What Every CHRO Needs To Know About Employment Brandingagile-one.com/media/1407/2018-agileone-whitepaper-chro...choosing who to work for, reputation matters. The 2015 Employer Branding

W H I T E P A P E RE M P L O Y M E N T B R A N D I N G

What Every CHRO Needs To KnowAbout Employment BrandingAGILEONE-WP-EMPLOYBRAND

www.agile-one.com | [email protected] | 855.924.4531

Abstract

The Big PictureIf You Don’t Tell Your Story, Someone Else Will

Employment Branding vs Corporate Branding

Building An Employee Value Proposition

Social Media Inputs That Influence The Brand

Responding to Company Reviews

Improving Career Site SEO

Conclusion

About AgileOne

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AGILEONE-WP-EMPLOYBRAND


Abstract

When your company requires a healthy pipeline of talent to ensuresustainability, it isn’t enough to know where to find the rightcandidates. You must have an employment brand that is strongenough to attract and retain the talent you’re seeking.

Competition in the labor market is fierce, and more than ever, yourcompany’s reputation will be a deciding factor in the minds of jobseekers. Unfortunately, for many organizations their employment brandis a mere afterthought, neither actively managed nor clearly defined,and as such, a serious liability to their bottom line.

In this white paper, we will take a closer look at employment branding,what it is, what it isn’t, and why it is arguably the most importantpart of your talent acquisition strategy. We will examine some of theexternal factors that influence your brand and teach you how to buildan employment value proposition (EVP)—the strongest weapon inyour recruitment arsenal.

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The Big Picture:If You Don’t Tell Your Story, SomeoneElse Will




A lot has been written in both business journals and HR publicationsabout what candidates want from their employers in today’s labormarket. The experts have spoken, and it is clear that when it comes tochoosing who to work for, reputation matters.

The 2015 Employer Branding Study, revealed that 75 percent of job seekers will take a company’semployment brand into consideration before they even apply for a job. Another survey found that 50 percent of job seekers would not work for a company that had a bad reputation—even if the opportunity provided a pay increase.¹

On the flip side, a survey from LinkedIn found that 50 percent of recruiters do not understand the brands they represent.² When examined together, these studies reveal that companies are struggling to appeal to their audience in a way that addressees their most important decision criteria. For the brands that cannot attract the talent they need due to their lackluster image, the result is a very expensive communication gap with serious implications for the bottom line.

So the question every CHRO needs to ask is, “If my hiring managers can’t tell the world what our brand stands for, who will?” The short answer is: everyone else. Current and previous employees, retirees, eliminated candidates, customers, suppliers and anyone who interacts with your company has the power to influence your reputation in the market or more specifically online, positively or negatively. The only way to control how your company is viewed in the marketplace is to have a consistent message that rings louder and clearer than all other competing messages

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Employment branding is the “image of your organization as a ‘great place to work’ in the minds of current employees and keystakeholders in the external market.”³

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EmploymentBranding VersusCorporate Branding




One of the biggest recruiting mistakes a company can make isconfusing their employment brand with their corporate brand.

In reality, the two are entirely different beasts with different objectives, operational strategies and target audiences. The employment brand focuses on the value you bring as an employer, whereas the corporate brand focuses on the value of the products and services you bring to market.

The common misconception is, “We have a marketing team and a generous advertising budget.People know our logo; they love our products. They see our ads and know what we’re all about.Candidates should know what it’s like to work here.”

Think of well-known brands and how they are perceived as places to work. Brands like IBM andAmazon have strong brand recognition, but does this mean they are great places to work? Notnecessarily. Candidates know that a greatly admired brand with lots of “surface gloss” is notnecessarily an exceptional place to work. They want to know what life is like behind the scenes, and it is up to you to answer their questions.

An employment brand, like all marketing strategies, needs to adhere to the first commandmentof marketing: know your audience. When your ideal employee and your ideal customer aredemographically different, your marketing strategies for each group must align to their uniquehabits, attitudes and decision criteria. Therefore, the messaging employed in your recruitmentstrategy must be geared toward candidate audience and not consumers.

Care.com, for example, is an online service that helps families find caregivers for their loved ones.From a consumer perspective, the brand’s target audience consists of parents of young childrenas well as adult children caring for aging parents. This customer profile is in stark contrast to thecompany’s hiring profile. As a web-based company, leadership is searching for IT and program-ming experts who can provide the high-tech skill sets the company needs to stay competitive.

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Value proposition: “the totality of your culture, systems, attitudes, and employeerelationship along with encouraging yourpeople to embrace and share goals forsuccess, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels.”⁴

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Building AnEmployee ValueProposition (EVP)




At the heart of every exceptional employment brand is an employeevalue proposition (EVP), a statement or tagline that reflects whoyou are as an employer and how that translates to the employeeexperience.

When clearly defined, the EVP is a powerful recruiting tool that helps differentiate a company from its competitors. It also helps to attract like-minded candidates, and prevents recruiters from wasting time and energy on job seekers who are not a cultural fit.

Also known as “the deal” between employer and employees, the EVP articulates what youremployees can expect to get in exchange for what they give to your organization. It is importantto note, however, that if you want to send a message that resonates with your target audience,your EVP should not focus solely on financial rewards. Instead, your EVP needs to speak to youraudience’s core values, professional goals and the overall experience of what it means to be a part of your team.

Millennials offer a perfect example of why recruiters need to engage in this kind of targetedmessaging. More so than other generations of workers, Millennials are highly committed to socialissues and motivated to work for companies whose values align to their own. In the well-knownCone Communications Millennial Cause Study, nearly 79 percent of those surveyed said theywant to work for a company that is socially responsible. Thirty percent said their ideal job wouldempower them to make the world a better place.⁵ Understanding these motivations is critical forany company looking to successfully recruit within this demographic.

An EVP must also be aligned to the changing needs, wants, and aspirations of the diverse sets ofemployees within your organization. For example, a young employee might be enticed by the idea of joining a fun-filled work environment. As time passes, this same employee will move into the next stage of life where benefits and job security may be their highest priorities.

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Here are just a few real world examplesof EVPs from successful brands:

HubspotWhen clearly defined, the EVP is a powerful recruiting tool that helps differentiate a company from its competitors. It also helps to attract like-minded candidates, and prevents recruiters from wasting time and energy on job seekers who are not a cultural fit.

Goldman Sachs“At Goldman Sachs, you’ll make an impact.”⁶

Hubspot“At The Container Store, we’re working to build a business whereeveryone associated with it can thrive together!”⁷

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Increase the commitment of new hires by 29

percent

Reduce new hire compensation by 50 percent

Increase the likelihood of employee advocacy

from 24 to 47 percent⁸

29%50%47%




A well-defined EVP has the power to:

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467 Million

200 Million19 Million




How many people arewatching your company online?

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EmploymentBranding VersusCorporate Branding




For many business leaders, it is easy to assume that their employmentbrand is positive based on the limited feedback they receive. C-suiteexecutives are often too far removed from the day-to-day operationsto observe the true candidate and employee experience at theircompany.

The real danger lies in ignoring all the external factors that are shaping the brand. Companiesmust look beyond their own doorstep to understand how their reputation as an employer is being defined in online forums.

Consider social media sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn or professional discussion boards. Isanyone in your company actively managing these? Social media has changed the way we consume information and accelerates the way we tell stories. People are highly influenced by peer reviews of workplace culture. They yearn for transparency and authenticity.

The way you manage your brand on these online platforms can makeor break your ability to attract A players.

Look at your company’s online presence from the perspective of a job seeker who is seeing yourbrand for the first time. Are your culture and values accurately presented? Would a prospectiveemployee be able to see themselves happily engaged at your company based on what they see?

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Here is a list of best practices to enhance your online presence and give

candidates a vivid picture of what they can expect as your employee:

Be dynamic and engaging; demonstratewhat differentiates you from competitors

Include pictures of employees, projects,awards and company events

Highlight your mission, values and thecharitable causes you support

Showcase your leadership team andtheir corporate vision to build trust andconfidence

Use your EVP to address your candidateaudience, not your customer audience

Add compelling employeetestimonials and quotes

Don’t forget a powerful call to action tocontact you or review job openings

Share images of inside your officesand features that enhance the workingexperience

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Employment Branding Statistics

69 percent of Americans would turn down a job

with a company that has a bad reputation—even

if they are unemployed!12

84 percent would consider leaving the company

if they were given an opportunity to work at a

company with a great reputation. They would

leave for as little as a 1-10 percent pay increase.13

The cost of a bad reputation for a company

with 10,000 employees could be as much as

£4,080,000 ($5,875,200 USD) per year.14

69%

84%

$6M


Responding ToCompany Reviews




The biggest challenge you will face when managing your onlineemployment brand is addressing the information (and misinformation)that is posted outside of your control.

Negative reviews of the employment experience, the candidate experience, or the companyleadership are bound to happen, even for the most successful brands.

Rather than turning a blind eye to the comments in online forums, companies must play an active role in the discussions and address any issues with sincerity, openness and concern. This will help to build a sense of trust and goodwill among potential employees who may be on the fence about working for the company.

It is important to recognize that all the feedback you receive represents an opportunity to gaindeeper insight into your operations. The best way to respond to either praise or criticism is byacknowledging the author’s experience and redirecting attention to the positive aspects of yourcompany. Demonstrate that you are open to feedback and constantly improving. Remember, your future employees are paying attention.

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ImprovingCareer Site SEO





Why should search engine optimization (SEO) be a key componentin your recruitment strategy? When candidates are looking for moreinformation about your company, your culture, or job opportunities,there is a critical moment in which they are forming their firstimpressions of your brand.

It is important that your website with the content and brand messaging that you created are thefirst items they see. This is your opportunity to tell your story and engage the talent you need.Ideally, the career page of your company’s website should be the first result in any job-relatedsearch for your company. In many cases, other social media outlets could rank higher on the search results. This means that the comments and reviews written by outside sources could negatively influence a candidate’s first impression of your brand before they ever see your website.


Add three types of metadata about the content on your career pages: title,description, and keywords

Use rich key words on all pages

Use alt tags (alternative text descriptions)

Stay active and publish content fairly regularly to the career page(s)

Identify a keyword phrase for each page, and add bold, italics, heading tags, etc.

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To ensure that your brand is the first thing candidates see when

they search for you, you will need to make the following SEO

enhancements to your career site:


EmploymentBranding Conclusion



Recognize that all companies have employment brands, whether they know it or not

Create an authentic and genuine EVP to enhance their recruiting efforts

Constructively address external sources and conflicting messages about the brand

Understand their target candidate audience—their needs, values and decision criteria

Leverage social media platforms to articulate and reinforce the brand’s EVP

Strive to be the first, loudest, and most consistent voice that defines the brand to candidates

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Depending on how well you nurture it, your employment brand can

either be a liability to your bottom line or a competitive advantage that

sets you apart from everyone else—or something in between.

With so much at stake in the battle for talent, CEOs cannot afford

to be passive or allow their brand to be defined by outside sources.

Instead, they should:

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http://www.humanresourcestoday.com

https://snap.licdn.com

http://www.ijcns.com

http://www.indianmba.com

http://www.conecomm.com

http://www.hr.com

http://standfor.containerstore.com

https://www.kpmg.com

http://expandedramblings.com

http://blog.indeed.com

https://www.quantcast.com

http://www.triplepundit.com

https://www.glassdoor.com

https://business.linkedin.com

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Sources

U.S.

Brazil

Germany

Hong Kong

Poland

Mexico

Netherlands

India

Canada

Switzerland

France

Japan

U.K.

Ireland

One World. One Workforce.Go beyond traditional workforce programs with a consultative partner able to manage your entire, end-to-end talent lifecycle. From cutting-edge technologies to award-winning services, AgileOne has the resources to provide true total talent management. Minority/woman-owned, with operations in nearly 20 countries around the globe. One World. One Workforce. One provider: AgileOne.

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Documents

What Every CHRO Needs To Know About Employment Brandingagile-one.com/media/1407/2018-agileone-whitepaper-chro...choosing who to work for, reputation matters. The 2015 Employer Branding