 Richard Fullerton, account director at integrated online agency, Grasshopper
How can employers raise their game?
Perhaps the question should be why employers are investing so much time and resource in building their internal brand. At Grasshopper, we’re a small digital agency of about 20 people but even we find it hard to find the right talent. It’s a competitive market out there.
At the moment, our efforts are concentrated on programmers – technology is moving so fast that we not only need our existing programmers to keep pace with it but also to attract talented individuals who have skills that we don’t possess. That means we can offer more to our clients.
Website
The recent re-launch of our website was actually part of a total re-branding exercise which was as much to benefit our employees as our external audience. It is best encapsulated by our new logo, and our strapline: ‘Grasshopper – one jump ahead’. But as well as revitalising our offering to prospective employees, the effect on the existing employees has been marked – there is more purpose in the agency than before – they know more of what we’re about. Given that many of us are not from the UK but from a wide range of countries such as Australia, South Africa, USA and Pakistan we have found this internal re-branding very useful in fusing our people closer together.
CEO survey
But we’re not alone. Accenture's latest survey of CEO's revealed that "more than 60 percent of chief executives said that the inability to attract and retain the best talent is now a key threat to their business". That in essence is what is driving the development of big employer brands – the need to attract talent. The employer brand needs to state who the organisation is, its values and what makes the organisation distinctive and unique.
Graduates
One question that is asked is, why, with so many more graduates available now than say, 10 or 20 years ago, there is not much more talent? The answer is that the number of quality graduates hasn’t increased in proportion to the rise in the number of graduates. So the big players are still fighting over the same small number of quality grads. And these graduates are different – they are the famed Generation Y who are choosier and more awkward individuals; they’re harder to shape and mould once they’re inside the company. Hence the desire to develop tangible employer value propositions (EVP) and with it employer brands.
Three clicks of the mouse
Speaking as a mainly digital agency, we have to say that the employer’s website is now vital in the decision making process of candidates. The oft-repeated ‘3-click’ rule – whereby visitors wanting to find out about what it’s like to work at a company expect to find what they want in three clicks of the mouse – holds sway. But as stated above employer brand is also about internal communications and retaining existing employees as well as attracting talent. For those companies that think further it is also about ensuring that employees who leave do so with a positive feeling about the company rather than a negative one.
Many large companies have intranets which are used for internal communications, knowledge sharing and such like. But with the concept of the employer brand, these companies are now using them to communicate this to employees. For us, that could mean being asked to develop the creative for the intranet or perhaps a microsite where employees can be driven to visit where messages that the management want to communicate are communicated.
How can you manage your employer brand on a global scale?
The following is an extract from Monster Industry:
"When you choose an employer you're electing to 'buy into' that particular organisation. You are deciding to invest your valuable time and future in a prospective employer who is 'selling' their company to you as a great place to work and which meets your career needs.
"This doesn't mean you would work for BP because it goes 'Beyond Petroleum', or Sainsbury's because it 'makes life taste better', or even Mr Kipling because he 'does make exceedingly good cakes'. However appealing these companies are, in reality the reason you choose to work for any employer is not because you're attracted by the brand that defines its products or services but because you empathise with its 'Employer Brand'.
"The employer brand is the 'other brand' any company has, the one that represents what the company has to offer its prospective employees. For example, a financial institution such as First Direct which might have a consumer brand which stands for 'efficiency', 'innovation' and 'security' could have an employer brand which represents 'fun' and 'credibility'.
"Any large company that's looking to recruit - especially where the right type of skilled employees are in short supply - has to get its employer brand message absolutely right. It has to clearly communicate what it has to offer as an employer and also how it will satisfy your needs as a prospective employee.
"When a company develops its employer brand it undertakes a great deal of research to accurately define the needs and values of its prospective employees. The next step is for the company to then define its own employer brand assets, for example, 'innovative culture' or 'fast promotion'. The company can then communicate the real benefits it can offer a prospective employee.
"So whilst Mars may be saying to the consumer that its products give 'pleasure you can't measure' it might also be saying to you, the candidate, that the company is a serious global player that will help you meet your personal and professional career goals.
"Bringing together the sum total of a company's particular benefits forms the unique 'essence' of a company's employer brand, which either attracts - or repels - you, the candidate. Needless to say, the company in question will also be taking a long, hard look at you too!"
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