as the top trends from our work. Here are our Top 5 Trends in employer branding for 2015:
1. Employer Branding as a Change Management Tool
We have seen more organizations leverage the employer branding work as a vehicle to facilitate widespread organizational change. Any company going through major transition; mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-branding, or organizational restructuring, can benefit from all the information gathered in the course of uncovering their EVP.
In times of change, many of the challenges stem from employee anxiety, fear or uneasiness. Organizations that take the time to fully understand how their employees perceive the company can use that information to communicate with their employees in a way that creates a partnership for change – before the change process has even started. It is a smart strategy to understand the way your employees feel about being a part of the organization to help you create the change your company will benefit from.
2. Employer Branding as a Targeted Approach to Attraction and Retention
We love seeing HR collaborate with their marketing peers and apply the principles for attracting and retaining customers, to attracting and retaining their employees.
Not all candidates are the same. Companies are realizing this fact and developing more targeted approaches to attracting and retaining the right talent for each key team. Employer branding helps organizations develop their unique selling features for each candidate audience, and develop a template “persona” for the ideal candidates. It also involves picking the right vehicle to spread your message, and the right social media channels to engage with your desired demographic.
Just like with candidates – not all employees are the same. We will see more organizations begin to uncover an overall company-wide EVP – and also a segmented EVP, to continue engaging their employees. These segmented EVP’s will be aligned with the overall EVP, but will speak to the individual teams, or groups of employees within the organization.
3. Employer Branding as a Critical Engagement Strategy
It’s important for companies to continue to re-attract their employees and re-engage their top talent. Certainly employer branding is a valuable recruitment tool – but it is also a valuable engagement tool. Many organizations have made progress with using branding to attract new candidates – but more and more organizations are beginning to turn that process inward, as well.
By uncovering your EVP, you can open a continued dialogue with your current employee-base to ensure that the company is always celebrating the things that employees are proud of, showcasing the accomplishments of successful teams, and working to improve areas that employees highlight as needing some work. Employer branding can play a critical role in helping the organization foster pride and higher engagement inside the organization.
4. Employer Branding Alignment through the Employee Life Cycle
We have been pleased to see that many organizations understand the importance setting the right foundation for an overall employer branding strategy by investing the right time and resources into the research phase.
In 2014, we saw an increase in organizations taking that research and developing their unique EVP, but an EVP is just the beginning. In 2015, we will begin to see companies take that EVP and focus more on the alignment across the entire employee life cycle.
It’s critical for the success of the overall branding strategy, that the EVP is a genuine reflection of the employee experience at each point in their career – from the first phone call with the recruiter, through their career progression and their ongoing day-to-day interactions. For this to be the case, even the tools, technology and partners that the organization works for must also be aligned with the EVP to ensure consistency and an authentic employer brand experience
5. Employer Branding and your Contingent Workforce
The percentage of contingent workers is growing across all sectors of all industries. Traditionally, the temporary or contract workers formed a much smaller percentage of many non-retail organizations, however, as the trend continues, companies may need to reconsider the way they manage their temporary employees. The organizations that accept this population as a separate and growing segment of their workforce, and include this critical group as part of their employer branding strategy will be setting themselves apart from their competition. These organizations will also be developing a new population of engaged and proud brand ambassadors, furthering their lead in the overall marketplace.
Employer branding is a part of the overall company strategic direction – and whether your organization already has a comprehensive plan in place, or is just beginning your research, make it part of the agenda for 2015.