Developing a World Class Employer Brand

• Do you want to improve your capability to recruit, engage and retain talent?
• Do you willingly contribute discretionary effort to the performance of the organisation?
• Do you take pride in caring for your customers?
• Do you really make a difference?

Branding’ as a generic term is often assumed to belong to the marketing function, however increasingly organisations are waking up to the recognition that directly, or indirectly most brand promises are delivered by people not products. Pick up any business magazine that talks about ‘branding’ and it is likely that they will be discussing the broader aspect of organisational, corporate, or employer branding.

What is clearly being recognised is that having strong consumer brands is not enough, organisations need to broaden their focus to consider other aspects such as:

• People
• Products/services
• Processes/systems
• Premises/environment

‘Branding’ an organisation means focusing on the key components and encouraging consistency across all functions. Like any piece of machinery, one part cannot operate without the other. Cross-functional working breaks down the traditional divisions between HR, Marketing, Communications. Finance, Sales, Distribution and Manufacturing.

The process links new service/product development and the development of employees. It links the distribution chain with the customer. It builds relationships not just agreements with external suppliers. It takes the most senior managers and involves them in the front line of the business. It puts the customer in the centre and heart of the organisation and builds everything else around them.

The organisation doesn’t just service its customers; they become its lifeblood. People do not just make promises, but they deliver, not once but over and over again, consistently developing better and better service. The organisation differentiates itself in the marketplace through its people, its products, its processes and its premises.

Experience has shown that in order to develop an employer brand it is important to articulate the image and vision of the future and to invite all employees to unite behind it.

This ‘branding’ process normally has a number of key components. When asked to describe the brand of the organisation, there should be a common belief based on shared vision, goals, aspirations, behaviour and practice.

Everyone who is touched by your Employer Brand should share these common perceptions. Importantly this is not just an internal process. In the broader context of employer branding it means the way organisations position themselves externally as well as internally. This will have a particular relevance in the way organisations promote themselves in the recruitment market place, or in supplier contracts.

The most fundamental part of the process is built on behaviours, based on self-esteem, confidence and pride in the organisation. People must take responsibility for meeting challenges and providing innovative and creative solutions to problems.

We have extensive experience in working with CEOs, Board members and senior managers in developing an Employer Brand and cascading the process throughout an organisation. We use a powerful yet simple model, which can be customised to meet your unique needs with opportunities to support organisational development, undertake climate audits, or to develop your human capital. Through our global reach we can offer consulting support 24/7/365.

Our consulting is supported by the EBI Employer Brand Attributes IndexTM , the MT24 Engagement Survey and our other assessment tools and informed by the research findings generated through The Employer Brand International (formerly Employer Brand Institute) Research Forum.

Our world's first Employer Brand Stategic Audit is assisting global companies to undertand how their current employer brand is perceive by employees, customers, stakeholders and potential hires. The outcome of the audit assists firms to design, integrate and evaluate their company's employer brand program.