Employer Brand Headlines: The "Don't Don't Don't Let's Start" Edition (#66)
In this edition:
The four things your employer brand must have to be successful
Fairness and values
Networks of networks
Brand loyalty myths
The Big Idea
I’m been thinking what you need to build an employer brand (or EVP or brand position, etc) and this is where I’ve landed.
I started with two axises: time (current versus future) and people (individuals versus collectives). The I wondered what was the most important questions to answer at the intersections of each of these four ideas and this is what I landed on.
The four legs of the employer brand stool (James Ellis, 2020)
Employee Experience: What each employee does and will say about their working experience on Glassdoor, Google, WOM, etc., influencing their likelihood to advocate and refer people to the business.
Options: On an individual level, what is that person’s set of job options are when they look, based on their skillset, experience, location, industry and the overall job market. A mid-level coder in Palo Alto has more options than an art appraiser in Miami.
Vision: While the employees can describe the company as it is (and to some extent, especially if you’re looking at old reviews), what it was, but only leadership can indicate the direction of the company and what the intended future state will be.
Preferences: Some people are introverts and some people are extroverts. Some people are motivated by money and glory and some by mission and impact. Some will choose a job based on how it approaches social good and others don’t care. What is talent motivated by?
If you nail down these four ideas, you’ll understand exactly what your company is, and how to talk about it to the talent you seek.
On to the Headlines
So I’ve really been living in this “employer branding is all about creating desire” thing lately, huh? I hope it’s a useful way for you to look at what you’re building and how it is performing. But be living in this world of “desire,” to be successful, we need to leverage different ideas. For example: Anticipation. By stoking anticipation, you create design, but it turns out you are creating something else: fear. Think about the last time you were prepping for an interview for a job you really wanted: you anticipated the interview, you were excited to share your experience and learn more, but you were scared you’d mess it up. Juggling two contrasting emotions at once will likely be one of the most valuable skills in EB.
Here’s a list of current data that likely will influence how you shape your employer brand. My big takeaway is that we’re seeing the further crumbling of the definition of a ‘job.’ Everyone is looking for transferable skills, flexibility in taking tried and true skills and applying them to new fields and brand new problems. Everyone is busy re-inventing their own career. Everyone sees the world as ‘uncertain. All of which suggests that a lot of the foundational elements of your brand (what we do, our industry, how we work) are changing or eroding. Ignore these shifts to your own peril.
So, if you entitle your article ’7 Ways HR Can Build a Fairer, Data-Informed Culture,‘ you are really asking for hurt. You know how I know? Because I have a brother and growing up, we each had a vastly difference sense of what 'fair’ meant. I have to imagine in your average 1,000-person company, you’ll be seeing dozens if not hundreds of definitions of same. It’s a tarpit, one which the article seems to acknowledge before skipping past it. But there’s something here. If you want to build trust, if you want leadership to be seen as trustworthy, if you are building your values into a platform on which any number of concepts and initiatives will live, it starts by defining fair. Is it fair that some workers make minimum wage and the CEO makes… sightly more? Is it fair that your company only extends the legal minimum of family leave to staff? Is it fair that there are no people of color or women in your executive suite? These are prickly conversations, all of which can be made simpler by defining what we all mean by ‘fair’ (and baking it into our brand).
Related to above, here’s a mega list of the ‘world’s most influential values’ you should go ahead and bookmark now. (h/t Recruiting Brainfood)
A quick “hell yeah!” to Stephen Brand’s article on networks of networks. So much of employer brand is focused on looking for blue oceans of talent (hahahaha… like those still exist) to shout branded messages at instead of looking at who our own people already know. Quoting: “chances are, you already know 90%+ of all the talent you’ll ever need.” To ignore the best advocates you have because they don’t report to you is lunacy, so take it seriously.
Are you confusing habits with brand loyalty? Are you good enough, or are you connecting to your candidates’ needs? Here are three myths around brand loyalty which may make for some uncomfortable reading.
Running workshops and focus groups are an absolute art. (head nod to Christian De Pape, who is excellent at it), but if you’re about to dive head-first into your own brand workshops, here’s a list of great questions to keep in your back pocket.
Guilty pleasure: lusting over amazing visual branding work. I’ve been following Fabien Barral’s blog and work for more than two decades, which he highlights some of the best old fashioned intricate rococo and seemingly curlicue-fetish design work I’ve ever seen. If you like ornate letterpress work, this is a goldmine.
Quick Hits
Has Recruiting Changed Forever? Lessons From Jobvite’s ’Recruiter Nation 2020’
Why great storytelling will super-charge your employer brand.
EB Tip Of The Week
Want to really understand your employer brand and candidate experience? I mean… really understand it? Ask all candidates who have had any meaningful exposure to your brand (phone screen, interview, negotiation, etc) if, knowing what they know about you now, they would be willing to consider apply for a job at your company again. That’s the the gut-punch of EB/CX: if after exposure do viable candidates want to run away. Once you know that, you can decide where to start fixing things.
And Inside Your Fortune Cookie It Says...
“Amateurs think disagreements are threats. Professionals see them as an opportunity to learn.“ -Shane Parrish
Thanks, everyone!
If you get this far into the newsletter, I have two small favors to ask.
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Cheers and thanks!
-James Ellis (LinkedIn | Twitter | Podcast | Articles)
I tried to write the best book ever written on employer branding. I don’t know if I completely succeeded, but for 99 cents, you can decide for yourself.
By James Ellis, Employer Brand Nerd
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