Employer branding is the image that projects an image as an employer. Find out why it is important to develop it and what you should keep in mind when doing it.
In August 2015, Amazon received a media bombshell from the New York Times. A report by Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld exposed the working conditions of the company that started as a book retailer to become a Behemoth that competes in different sectors of technology.
Patrick Tame, CEO of the recruiting company Beringer Tame, noted that this report affected the company so much that Jeff Bezos, who often ignores these types of notes, took the trouble to respond in a memo to the workers the allegations. Since then, the changes have been noticed. In 2020, Forbes ranked Amazon as the second-best employer in the world, and the company’s rating on Glassdoor has risen.
In Latin America, Alsea lived a similar case to the beginning of the pandemic, when it was reported that the company requested leave without pay. The criticisms were immediate and negative comments from this company that runs food chains such as Starbucks, Domino’s, or Burger King in Mexico rained down on Twitter.
In both cases, employer branding has had a negative impact on these companies. But what do we mean by employer branding?
What is employer branding?
According to Talent Clue, employer branding is the image that a company projects as an employer. This image is not only for your clients but also for employees and potential candidates.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) offers a more elaborate definition for employer branding: the set of attributes and qualities, sometimes intangible, that make an organization stand out and offer employees a unique experience and appeal to talents that will grow and perform better within the organization. The CIPD mentions that this brand must connect with the values, strategy, and policies of an organization. This brand, therefore, must be influenced by the perspectives and ethical standards that the employer upholds.
Brett Minchington, the author of Employer Brand Experience, defines it as ‘the image of your organization as a“ great place to work ”’. While Barrow and Mosley are inclined to define it as the perceptions of people who have a brand as an employer. This last definition considers that every brand has an employer brand. Sometimes this image is positive; at other times, not so much.
Why should your company develop employer branding?
Research by the Boston Consulting Group and World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) has confirmed the relationship between human resource practices and performance benefits. Regarding the impact of specific practices, Barrow and Mosley observed that those directly related to employer branding showed better results than the rest.
CIPD points out that employer branding strengthens the power of the brand, its credibility, employee commitment, and prevalence in the labor market. In times of crisis, such as the current ones, the reputation of employers is at risk if they deal with employees poorly, which can negatively impact future candidates and their perception of the organization.
In short, developing employer branding allows companies to compete more effectively in the labor market and guarantee employee loyalty, commitment, and retention.
Do you want to know more about employer branding? Try these books!
- The Employer Brand: Bringing the Best of Brand Management to People at Work, by Simon Barrows & Richard Mosley
- The Talent Magnet – Employer Branding & Recruitment Marketing Strategies to Attract Millennial Talent by Richard Paul Evans.
- Give & Get Employer Branding: Repel the Many and Compel the Few with Impact, Purpose and Belonging, by Bryan Adams.
- Introduction To Employer Branding: Definition, Benefits, And Effective Strategies: The Competitive Job Market, by Anita Yenor
- Employer Branding for Dummies