Delivering on the employment brand promise

Mess with your employment brand and the impact can be substantial. Photo / Derek Flynn

Historical methods of building a strong employer brand often saw organisations relying on clever use of advertising and promotion to enhance their image - that compelling advertisement, or the uber-enthusiastic recruiter painting a rosy picture and a bright future.

Too many perhaps can recall the let-down when reality bites, and things over-promised are inevitably under-delivered. But things are changing, and so is the speed with which a failure to "deliver on the promise" can impact your reputation.

Jonny Wyles, director of employment communications agency HainesAttract, has studied employment branding strategies and suggests organisations are starting to wise up.

"An increasing number of organisations now realise that an investment in their reputation as an employer pays dividends when it comes to attracting and retaining talented people."

This is consistent with the results of the JRA HR Polices and Practices Survey in 2008, where 47 per cent of organisations believed a "company's brand/reputation" was the most important factor enabling them to attract key talent, and of a repeat study in 2009 which put "employer branding" as the No 1 strategy for attracting key talent.

Mess with your employment brand and the impact can be substantial as disillusioned talent moves out and negative word-of-mouth hamstrings your ability to attract new talent in.

What has changed is the speed with which social media can "spread the word" as the reverberations of "over-promising and under-delivering" circulate.

Interesting also is the way traditional advertising is being impacted by the power of social media to influence reputations.

"On one hand social media can dramatically enhance an employer brand with its ability to leverage these networks to drive employee referrals," says Wyles.

"On the other hand, the truth lies in what people are saying, and an employer's reputation can be badly damaged through the likes of Facebook and Twitter networks. This means it's more important than ever to walk the talk around response management and how staff are treated."

Perhaps it's a case of social media keeping organisations honest and of recognising there is no short-cut to building a strong employment brand. Great workplaces have a higher proportion of engaged employees, the "promoters" of your organisation.

Increasingly it is they, and not the advertising agency, who will build your positive employment brand.

JRA will be running the 2010 JRA Best Workplaces Survey in association with the New Zealand Herald from June 1 to August 31. Registrations are now being taken.