Cart before the horse

The classical approach to Employer Branding suggests that you:

a)     Nail down your Employee Value propositions (EVPs)

b)     List out touch points for employees and potential talent

c)     Cement the EVPs at each touch point through bringing to life relevant ‘experiences’

Mission accomplished!

A current conversation we are having with a company that seeks to ‘break the script’; here is how their narrative goes:

“ We are clear as to what we stand for as an employer and are confident that we deliver to the same. What we want to do is to focus on the recruitment stage to strengthen our Employer Brand – examine every touch-point and influencer/ decision–maker. Go deep so that our message resonates at every node”

Some might frown on what seems like a shotgun approach, but it might be valid provided it ticks a few boxes:

• The EVPs that you seek to communicate externally resonate strongly with your existing employees. That way you will be authentic in your communication. If you want to tell external talent that your company ‘empowers’, that should be the reality today. Conversely, you do not promise an experience that you do not deliver. Saying we offer great career progression, when in fact you are still at the drawing board of designing a career framework is one such example

• You have in some form launched or communicated the promises internally first; employees should not feel they have been taken for granted. Imagine, employees, seeing your propositions/ campaigns for the first time on public digital media. Send a mail to ex-employees sharing with them the impending recruitment campaign you are going to run and encourage them to share within their networks – could be a good way of bringing them on board

• You have an acute talent attraction challenge which necessitates you act with speed and take an outside-in approach. Even then be sure only to campaign the experiences that you deliver well for existing employees

• You have a relatively happy and stable employee base, one that is generous to you during the regular ‘employee engagement surveys’

• Your propositions are derived from a vision that has been set by the leader. When the EVPs are linked to a sunny future state, then they are somewhat transitionary and WIP even for existing employees. Do a quick internal launch, create the buzz, get employees energized and connected with the vision and if you are successful in doing that, then take it to the talent market. One follows closely on the heels of the other

So as long as you are not putting the cart before the horse, as long as your employees who hold you in judgment as an employer do not feel short-changed or see you as being dishonest; you should be fine

In an era of instant gratification, where the long-term is now but a few months, the need to get into the talent arena with speed is understandable. Just be sure you are adept at walking the tightrope

#employerbranding #talentbranding #employerbrandmarketing