Employer Brand Headlines: The "Mayor of Simpleton" Edition (#71)
We’re not the biggest and best employer brand newsletter… oh, wait. Yes, we are!
In this edition:
Who is your employer brand for?
Culture club
Better internal surveys
Pixar stories
Recharge Month continues
The Big Idea
There are really only two jobs in the modern economy: Worker and artist. Forgive the flowery titles, but really, artists think and do, but workers do as they are told. Workers are there to do the job they are given. They succeed by doing the task to spec quickly and without deviation. Artists invent every day in ways great and small.
Look at Amazon. One part of their workforce are artists: coders, logistics strategists, business leaders, brand managers, category managers, etc. They invent their job every day because no one has ever done it before. They look at what is and invent what can be. They fail, they succeed, they do it again.
The other part (the majority by numbers) are workers. They put things in boxes. They drive trucks and check through packages. They make sure the warehouse is performing as expected. They are there to make sure things work “as expected.” The driver isn’t inventing the route. Or thinking about truck designs. They are doing as the software tells them. They are makes sure that when the sales confirmation page says, “will be delivered Tuesday,” it gets there on Tuesday. They are hired because they will meet spec.
In fairness, your employer brand isn’t strictly about workers. Workers don’t get opportunity. They aren’t here for the camaraderie. They aren’t here for the glory. They aren’t here for the freedom to become themselves. They are are working transactional roles, thus they seek to optimize the transaction: the most pay and the fewest hours. The most security and the least hassle.
That’s not what you can build your employer brand on. Your employer brand isn’t for them.
Your employer brand is for the artists. The waitstaff who make you feel cared for (and maybe even special) to the designers who spend a little more time thinking about how to make the complex feel a little easier to do. Treat them like workers and they will give you only what you paid for. Treat them like artists, show them how your company gives artists freedom or resources or glory or community or whatever. That’s your employer brand. That’s who it’s for.
On to the Headlines
Is the culture you talk about the one that exists or the one leadership wants to be true? Yeah, sorry. That was a little blunt for this hour in the morning. Go get some coffee and come back. Good. We all know that in rooms we’re not always invited to, the Venn diagram of “employer brand” and “company culture” is often just a circle. This happens when companies want to be seen as “caring” about a thing when they don’t always understand a thing (see also: “strategy,” “innovation” and “employee engagement” amongst many many others). So they skim that HBR article (the one more concerned with clicks than understanding what we do all day) and say that culture is important and dictate one. Next stop: the power printer. So here’s a little counter-programming. First, over at Reddit, a great article from a leader who wrestled with their company culture as it went from 15 people to 75 people (h/t Recruiting Brainfood). Second, culture isn’t static. In fact, it often isn’t evident until something unexpected happens. According to analysis of 1.4MM Glassdoor scores, culture weighed heavily on whether ratings went up or down during the first months of COVID. Companies that dictated culture fared worse than companies who were transparent and allowed their culture to inform communication styles and subject. If a company understands that a culture is a function of what staff say it is, they respond better than when its rigid. (h/t Allison Kruse)
Internal surveys are useful, but deeply flawed. They only show the perception of those who self-select into the survey. They rarely ask good questions (where everyone answering them are actually answering the same question in their minds). And most staff don’t reveal what they really think for fear of retribution. But they are useful if you know how to design and administer them.
Sure, infographics might feel a little 2015, but what about interactive infographics? I can see value in using them to show internal teams the value of your work, as well as putting together a fact-sheet for potential candidates.
Have you spent any kind of time considering your candidates’ behavior? Are they “hit the apply button” types who value the fastest possible process? Or do they want enough information before proceeding? Where are they getting that information? How are they validating it? On what basis are they making decisions? For inspiration, take a look at this conversation by brand leaders on understanding buyer habits.
I so wish we could have a meaningful conversation about storytelling without having to wade through all the eye-rolling stats about how stories are remembered where facts are not (we get it!). But if you scroll past those, here’s some insight from the former head of story at Pixar on how to tell better stories. (And while we’re here, here’s the ultimate template “story spine” for every story Pixar’s ever told). (h/t Glenn Southman’s Follow The Bear newsletter)
Quick Hits
To Increase Diversity, U.S. Tech Companies Need to Follow the Talent
EB Tip Of The Week
“Recharge Month” continues. Go listen to:
Stay Free the podcast history of The Clash narrated by Public Enemy’s Chuck D (trust me)
The Tim Ferriss Show #476 with Seth Godin talking about practicing and shipping.
And Inside Your Fortune Cookie It Says...
“Singing is a trick to get people to listen to music for longer than they would ordinarily.” - David Byrne
Thanks, everyone!
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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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