Employer Branding takes the elements
of branding – creating a particular thought, emotion and
image around a particular product or service - and applies them
to create a strong brand to recruit employees. It is a concept
that is rapidly gaining exposure in the corporate workforce, especially
with companies who deal in international markets and who seek to
attract employees with cross-cultural experience.
Intensifying employer competition
The concept of Employer Branding is becoming especially critical
as new technology; globalization and the rising power of international
brands are changing the way we work and fuelling the competition
for talent. This competition, for example, is especially acute
in the search for IT skills. In order to survive, large employers
need to make a radical shift away from traditional thinking about
employment and work to build more diverse career partnerships
with different individuals and groups.
In the current labor market, more and more employees are including
such aspects as work/life balance and a company’s commitment
to the community among the values they seek in their employer. Competition
among employers is intense in this market, with many job seekers
able to be more discerning in their choice of an employer.
Shifting priorities
Individuals and corporations are re-evaluating their priorities
in this new environment, and the result is a new definition of
a successful organization - an organization that includes the
social dimension of their workforce as an attribute of their
success.
“Employer Branding has been around as long as there have
been employers and workers,” states Mark Hornung, Senior
Vice President of Bernard Hodes Group Inc. The concept gained recognition
as a separate discipline in the mid-90’s. It began in Europe,
where labour issues are a bit ahead of the curve than the rest
of the world, and started to become implemented world-wide during
the talent wars of the dot com era. The looming demographic shift
caused by the retirement of the Baby Boomers also meant employers
needed to start thinking seriously about how they would attract
the best talent.”
According to Hornung, Employer Branding has matured rapidly in
the past 10 years, using the same research and analysis techniques
honed over the decades by consumer and corporate brand experts,
with an application dedicated towards attitudes about employers
and work.
The importance of Employer Branding is paramount, explains Hornung, “Because
of the looming worker shortage and the realization that value is
created not by companies but by the talented people who populate
those companies.”
An evolving strategy
Because it is so new, the discipline of Employer Branding is constantly
evolving, with the changing employment climate effecting how
it is used. In 1999 the Career Innovation Group conducted a survey
called “Riding The Wave.” This international survey
focused on the values of young professionals (with particular
emphasis on top talent) working for large, international corporations.
The results of this survey found that the top three career values
among young professionals are: “wide horizons” – meaning
the ability to maximize future options, meet new people and have
new and different experiences; work-life balance; and professional
expertise with opportunity for growth.
Within the larger trend of these values, employees are also seeking companies
that truly offer flex-time, job sharing, telecommuting and reasonable workloads.
Employers who support the volunteerism initiatives of their employee’s
by providing time off, donation matching to charitable causes within their
community, and other services, are also desirable within this new required “social
dimension” of a company.
Companies that can strike this balance will create the flexibility they
need, together with a new type of stability in the workplace – stability
based not on job security for all, but on diverse choices, strong personal
relationships and shared values.
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