Employer Branding Articles
Internal Branding – the Key to reconnecting your Customers and Employees
Customers drive sales and profitability. So how do your employees interact with and engage customers? How would your customers describe their experience? Do your customers have an expectation on how your employee will represent your brand?
So how does an organisation manage its customer experience to ensure its people, processes and culture are reinforcing customer expectations? A key foundation of customer experience management is internal branding.
Internal branding in essence is ‘living’ and ‘delivering on’ your organisation’s brand promises. It is an organisation-wide initiative that enables all employees to understand how they can personally impact on a customer’s experience and contribute to building the company’s reputation and brand.
Meaningful Employment Value Propositions for Generation Y
Generation Y is widely defined as the people born between 1982 and 2000. In total there are in excess of 5.15million Generation Y people currently living in Australia. Understanding how they view the world is critical as Employers grapple with skills shortages and an ageing population. Companies that can understand and cater for the needs of this younger group of workers will be more likely to attract and retain this critical group of workers.
In an article published by the Australian Leadership foundation Mark McCrindle explains that Generation Y’s have lived through “the age of the internet, cable television, globalisation, September 11 and environmentalism. Such shared experiences during ones youth unite and shape a generation. There is an ancient saying that bears much truth: People resemble their times more that they resemble their parents”
Attraction and Retention – Navigating the Perfect Storm
The recently released HAYS Salary Guide points to a “perfect storm” on the horizon for employers. The survey highlights 3 factors which will contribute to the storm. These are:
Positive Hiring Intentions – most employers are planning on hiring more people
Widening gap between candidate and employer salary intentions – most candidates expect more than employers are prepared to pay
Skills shortages – 54% of employers in Australia are experiencing difficulty in filling critical positions. This number is significantly higher in WA and QLD. Australia is ranked fourth out of 39 countries for skills shortages in critical roles.
Activity Based Working Drives Attraction and Retention
The new trend in office design is referred to as Activity Based Working (ABW). This concept has been developed based upon the idea that people will be more engaged and satisfied in their jobs by removing hierarchical structures from the workplace. Hierarchy is removed from the workplace by removing symbols of seniority and creating an environment which fosters collaboration.
Activity based offices are designed to give people the freedom of how to work, where to work and when to work. There are no assigned desks and in most cases no private offices for executives. Team members are also encouraged to work remotely.
Managing Retention in FIFO Operations
In an increasingly competitive employment market fuelled by the resources boom, how can mining companies differentiate themselves to attract and retain quality fly-in fly-out (FIFO) talent?
There is abundant anecdotal evidence that the FIFO lifestyle compromises the well- being of the employees and their families in terms of stress, relationship break-down, alcohol and drug use, depression and suicidality. Lowered job satisfaction and increased stress appear to be associated with extended periods of absence from partners, friends and family members – particularly children. In addition, stress placed upon partners and children is likely to spill over onto the FIFO worker him or herself. University of Western Australia research (Clifford, 2009) shows that although there is limited evidence to support long term psychological detriments associated with FIFO work, it does appear to be associated with short term stress increments, along with decreased job satisfaction.
Ask not what your company can do for you, but what you can do for your company
Have you ever been involved in a relationship where only one party wins, at the expense of the other? Such a relationship leaves you questioning “Where is the value for me in this exchange?” Today, businesses are asking this question as they try to prepare attractive propositions to prospective employees. The argument is won, that an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is needed to differentiate, redefine and communicate your offering in attracting and retaining top talent. But how do you create, use and manage this tool successfully, so that it drives people performance? Kochanski & Elliott (2010, Sibson Consulting) suggest an approach that encompasses the exchange of value between both employee and employer, where the wants of employers and employees are synchronised. They also suggest that organisational culture will aid to bridge the divide between the wants and expectations of these two parties.
Are you helping to put a man on the Moon?
There is a well-known story linking NASA and employer branding during the rush to place man on the moon. In this story, it is suggested that whilst inspecting the NASA facility prior to take-off, President Kennedy came across a janitor in the hallway. Casually asking the janitor what he specifically did in the facility. The janitor’s response was quite remarkable. Not “I clean the ablutions and mop the floors”. No, the janitor showed an organisational-centric response in saying “Mr. President, I am helping to put a man on the moon”. Is your employer brand so strong that all people within your company are aligned and committed to your organisation vision?
Retention: Why it’s not just about the Money!
In a recent conversation with a business owner, he stated “employees are greedily seeking jobs that offer the highest salary and there is little that will prevent them from being poached or switching to another employer in favour of a higher salary”. I disagree and recent research supports my position.
The influx of Gen Y into our workforces demands that retention strategies must evolve to meet new expectations and needs. Recent research suggests that employees may be attracted by higher salaries; however retention rates can be dramatically improved through strong employer branding and consistently delivering on your Employer Value Proposition (Moroko 2008).
Building Brand Value for Both Customers and Employees
According to many experts we are now in the decade of the brand. However, it may be more accurate to say that we are in the decade of brand management. After all, brands have been around for a long time.
For sometime now, The Right Group has advocated that companies should get their brand in order internally before they communicate externally. This point of view has often been met with resistance, particularly as traditionally the development of brands has been focused on external advertising and promotion and has been driven by the marketing and communication departments.
Have you deserted your Employer Brand?
During the downturn many companies refocused priorities and resources, in the process making their Employer Brands virtually redundant. Abandoning an Employer Brand during a recessionary phase can prove to be a very costly mistake during a market upturn.
Let’s not forget the basics surrounding the need to engage employees regardless of the market environment and business challenges. Cutting back on internal communication and people development is short-sighted and a knee jerk reaction. Amidst market recovery, employees will look to ‘jump ship’ on the basis of what is on offer and how they were previously treated.