Employer branding: Market the company, not just the products

Monday, 18 March 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

As social-media heightens awareness of factors like how a company treats its employees, companies are recognizing the impact their reputation as an employer can have on the bottom line.

While countless hours are spent agonizing over how to market a brand to its target audience, brands traditionally have not given much thought to the need to promote the company and its culture as a great place to work.

Petter Nylander, CEO of Universum Global, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that while companies will benefit directly through good employer branding (due to a faster and more efficient recruitment process), how the employer brand speaks defines the company in the eyes of consumers. It is about brand architecture and the corporate brand to attract both fresh graduates and experienced people, he said. Technology and the attitude of the employees have changed. Students will go online to check out a company, and they look at how brands present themselves.

Nylander added that many MNCs are using employer branding in talent acquisition, but they need to have a consistent message that makes; employees feel proud to work for their company. Companies like Google spend a lot of time and resources on showing off their company culture and what it is like to work for the company. Nylander noted that employer branding deploys similar techniques to brand marketing. Among these are: creating and determining awareness levels and the right channels; building brand preference; as well as defining employer value proposition (EVP) by looking at the company strengths and getting opinions from employees.

It is the same technique used for consumer marketing: You look at numbers and facts to see if they are creating impact,” he added. “For employees, where to work also involves emotion and stakeholders like parents, friends and family.”

Nylander noted that the problem for brands is whether they should position employer branding under HR, corporate communications or marketing communications but it is often put under HR.

Currently, the companies that take up employer branding are mostly MNCs, but domestic companies in Asia are catching up. We need to educate brands about the importance of employer branding to do marketing about the company and to attract talent,” he said.