I had the pleasure of representing Canada at the first ever World Employer Branding Day held in Prague, April 28-29, 2016. More than 250 employer branding leaders from around the world were in attendance, with representatives from far flung places like Australia, Denmark and Mexico representing companies such as Volvo, Adidas, PepsiCo, and IKEA, to name a few. It was interesting to observe how similar the challenges we face are and to see a shared passion for driving change in talent branding, regardless of geography. Exposure to this international perspective opened my eyes to the bigger picture behind what we do at Blu Ivy Group for our clients every day.
Going Glocal
The idea of a glocal employer brand isn’t new. It is a topic that clients have been exploring with us for the past three years. The most interesting thing about this trend is that while many organizations have pushed to establish a global employer brand and EVP, they neglect local area business and talent acquisition needs. The result is that many talent acquisition leaders in global offices are struggling to drive the necessary ROI. If you consider the functions of both marketing and HR across global organizations, you will notice that each country has a brand and HR leader that reports directly to their country head, and then a dotted line reporting relationship to their functional head. The same structure must be in place for employer branding to truly be strategic and effective in a global organization.
More support, training, and communication on what employer brand assets are available is key to ensuring success for a global employer brand team to function at its best. There also needs to be room for the local teams to craft communications and activation strategies that work best in their own cultures.
The Cost of Talent Attraction
While I heard a few interesting stories of how a focus on employer branding for internal talent has had a big impact on workplace cultures, most organizations continue to have a very heavy focus exclusively on talent acquisition results. By that same token, more leaders than ever are talking about building a branded interview experience for candidates.
Given that a truly successful employer brand is the combined perception of you as an employer based on the experiences and feelings of current employees, external talent and job seekers, and external stakeholders like customers and vendors, it seems to me that there is still much work to be done in our industry to find holistic solutions.
Successful branding is never based just on clever taglines, ad campaigns, or digital content alone. It must consistently deliver compelling experiences for both employees and customers. This is where employer branding needs to focus. It is both inefficient and ineffective to spend time creating marketing materials to be consumed by the public if they don’t follow a consistent narrative deeply rooted in truth.
Employer Brand Metrics and Senior Leadership Involvement
Two challenges I’ve been noticing more frequently involve selling the value of the employer brand investment to leaders, and the lack of certainty on what metrics to use to track success. Without identifying what impact you are going to make on the business with your employer brand investment, few leaders today are going to be keen on making a real investment. More and more, it weighs on me that these organizations lose out on such a great opportunity simply because there wasn’t enough research done on the outset of the process to clearly define ROI. Working with an employer brand consultant at the outset can help you set your foundation and strategy. There are numerous respected firms who have compelling client case studies.
We all know that culture comes from the top down. It is critical that your CEO and/or country manager is the key messenger and sponsor of your employer brand work from the outset. If you fail to get their buy-in, the employer brand project will not get the attention, movement, or budget necessary to make the impact it is designed to make. Before you sell them on why you want to invest in employer branding, it is key to understand the business issues –what your CEO needs to accomplish — and how talent acquisition and engagement can help align with these objectives.
I can say with complete confidence that employer branding can save organizations considerable amounts on recruitment, turnover, employee productivity, and advertising. Research shows top employer brands and cultures perform almost three times better for their shareholders than their competitors. Just think how employer branding can positively impact your share of voice, brand awareness, brand preference, and thought leadership.
Looking Ahead
My time in Prague left me full of new ideas and fresh takes on employer branding. Based on this experience, the best piece of advice I can give is to think broadly. Employer brand strategy goes well beyond talent acquisition. Look no further than Virgin to see how a strong employer brand translates into a consistent employee and customer experience. It is what drives revenue and brand, and is the most important strategic opportunity for employer brand leadership in the years ahead.
– Stacy Parker Managing Director, Blu Ivy Group
About Blu Ivy Group
Blu Ivy Group is a leading employer branding and employee engagement consultancy that aligns your organization with contemporary workplace paradigms. Our mission is to help client’s build award-winning people practices, inspire extraordinary employee engagement, and cultivate unique and desirable workplaces. We provide 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 us at info@bluivygroup.com.