Employment Branding - Building Talent Market Equity

1. Copyright 2003 eBrands Pty Ltd
EEmmppllooyymmeenntt BBrraannddiinngg
BBuuiillddiinngg TTaalleenntt MMaarrkkeett EEqquuiittyy

2. Copyright 2003
OOvveerrvviieeww
• Define Employment Brand equity
• Reasons and outcomes
• Component parts of the challenge
• Trends
• What is a successful platform – achieving one
• Tips for implementation

3. Copyright 2003
Career Brand Attitude

4. Copyright 2003
AAbboouutt BBrraanndd EEqquuiittyy
• Employment branding
– Where HR meets marketing to build an effective
communications solution
• Brand equity
– Investing in a brand and being in a position to
capitalise on its value
• Marketing
– Matching product to the needs of the market
• Branding
– Creating a memorable and unique identity

5. Copyright 2003
AAbboouutt BBrraanndd EEqquuiittyy
• At the core of all brands are the functional and
the rationale
– What the company can do
– What you feel about the company
• Intrinsically linked to
– Performance
– Desire to work
– Pride

6. Copyright 2003
The fuss about employer branding?

7. Copyright 2003
WWhhyy EEmmppllooyyeerr BBrraannddiinngg??
• It’s impact on business has been qualified
– Customer interaction with employees will equate
to business performance
– A financial co-efficient with Recruitment Costs
vs. Recruitment Capability
– Direct impact on a company’s overall brand
model
– The quest for advocacy

8. Copyright 2003
WWhhyy EEmmppllooyyeerr BBrraannddiinngg??
• Upside
– Increase existing staff morale and commitment
– Improve overall business performance
– Increase candidate attraction volume and quality
– Competitor hiring potential
– Improve industry peer perception
– Create a sense of employment value
– Increased propensity to generate…

9. EEmmppllooyyeerr BBrraannddiinngg OOuuttccoommeess
Copyright 2003
• Talent equity upside
– More volume
– More interest
– Active candidate pools
– Empowered recruitment channels
– Lasting brand relationships
– Recruitment resilience and self-sufficiency
– Cost savings (compared with existing
recruitment methods)

10. Copyright 2003
So why not just do it?
Right now?

11. EEmmppllooyyeerr BBrraannddiinngg CChhaalllleennggee
Copyright 2003
• The catch
– Marketing meets HR successfully or
un-successfully in many organisations
– Sometimes the company’s product is opposed to
the culture of the people they are seeking to hire
– Existing brand defects are difficult to overcome
– Products are financial transactions; careers are
emotional transactions
– The candidate is making the investment
– Perception takes time to build

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Sneezers are important because…

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BBrraanndd HHiieerraarrcchhyy
• Awareness
• Trust
• Transactions
• Satisfaction
• Commitment
• Advocacy - Sneezers

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BBrraanndd HHiieerraarrcchhyy

15. Copyright 2003
BBrraanndd HHiieerraarrcchhyy
• The quest is for advocacy
– Customers
– Staff
– Manifests in larger candidate pools generated by
DESIRE and REFERAL
• To get there needs awareness
• Converting the talent market to advocacy is
CAPITALISING ON YOUR TALENT MARKET
EQUITY

16. Copyright 2003
EEmmppllooyyeerr BBrraannddiinngg TTrreennddss
• Better research and understanding
• Maturation of job boards and services
• Traditional brand agency models becoming
outdated
• Internet deployment for cost effectiveness
• Brand alignment practice
• Cost effectiveness
• Advertising
• Innovation
• Attempts to achieve advocacy

17. Copyright 2003
CCrreeaattiinngg AA PPllaattffoorrmm
• Understanding your starting point
• Managed stakeholders driven with effective
outcomes
• A plan
• Impact assessment
– For example, increasing the candidate pool
might require a different recruitment
management process
• Professional, measured execution
• The ability to capture results and monitor progress

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PPllaattffoorrmm MMooddeell

19. Copyright 2003
CCoommppoonneennttss
• Talent market equity consists of the following
brand elements:
– Consumer Brand Image
– Business Reputation
– Employer Reputation
– Corporate/Sector visibility
• Targeted strategies can overcome the 3rd and
4th elements as being simply by-products of
the first

20. Copyright 2003
RReesseeaarrcchh
• Investigate and support the business
requirement for employer branding
• Start from within by surveying and questioning
internal staff including
– Recent recruits
– Cultural fit candidates
– Departmental leaders
• Survey the external market and suppliers
– Your recruitment suppliers should do this
for you

21. Copyright 2003
RReesseeaarrcchh -- EExxaammppllee
• Leading global FMCG grocery client
• 20 country survey to evaluate competitive
employer brand position
• Involved staff, management, recruitment
supplier and graduates
• It was suggested stability and career
development would be the key driver
• In fact ETHICAL PRACTICE was their key
differentiator

22. Copyright 2003
RReesseeaarrcchh -- GGooaall
• Your goals are to:
– Understand the target talent market
– Understand their drivers
– Assess brand messages for corporate fit
– Find the compelling career offering TRIGGER
– Ensure the support of Internal staff

23. Copyright 2003
Listen to the target market

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TTiipp ##11
• “No strategy whiteboard sessions until you
have some real facts”.
• Every client survey we have performed has
altered our clients sense of perspective.

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SSttrraatteeggyy
• Use findings to back whiteboard study
• Select stakeholders and MANAGE their buy-in
• Consider the impact of all stakeholders and
channels in the process
• Deliver the vehicles
– Message
– Media
– Advocacy tools

26. Copyright 2003
SSttrraatteeggyy -- EExxaammppllee
• Leading Australian financial services
• Looking for a more resilient recruitment
strategy
• Feedback found target market was a strong
Internet user
• Developed a plan involving brand, Internet and
software in an integrated campaign
• Reduced overall recruitment cost substantially
while increasing capacity
• Created and managed a fresh candidate pool

27. Copyright 2003
SSttrraatteeggyy -- GGooaall
• A realistic and inspiring employment brand
plan
• Organisational support and buy-in
• A COMPELLING CAREER OFFERING
• Improved brand alignment tactics for the
organisation
• A platform for the business objective
– Improved industry perception
– Management of own recruitment function

28. “How to maximise your effort for reward?”

29. Copyright 2003
TTiipp ##22
• “Once the message is selected it must not be
changed for the duration of the campaign, as
all awareness will be lost”.
• Try different mediums or channels, but don’t
abandon your research or your findings for
short-term gains unless your business really
requires it.

30. Copyright 2003
EExxeeccuuttiioonn
• Partnership selection criteria
– Understand the business
– Experience
– Motivated by success
– Cultural organisational match
• Brand
• Internet
• Recruitment process
• Internal brand alignment

31. Copyright 2003
EExxeeccuuttiioonn -- EExxaammppllee
• Leading Australian call-centre recruiter
• Unusable web interface prevented
capitalisation of industry brand equity
• Managed stakeholder project; scope, design,
technology and implementation partners
• Web site within 6 week timeframe processing
over 15,000 candidates per month

32. Copyright 2003
EExxeeccuuttiioonn -- GGooaallss
• Crystallize the strategy into an effective
marketing mix
• Maximise all channel strategies including
– Brand
– Intranet
– Internet
– Recruitment suppliers
– Employee referral
• Ensure that the internal initiatives that are required
to support the marketing message are carried out

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TTiipp ##33
• “Do not take to market a message that your
current staff do not believe or support.”
• That’s the quickest way to lose the path to
advocacy.

34. Copyright 2003
BBeenncchhmmaarrkk
• Benchmark
– Set the KPI’s
– Instigate verbal and electronic benchmarks
– Create an ROI model

35. Copyright 2003
BBeenncchhmmaarrkk -- EExxaammppllee
• Leading financial services company
• Aggregation of electronic benchmarks
– Web site & Intranet metrics
– Recruitment performance source data
– New employee orientation and expectation
surveys
– Centrally collated
– Able to refine and add value to brand awareness
layer

36. Copyright 2003
BBeenncchhmmaarrkk -- GGooaallss
• Your goals are to:
– Evaluate the employer brand strategy
– Refine its execution
– Ensure that the deliverables achieved are in line
with the organisations overall goals

37. Copyright 2003
TTiipp ##44
“Be prepared to support your employer brand
activity by delivering analysis for bottom line
benefit”.
The tie between a strong employer brand,
corporate performance and recruitment
performance is what will help you to sustain
your employer branding efforts.

38. Copyright 2003
FFeeeeddbbaacckk
• Feedback closes the circle and triggers an
equity strategy turning point
– Involve the stakeholders in the feedback
– Consider the brand hierarchy weaknesses
(awareness may be great but trust/commitment
may be poor)
– Initiate the strategy to improve those layers

39. Copyright 2003
FFeeeeddbbaacckk -- EExxaammppllee
• Leading global FMCG grocery client
• Global country representatives reported over
single country data sets changes versus
aggregate
• Identified that the differences in advocacy
levels varied widely to a single key factor
• Client tackled this by ensuring the career
development path and technique was its focus
for the coming year

40. Copyright 2003
FFeeeeddbbaacckk -- GGooaall
• Your goals are to:
– Understand the target talent market
– Understand their drivers
– Assess brand messages for corporate fit
– Find the compelling career offering TRIGGER
– Ensure the support of Internal staff

41. Copyright 2003
TTiipp ##55
• “Adapt as your market adapts”.
• Great messages survive the test of time.
• Great strategies acknowledge corporate,
market and personal change.

42. Copyright 2003
CCoonnttaaccttiinngg UUss
• eBrands
www.ebrands.com.au
+61 2 8437 6366
Info@ebrands.com.au
• Employer Branding presentation
– http://www.ebrands.com.au/estrategic/employer.htm