Employer Branding for Talent Attraction

HR’s ad agency.

Employer Branding for Talent Attraction

Workforce Communications Practice │Webinar │ May 10, 2016

HR’s ad agency.

Today’s Agenda

1) The importance of “all-way” brand alignment

2) The impact of review sites on employer

branding

3) The strategy beyond the basics

N. Robert Johnson

Practice Leader, Workforce Communications Practice

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HR’s ad agency.

HR’s ad agency.

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We apply advertising and marketing practices to

help organizations attract and retain talent.

The focus of The David Group’s workforce

communications practice is to strengthen

employer brands, engage people and cut the

cost of talent.

HR’s ad agency. 4

All-Way Brand Alignment

HR’s ad agency. 5

“The full value of talent comes from how

talent choices affect those outside the

organization, not just inside.”

- Dave Ulrich

Source: Taking Stock of Your Talent, Dave Ulrich, Workforce, February 2016

HR’s ad agency. 6

Our PremiseAll-Way Alignment

Employer brand

alignment to

everyday

experiences

External brand

and employer

brand

alignment

Stronger employer brand

and more engaged

employees and

customers

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2

3

HR’s ad agency.

What’s the Worry?

Blurred Lines

The new communications paradigm is blurring the

lines between distinct enterprise experiences.

The result?

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HR’s ad agency.

Blurred Lines

The blurring of these lines – the melding of

individual behavior and experience

expectation – impact our connection with

candidates, current employees and customers.

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HR’s ad agency.

Individual Behavior

1) Instant investigation, validation and formation

of perceptions and beliefs

2) Speed of life: fast fingers traveling the world in

an instant

3) What we digitally “touch” is what we see and,

thus, what we believe

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HR’s ad agency.

Experience Expectation

1) Heightened experience expectation in every

interaction

2) Inconsistencies cause questions and “slows

the flow”

3) Low tolerance for poor user-experience and

short attention span leads to drop out

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HR’s ad agency.

All-Way Alignment

Employer brand and employee experiences

1) An employer is the employment story, but …

2) It’s the story as told by everyday employee

experiences

3) Validation – asking them – is the measure of

employer brand strength

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HR’s ad agency.

All-Way Alignment

External Brand and Employer Brand

1) Do the brands align?

2) Are we using the same emotion, value proposition

and branding elements to engage, reassure and

connect external and internal audiences (to both the

enterprise and to each other)

3) Payoff: Superior financial performance – 36% stronger

financial results due to strength of consumer and

talent brand alignment

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Lippencott Advertising

HR’s ad agency. 13

Strong

Weak

Weak Strong

Employer Brand

Aligned to

External Brand

Employer Brand Aligned to Employees’

Everyday Experiences

Unfounded Story

• Brands are aligned but aligned

to false employer brand

• Risk of low ee engagement,

high turnover due to see/told

phenomenon (see bonus slide)

• Customer experience isn’t

reinforced by employees

Disjointed Story

• Employer brand is validated

but not connected to external

brand

• Risk of employee

confusion/disengagement

• Customers are experience two

separate experiences

A Living Story

• “Living the brand”

• High engagement and high

retention

• Employees are providing a

superior customer experience

(and customers return)

A Forgetful Story

• Brands are not aligned and

employer brand is not validated

• Employees and customers are

not engaged and not connected

• Transactional relationships

*TDG Workforce Communications Practice

All-Way Alignment Model* for Employer Branding


The Impact of Review Sites

HR’s ad agency.

Individual Behavior




an instant



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Online reviews have forever changed the

way we think about what we will invest in,

including our next career move.


Peer Recommendations

Peers recommend companies and influence

purchasing.

Impact of conversations about brands with peers.

Make decisions/overcome

concerns/warn me about risks

Earned Brand Study of Global Consumers, 2015

75%



Peers and employees are more credible.

Eldeman Trust Barometer, 2016

63%

“A person like me”

52%

“Employee”

49%

“CEO”



Peers and employees are more credible.

Deloitte, 2014

60% 60%43%

16% 12%Friends/Family Customer

ReviewsIndependent

ExpertsStaff/Website Product

Manufacturer

HR’s ad agency.

Individual Behavior




an instant



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of job seekers say it’s important to work for a

company that embraces transparency

of job seekers say their perception of a

company improves after seeing an

employer respond to a review

96%

69%

Learning to Love …

Review sites.

Glassdoor, 2014


The decision has already been made: if

you need to attract and retain talent, you

have to embrace – and manage – your

presence on online review sites.


The Strategy Beyond the Basics

HR’s ad agency.

Beyond the Basics

Dig … align … dig … align some more …

1) Strategy: become an evidence based talent

marketer

2) Strategy: align experiences

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HR’s ad agency.

Evidence Based Talent Marketer

Do your homework to understand your talent audiences

(internal and external) and validate your employer brand

to arrive at an authentic employer brand.

1) Immerse yourself in all available HR and marketing data

2) Validate with employee experiences via focus groups,

interviews, etc.

3) Look at recruitment data

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HR’s ad agency.

Align Experiences

Work with marketing, line leaders and functional leaders

to align external and employer brands.

1) Become a branding expert in your company’s external

branding (emotion, value proposition, promise, attributes, etc.)

2) Bring that knowledge to your already experience-validated

employer brand

3) Create a unified enterprise-wide branding platform with

particular attention to review sites

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N. Robert Johnson

Practice Leader, Workforce Communications

216.685.4486 │[email protected]

davidgroup.com

The David Group Inc. All rights reserved. Ref 16 – 107

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.davidgroup.com/


Validating the

Employer Brand

Everyday experiences

(I see) versus employer

branding effectiveness

(I’m told)

Imperative

Align your employees’ everyday

experiences and your employer

branding and communications

High

I See

Low

FoundationExperience softens attitudes; solid

foundation for internal

communications programs; but

employees will have a hard time

committing without communication

reinforcement

PerformanceCommunications and experiences

are aligned; strong commitment to

leadership and direction of

organization

AdriftNo one knows what matters; risk

of high disengagement; distrust in

leadership and self

LostEmployees distrust what they are

told; dissonance between sight

and messages; potential

disconnection between aspirational

and authentic employment story

Low High I’m Told Based on work by Johnson, D’Aprix and Quirke

Bonus Slide


Bonus SlideOur approach to

employer brand

development.

Business

Employer Branding for Talent Attraction