Ye company kaisi hai? Creating an impact before recruitment - Employer Branding

In my last post we discussed about challenges of recruiting with help of technology. One of the major solutions which surfaced was ‘Employer Branding’. The concept of employer branding has materialised from application of theories of marketing to field of human resource management. The term itself was introduced to the world in 1990s. Simon Barrow along with Tim Ambler, London Business School, linked the principles of marketing and human resource management by coining Employer Branding’. The term ‘employer branding’ provides differentiation of an organisation's attributes as an employer from those of its competitors. It underscores distinguishing facets of the company’s service offerings or policies or work environment. The Conference Board (2001) defines, “the employer brand establishes the identity of the firm as an employer. It encompasses the firm’s value system, policies and behaviours toward the objectives of attracting, motivating, and retaining the firm’s current and potential employees”.

Employer branding is essentially of two types:

·         External – For potential employees

·         Internal – For existing employees

This blog post will specifically talk about external employer branding. External employer branding is used for attracting suitable candidates and developing a large and relevant talent pool. The candidates essentially need to know about the company and its good aspects in order to get attracted and apply for the same. This is very much dependent on employer image. 

According to some models of memory, particular parts of knowledge are stored in nodes and are interconnected by links which can trigger activation of extra information if the link is strong enough. The memory and information of a brand, more specifically an employer brand, have two key dimensions: (a) the awareness of the organisational brand or employer brand and (b) its links to related information. Brand image is considered to be a multidimensional concept incorporating mutually dependent associations.

Employer image determines work search intentions. Job as well as organisational features, such as work responsibilities, designation, organisational values/ policies or pay or work-life balance or work environment or opportunities to learn, construct a broad picture of attractiveness of organisation as an employer. Employer image intensely affects the job applicant’s decision because he/ she has only a tiny amount of information about the company at beginning of recruitment process. Employer image positively impacts applicants’ opinion of organisation and job before and during the recruitment and selection process.

This image has to be created with the help of employer branding. Some easy steps that organisations can take in this myriad world of internet and technology are given below:

1. Have a self-hosted website with complete information about the organisation, its products, management, vision, mission and goals, resources, work environment, its CSR initiatives and contact information. – This will create a basic visibility of the organisation (Keep the website URL simple) [E.g. The website of TCS is full of information about the organisation and its culture]
2. Have social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc., - and keep the accounts active with information about the organisation, activities, events etc. - Preferably hire dedicated team to handle all social media accounts [E.g. Microsoft has significant presence across major platforms. They provide regular updates about what is happening in the industry, their take, innovations etc.]
3. Inspire your employees to follow these accounts
4. Create an online platform where candidates can see openings and apply for them [E.g. TCS has a separate portal for future candidates]
5. This online platform should have glimpses of organisation and its culture
6. Make sure that every application is answered, even if it is an auto generated e-mail [E.g. Wipro]
7. Every applicant should be made aware of recruitment decision [E.g. Fractal Analytics informs the candidates whether they are selected or not]
8. Engage prospective candidates on internet via live tweets, chats, discussions, webinars, online competitions, surveys, blogs etc.

Engaging the applicant is key to creating a successful employer brand!

More on Internal Employer Branding in my next post…