How Do We Develop a Brand That Could Attract Top Employees?

How Do We Develop a Brand That Could Attract Top Employees?
	We've heard a lot about employer branding but don't really know how to build a solid brand of our own. We have been thinking about doing so in the context of our recruiting initiatives, but aren't sure where to start, nor whether it would be useful. How do we develop a brand and, secondly, what expectations should we have with regard to attracting top talent?—Image-Conscious VP of HR, technology, Chennai, India
	Forty-nine percent of American workers say their companies' brand or image played a key role in their decision to apply for a job, according to a 2001 Maritz Poll. An organization must understand its own character and direction and what keeps talent coming to work each day. Start with an employee survey. Ask yourself, "What makes our company a great place to work?" Follow up with focus groups to further define your culture and brainstorm about branding ideas. Involve formal and informal leaders in the process. Ask them what they see, as well as what they'd like to see. Not only does this build a foundation for your branding efforts, but it also positively involves employees in shaping your company's culture/image. Actively communicate your brand to prospective and current employees. Retention and recruitment are two sides of the same coin. Current employees make the best ambassadors for the company brand, so make sure their perceptions are positive. Organizations typically get 40 percent or more of their hires from employee referrals. Make employees aware of current openings and ask them to identify talented people who might fit the bill. It is also important to have appropriate systems and processes in place to capitalize on the results. Best practices include online applicant tracking systems, reward-and-recognition-based employee referral programs and positive quotes from current employees posted on the "job openings" section of your Web page. The career/recruitment section of your Web site is critical. It will be the first interaction that many job seekers have with the company. There are three key elements to remember when developing a company brand: Personality—Who you are as an employer, what you stand for, and your values and vision. Promise—Your company's differentiating employment proposition to the target audience. Message—The most compelling core messages for each target audience. The employer branding process should encompass: 1. Process planning, including project scope and project charter. 2. Baseline assessment—employee surveys, focus groups, interviews, documentation review and competitive review. 3. Recommendations—brand articulation, manager training, employee referral program and targeted multi-channel communications. 4. Implementation—look at costs, ease of implementation and effectiveness. The end goal of all these efforts is to make your company widely known as a great place to work. Branding requires you to use both formal channels (recruiting collateral, ads, catchy giveaways, etc.) as well as the informal channels. Companies with the strongest employee brand have a significantly easier time finding quality candidates that are a good fit with their organizations. What the brand means is often the outcome of informal communications (blogs, word-of-mouth), press coverage and even product experience that drives a potential employee to pair the company name with a positive or negative association. The degree to which your employees understand, and agree with, the company brand will be the most significant factor in the success of your branding efforts. As a rule of thumb, you should plan to spend two times more effort promoting your brand internally than externally, and two times the money on promoting your brand to would-be employees.     [SOURCE: Aaron Shaffer, senior consultant, Capital H Group, Los Angeles, June 26, 2006.]