Much has been written about the fact Australia’s job market is at near capacity, and the various issues that it raises in terms of attracting, recruiting, and retaining the talent needed to achieve your organisational goals. Focusing on your Employer Brand is a key strategy to ensure your organisation can meet the challenges of the current candidate short market. But what is an Employer Brand? And how can you create an Employer Brand that will support your recruitment marketing?

Employer Branding Defined

An Employer Brand is a company’s image as seen through the eyes of its current and potential employees. Just as a well-known consumer brand can generate trust, approval, or intent to purchase with customers, a strong Employer Brand encourages pride and job satisfaction with employees. It can also create a desire to learn more on the part of potential hires. If communicated effectively, it can transform a company into an Employer of Choice, an organisation where the best and brightest want to work.

St.George Bank has established an outstanding reputation for valuing its people. The company took out four awards at the recent Australian HR Awards 2007, including the highly sought after Davidson Trahaire Corpsych Award for Employer of Choice (more than 1,000 employees). “Good with people. Good with money.” That’s the tag line under St.George Bank’s name and corporate logo. Notice it doesn’t say, “Good with money. Good with people”? Great service companies are good with people – not just customers, but its own staff as well. The focus of the bank has been on attracting, retaining and rewarding people who deliver high levels of performance.

At the basis of a company’s Employer Brand lies the employment experience, or what it is like to work there. It includes tangibles such as wage and benefits, as well as intangibles like management style, environment and company culture. “A good match between employees’ needs and the employment experience can result in increased employee satisfaction, better retention and higher productivity. During strong economic times, the employment experience can help attract high calibre candidates who have the ability to find a job that meets their specific needs and wants,” said Peter Davis, Managing Director, Frontline Recruitment Group.

Developing Your Employer Brand

Companies can develop a strong Employer Brand through a four-step process that determines a company’s employee brand positioning, develops a working framework, puts it into action, and then allows for changes as it matures.

Step 1: Assess

First identify your company’s current atmosphere in terms of culture, employee satisfaction, and values. Determine how employees feel about the company and why. Methods may involve company-wide surveys, focus groups, or behavioural observation. Assessment of these traits will help clarify what defines your company’s brand, how it is reflected in its current employees and what makes it attractive to potential hires.

Focus on what differentiates your company from the competition. What is it about your company that breaks the mould or offers employees something that another company does not? Maybe your company is very family-oriented and offers a day-care program. Perhaps there is a high degree of upward mobility, or compensation for continued education. It could be a strong history and reputation, or a friendly work environment. Every company has qualities that define its Employer Brand.

Step 2: Develop

All of the information and insight gained through the Assess step of the process is used here. The purpose of this step is to create a clear, appropriate and deliverable Employer Brand Identity that can be marketed to employees and candidates as a brand. This step includes the development of an Employer Brand Promise, a statement that describes the value proposition in working for a company. Just as with a consumer brand, the Employer Brand Promise outlines both the emotional and rational benefits the brand offers to employees. It reflects your company’s values and principles as an employer, and what an employee must adopt and uphold apart of the organisation. By means of the Develop phase, you can determine which employment practices are in alignment with the Employer Brand, and which need to be improved or changed to better represent it.

Step 3: Implement

Now that your Employer Brand has been identified, it must be put into practice. The method of implementation is unique to each company and involves an integrated communications approach determined by that organisation’s target audience. Whether it is CD-ROM, traditional media, print collateral or Internet that is ultimately used, the goal is to send a consistent Employer Brand message in a strategic way and at great frequency. This ensures that your Employer Brand is not just an ideal, but also an active and guiding force throughout the company. Remember consistency builds brands.

Step 4: Measure

Is it working? Has the message been communicated effectively? Does it resonate with employees? These are just a few of the questions a company must address when measuring how well it’s Employer Brand has been utilised. Using an outline of the goals to be achieved through the Employer Brand process, you can create an index to measure the effectiveness of the Brand in crucial areas such as retention, productivity and recruiting efforts. This will enable you to adjust the process accordingly and keep it current as the employment climate changes.

In a market with low unemployment, skills shortages in many sectors, and severe competition for the best potential recruits, how can your organisation stand out from the crowd? Have you got Employer Brand Attention Deficient? If so, now is the time to build your Employer Brand because it’s the best long-term recruitment strategy you could have.

Please feel free to contact us at Frontline Hospitality. with any recruitment requirements - we are here to help.