Have you ever been interested in (or tried to fill) a job that sounded really interesting… until you found out who the employer was? What about a so-so job that wasn’t appealing at all until you found out that it was at a really cool company?
This perception of a company as an interesting, oppressive, or boring place to work can drastically affect that company’s ability to attract and retain top-quality talent. I call it an “employer brand” and encourage all my clients to consider it as a part of their overall recruiting strategy.
So what does this fancy “employer brand” term mean, anyway? It’s really quite simple- it’s the collection of perceptions your target market- candidates who fit your current and future open positions- have about you as an employer. Much like your product’s brand, these perceptions will influence your target market’s “buying” decisions whether they are accurate or not. Employers should ask themselves how they are perceived in the marketplace- are they known for generosity of benefits? Interesting and challenging work? Flexible work-life policies? Ruthless cost-cutting? Micromanagement? Conformity? It’s these perceptions that can make your ideal candidate, the one who can pick-and-choose among offers of employment, decide whether or not to apply for an open position with your firm at all. If you have a negative employer brand, you may never see the resumes of the best and brightest.
To complicate matters, your product brand can heavily influence your employer brand. Consider the following consumer brands:
Wal-Mart
Apple
Starbucks
Amazon
Microsoft
Google
Pillsbury
What’s your perception about working for each of these companies? Are you someone who wouldn’t want to work for Wal-Mart because you’ve heard how ruthlessly they manage their own costs? Or are you someone who wants to work for a company with such undisputed expertise at efficiency?
What about Apple? Do you love your iPod and want to work for a company that puts that kind of attention to detail into its products? Or do you not want to work for a company that couldn’t get its computing platform past a 5% market share?
Your perception of a company’s core product or service will drastically affect your interest in working there.
So what is a company with a bad employer brand to do?
I hope I’ve already convinced you to think of it as if you were thinking of your product brand. What’s the perception you want people to have of your company? How will you reach your target market? What will you tell them?
I recommend that companies engaging the services of PR and marketing professionals, whether internally or through third-party firms, request that their PR and marketing plans include a component that specifically supports employer branding. We’ve already established that your product brand affects your employer brand, so why shouldn’t they be promoted by the same people?
If a company takes care to ensure that it is perceived as a good place to work for its target candidates, it will notice an upswing in the quality (and probably number) of resumes received. Its recruiters will be more successful in enticing qualified candidates to make a move. Passive candidates’ ears will perk up upon hearing of an opportunity at the firm. Better candidates usually means better quality of hires. Better hires mean better work produced. Better work is a better product, and a better product means a better brand. It’s a cycle, but one you’d like to get into.