Organizations are recognizing the importance of employer branding. In fact globally, we have seen an increase in CEO participation in these strategies by more than 36% in the last year (Employer Brand Institute 2013 global research) and an 86% increase in employer brand investment by HR leaders in the last 3 years. That being said, although employers are spending more time and money on developing their employer branding strategy, some are missing the mark. Please find below 5 common mistakes that we are seeing based on our daily interactions with employers and our own personal experience.
- Assuming you know what employees value most about your organization
The employee value proposition is the basic foundation for an employer branding strategy. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and a shortage of resources, some employers assume that they know what the employee value proposition is without involving employees in the process. We understand why and how this happens. Unfortunately though, what the HR team or executives feel employees value and what employees truly value are not always the same.
Solution – take the time to conduct focus groups and solicit employee feedback when developing your employee value proposition to ensure authenticity and sustainability
- Not having a clear and succinct Employee Value Proposition
Another common mistake we see is when employers go through the time and energy to conduct focus groups on what employees value but don’t simplify the message. We have all seen employer branding videos where employees cite over 10 reasons why they love working at their employer. This can be confusing to future talent and current employees and difficult to differentiate from the competition.
Solution – to simplify what differentiates you from the competition your Employee Value Proposition should focus on the top 3-5 strengths about your organization
- Not having your employee value proposition integrated into all employee touch points
Increasingly, it is critical that the employer brand is built into the company’s overall business, culture and employee touch points. This is critical for companies looking to ensure that the brand is authentic and fully entrenched in the overall strategy. The employer branding journey is far from complete once you have your employee value proposition.
Solution – once you have an Employee Value Proposition it is critical to conduct a GAP analysis of all touch points in the employee life cycle to determine areas where the organization enhance the employer brand experience.
- Being internally focused
A huge component of your employer branding strategy is how your employees feel about your organization but they are not the only stakeholders. Sometimes employers will stop once they solicit feedback from their employees. Unfortunately, we have seen some employers discover through channels like Glassdoor that candidates feel that their employee value proposition is not authentic as experienced during the interview process.
Solution – To develop a leading and sustainable employer brand you need to solicit feedback from all stakeholders including prospective candidates, clients and vendors.
- No digital and social strategy
Once employers have a clear Employee Value Proposition, we see them utilize a multitude of channels to promote their employer brand. Many times the same messaging and format will be used across all channels and little engagement and/or sustainability initiatives will be employed. There are several social media channels available for employers to promote their brand but each one targets a different demographic and should be used in different ways.
Solution – employers need to take the time to put together a digital and social strategy in order to attract, retain and engage the right talent.
Employer branding is a long term strategy but when done right will lead to increased productivity; increased loyalty; increased attractiveness to the best talent; reduced staffing and retention costs. These factors are critical to an organization’s success and directly impact the bottom line.