Employment Brand Management Helps Attract Top Talent

By Peter D. Weddle

Employment brands (e-brands) are increasingly recognized as the single most important factor influencing the selection of an employer by top talent. A strong e-brand will both attract even the most passive prospects to an organization and predispose them to consider its employment opportunities even when they wouldn't consider openings anywhere else. Brand management, therefore, is now among the most important tasks for staffing departments. It involves the development, promotion and oversight of an organization's value proposition as an employer.

E-Brand Development

An e-brand is not an advertising jingle or tagline. Such phrases work with consumer brands because the consumer has, in all likelihood, actually experienced the vendor's product or service. For example, when a light-bulb manufacturer says it "brings good things to light," we can appreciate the double entendre of the phrase because we have all used a light bulb. The same is not true when that manufacturer or any other employer is trying to recruit talent. The vast majority of the "consumers" they target with their e-brand ads will not have had the experience of working for their organization. To be effective, therefore, an e-brand must be a complete expression of the attributes that characterize the employer's workaday experience. It is not a ponderous mission statement, but a window into what it's like to work in and for an organization.

Which attributes of employment should an organization include in its e-brand? I believe that depends upon three tests. The selected attributes must be:

Real. An e-brand is not the place for wishful thinking or spin. It must be believable to both the external audience and, equally as important, to an organization's employees.

Relevant. An e-brand should highlight the attributes that are most important to the high-caliber workers an employer most wants to recruit. The best way to identify those factors is to ask the consumer. What made the organization's best performers say "yes" to its employment offer and what keeps them there?

Recognizable. An e-brand must differentiate an employer and set it apart in the minds of the top talent the organization is trying to recruit. It should be a unique combination of attributes expressed in a way that is unique to the employer.

E-Brand Promotion

E-brands are meaningless statements if they are not seen by the "consumers" an employer is trying to reach. Since the best professionals often are employed and/or passive in nature, however, these e-brand ads must be visible far beyond the career area on its web site.

Where should an e-brand be advertised? At web sites and in any other venues where there is likely to be a high ratio of the top talent an employer is trying to reach. Among the former, these might include:

Job boards that offer features for passive as well as active job seekers
Association sites
Newspaper sites
Search engines
Among the latter, these might include:

Print newspapers
Print professional journals
Commute-Time Radio Programs.
No less important, the e-brand advertising must be durable. Before the advent of the Information Age, advertisers counseled that an ad had to be seen seven times before it would break into the consciousness of a potential consumer. Today's omnipresent, 24/7 information distribution has only increased the clutter, upping the number of ad repetitions by at least a factor of two. Said another way, an e-brand must be promoted constantly, even when an organization is not hiring.

E-Brand Oversight

Like personal reputations, e-brands are fragile creations that can be destroyed in the click of an e-mail. Moreover, an e-brand is not only what you say about your organization's employment experience, but it's what others say about it, as well. As a consequence, organizations must continuously monitor outside commentary about their employment value proposition. They can't, of course, violate the free-speech rights of others (including their employees), but they can identify inaccurate, misleading and/or harmful statements and correct or counter them.

How does an organization monitor its e-brand? It should keep an eye on sites:

that target your specific company and employees. For example, StarbucksGossip.com covers everything from the public response to the company's new products to the latest personnel moves in its corporate headquarters.

that solicit commentary about all employers. For example, the Electronic Watercooler at Vault.com encourages people to do online and do what they do at water coolers in the real world: gossip, gripe and exchange "information" about employers.

that solicit commentary from all employees. For example, OfficeBallot.com lets people rate their co-workers, boss or anyone else in their company and do so with complete anonymity.

The goal is not to keep track of everything that is said about an employer -- that is the job of its public-relations function -- but rather to oversee what's being said about its attributes and practices as an employer. Critical or false statements can quickly and seriously harm an e-brand. Therefore, uncovering such assertions as soon as they occur and, if appropriate, counteracting them effectively are essential to the maintenance of a strong and attractive e-brand.

-- Mr. Weddle is an author and commentator, and publishes Weddle's, a newsletter about successful online recruiting.

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