Topic: Employer branding as a retention strategy for employees Introduction

For years we have been told that the greatest business differentiator is the quality of the people we employee. Sure, this is important, but is it the greatest differentiator? After all arent there plenty of others that are at least as important innovation, scale, efficiency, quality But now, there are several universal trends that indicate people will almost certainly be the most important differentiator for the next few decades, and the reason is simple scarcity. The western world and to some extent the developing world will find it increasingly difficult to find employees. Those organisations that compete effectively for labour will thrive and those that dont will disappear. The labour market will become increasingly competitive as employers position themselves to attract and then retain the people they need. Companies have heard of employer branding, but dont really know how to tackle it. About 90% of the companies still do not understand employer branding. Many

companies interpret employer branding as recruitment advertising, focusing on activation rather than articulation (defining a unique brand promise), which is a bit like putting the cart before the horse. This often sees companies spend thousands on advertising the wrong brand messages. Minchington defines your employer brand as the image of your organization as a great place to work in the mind of current employees and key stakeholders in the external market (active and passive candidates, clients, customers and other key stakeholders). Employer branding is therefore concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention initiatives targeted at enhancing a companys employer brand. An employer brand is a collection of ideas and beliefs that influence the way current and potential employees view an organisation and the employment experience that organisation is offering. It communicates the company's culture and values and helps to ensure employees are passionate about, and fit in with, the organisational culture to help move the company forward. Therefore, the corporate brand supports and enhances the employer brand. For an employer brand to be successful, it needs to incorporate more than just an enhancement of recruitment communications or improved internal communications. It should focus on the entire employment experience, organisational personality, goals and values and reflect a true understanding of what motivates current employees and the candidate market. There is a keen awareness in today's marketplace that talented individuals have more career choice than ever before, and that finance professionals are demanding more career progression, greater salary advancement, excitement and new challenges, and will hold their employers to account on promises and commitment. In this way employer branding is more than a rational idea, it is an emotional relationship between an organisation and its employees. Therefore, successful employer branding reflects an organisation's aspirations but is firmly based on the ability to deliver on the promise. "If you can sell people the opportunity and show that you can deliver on that

opportunity, then they are willing to take that risk and join you. People are really striving for challenges and opportunities today." Stephen Taylor, Director of Financial Support Services, Smiths Aerospace.

Employer branding & skills shortage

Every company must compete globally if they are to thrive in today's interconnected economies. The competition for talent in finance departments has gone global and businesses are struggling to fill key roles as staff demand new horizons and new challenges. Employer branding provides organisations with a strong employment promise to new candidates as well as points of difference against competitors. "It's definitely become more important. One of our objectives (in developing our employer brand) is to become an employer of choice. It's becoming harder and harder for any company in the market out there to attract great people. Unemployment is at record lows so we need to compete against other companies to draw people in but also draw the right people in and get the right fit." Katherine Fitzgerald, People Direct Advisor -Sales & Marketing, Lion Nathan.

Statistics - Asia-Pacific companies are more aware of employer branding than the rest of the world due to increased competition for talent in the region - 48% of companies

were aware of employer branding in Asia-Pacific compared to 42% in USA, 38% in Europe - 74% of companies in Asia-Pacific believe that developing an employer brand leads to higher staff retention - 54% of companies in Asia-Pacific believe that developing an employer brand reduces recruitment costs - Globally, 32% of companies currently have an employer branding strategy in place. The United Kingdom (44%) and Japan (42%) currently lead the world while Germany lags behind with 47% having no plans to implement an employer branding strategy in the future. - 25% of companies globally believe HR policies are the best way to reinforce employer branding, followed by word of mouth (21%). Source: Employer Branding Survey, The Economist 2009& Robert Half Workplace Survey Q1 2010

Retaining staff - positive employees are part of your employer brand

The skills shortage is also posing challenges for staff retention. There is a shortage of top quality accountants in the marketplace and a key challenge is how you keep hold of the intellect and talent that exists within your organisation. "Today's finance professionals want change and want to spread their wings. The question is how you can help them achieve that within your own organisation." Tony Timberlake, Deputy Chairman, Secantor Ltd. Aspects of the organisation's culture impact both on initial recruiting success and

also on retention rates. If the employer brand is right it will attract staff with a solid cultural fit who integrate easily with the organisation. "If we're clear about our employer brand and are confident that it portrays an accurate impression of our company then we're likely to hire people who are reliant on our culture and values. So if we get the right fit, this will in turn help with retention." Katherine Fitzgerald, People Direct Advisor - Sales & Marketing, Lion Nathan. If the employer brand delivers on its promise, these staff members will be more willing to stay with an organisation. The effectiveness of internal communication, the extent to which employees are motivated to perform well, and the quality of the leadership given by management, all play an important role in retaining staff. All these factors relate to the strength of the organisation's employer brand and the way that it is perceived internally by current employees and externally by potential future recruits. "The main challenge for most companies is about creating a culture in which people enjoy working. The hard part isn't about salary levels, it's about getting the culture right." Mark Penny, Finance Director, Fuller Peiser.

Statistics - Globally, over half (58%) of the companies surveyed by Robert Half say in order to optimise their employee retention, they have offered more training and development opportunities - Globally, 32% of organisations believe the most important reason to develop a strong employer brand is to attract and retain staff, while 26% thought it was more important to use employer branding to ensure employee commitment is tied in with the organisational goals. Source: Robert Half Workplace Survey Q4 2008 & Q1 2009

Benefits of Employment Branding I have found that the primary reason why corporate recruiting managers under appreciate and under utilize a corporate branding strategy is because they have done a poor job in making the business case for investing in their firm's employment brand. You can't make a compelling business case unless you first know the possible benefits of the branding strategy. Over the years, I've advised dozens of firms on building a compelling employment brand (including a Fortune #1 Best Place to Work winner) and, as a result, I've identified the many benefits that a successful employment-branding program can provide. When demonstrated, these benefits can help sway even the most cynical nonbelievers:
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A Long-Term Impact. Once you have successfully built your employment brand, you can expect the positive impacts on recruiting to continue for at least five years baring any major PR issues surrounding your company. An Increased Volume of Unsolicited Candidates. You will significantly increase the number of applicants that your firm receives each year. In some cases, applications will increase by 500%. Higher Quality Candidates. Not only will you get more applicants, but the quality of your candidates will improve dramatically to the point where you will start getting applications from individuals who never would have considered your firm in the past. A great employment brand that highlights your firm's focus on innovation is necessary in order to attract gamechangers, managers, and innovators who demand it! Higher Offer-Acceptance Rates. As your employment image becomes better known and more powerful, your offer acceptance rates will improve dramatically. Increased Employee Referrals. The percentage of hires from employee referrals will increase as a result of your employees' increased pride and knowledge about what makes their firm superior to others. Increasing the number of referrals has added benefits in that it increases employee ownership in the recruiting process, while simultaneously reducing recruiters' workloads. Improved Employee-Retention Rates. A compelling employment brand increases retention rates among your current employees because they will better know why working at your firm is a superior opportunity. In addition, their pride in your firm will grow as colleagues and friends routinely ask them, "Do those things really happen at your firm?" Unfortunately, the positive impact will be somewhat tempered by the fact that more firms will target your employees because of your strong employment image.

Increased Employee Motivation. Employee motivation will be easier to maintain because of your employees' increased pride in the firm and the better management practices that are required to maintain an employer-ofchoice status. Improved College Recruiting. Because college students are highly brand conscious, employment branding is especially effective for intern recruiting and college hiring. A Stronger Corporate Culture. Because one of the goals of employment branding is to develop a consistent message about what it's like to work at your firm, employment branding can help strengthen your corporate culture. This consistent message can reinforce corporate values and guide behaviors while a consensus develops across the enterprise among managers and employees with regards to what it means to be a part of the organization. Decreased Corporate Negatives. Effective branding programs identify and counter negative comments about your firm. This effort can decrease both the number and the severity of the negative comments that appear in the media and online. Ammunition for Employees and Managers. Most employment-branding efforts include elements that gather and centralize information on your firm's best practices and its compelling stories. As a result of this effort, it is much easier to provide every employee with an arsenal of information and stories they can share with colleagues in the media about what makes working for the organization the best possible opportunity. Increased Manager Satisfaction. The resulting higher quality of candidates and higher offer-acceptance rate means that hiring managers will have to devote less time to interviews, and they will be more satisfied with the recruiting function. Increased Media Exposure. As a result of winning awards, being placed on "best places to work" lists, and having managers give presentations at industry events, the amount of media exposure that your firm will receive will increase dramatically. Having the media brag about your firm's excellent people-management practices adds a level of external credibility that no recruitment ad can provide. As a result of this initial exposure, the number of times that reporters and benchmarking individuals will call your firm for future stories will also increase. A Competitive Advantage. Because employment branding efforts include extensive metrics and side-by-side comparisons with talent competitors, you ensure that your talent-management approaches are differentiated and continually superior. This superiority over competitors not only impresses

senior managers, but it also improves your chances of winning over candidates who also apply for positions at your competitors. Increased Shareholder Value. The Russell Investment Group has demonstrated that being listed on Fortune's Best Places to Work list and the resulting improved employer image can positively impact a firm's stock price. Google, for example, has noted in its SEC filing the important role that recruiting and retention play in its continued business growth. Support for the Product Brand. An employment brand can support the corporate brand and your related product brands because many consumers mentally make the link between attracting quality employees and producing a quality product.

How to Take Advantage of Firm's Strong Brand for recruitment. There are many ways to link a strong product brand with a firm's employment brand image, including:
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Get Added to "Best Companies to Work For" Lists. Firms that successfully land on "best places to work" lists receive a great deal of media exposure. Everyone that is named on one of these major lists also gets a boost in applications, but that bump is even bigger for firms with great product brands but weak employment brands. The reason for this significant bump is that there is an almost-instant mental connection when someone sees a well-recognized product brand on these lists. That reaction is usually something along the lines of "Well, that makes sense. They produce a great product, so why wouldn't they also be a great place to work?" Because that firm's product reputation is already strong, it's easy for individuals to quickly make the positive connection between the firm having a great product and the firm being a great place to work. Run "Connected" Ads. An employment brand can be easily strengthened just by including a simple mention in regular TV or print ads about how the firm is also an excellent place to work. Wal-Mart, for example, successfully alternated "great place to work" TV commercials with their traditional product ads. Ads with an employment related slogan include "At Seattle's Best Coffee, you can make a difference in someone's day and in your career!" Or, just note that your firm has been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 best places to work.

Employee Dress. You can ask employees to wear clothing that let individuals know you are an excellent employer. For example Wegmans markets had employees wear T-shirts once a week noting that they were one of the 100 best places to work (they have been number one on the list). Other firms ask employees to wear buttons related to their employment brand (e.g., "Ask me what it's like to work here!"). Signage. If you're a retail organization, you should make it clear to everyone who passes through your doors that you are a great employer (Starbucks puts the "100 Best Companies to Work For" decal on their front doors, and Continental Airlines painted the fact that they were a Fortune 100 best-place winner on one side of their airplanes). If you're not a retail operation, consider replacing your current external "we are hiring" sign with a "people just love working here" or equivalent sign to send the message that you are a top employer. Recruit Your Customers. If you are a retail operation, consider putting small, freestanding cardboard signs by your cash registers to let your customers know that you are looking for people with exceptional sales or customer service skills. (Starbucks excels at educating its customers at the cash register, and McDonald's once replaced its traditional "would you like fries with that" note on its paper tray covers with a message that conveyed "would you like a job with that".) Allow Customer Referrals. Although your customers may love you, some might not be able to physically work for your firm. However, they might enjoy helping your firm by referring other qualified individuals. You can reward these referrers with cash or offer them gift cards or product discounts for successful hires. Ask Partner Firms to Help Out. Some firms are reluctant to brag about winning top employer awards. Nevertheless, you can ask or encourage major, strategic partners to take out ads congratulating you, their close partner, for being recognized as such a great employer. Your Product Website. Even though product-branding people are notoriously territorial, it's a good idea to try to get them to at least put a short employment branding slogan (i.e., "working here is an adventure") or the Fortune "100 Best Company to Work For" logo on your firm's product website. PR and Product Events. Work with PR and marketing to set up a table or distribute information about jobs at public events that are put on by your firm's PR or product divisions. Employment branding or recruiting information should also be visible at company trade show booths.

Make it Easy for Applicants to Know Your Employment Brand. Don't forget to include information about why your firm is a top place to work on your employment application form, on your corporate website, and even within your position descriptions/job announcements. Change Your Firm's Name. Obviously, changing the firm's name is a radical step, but several companies have found that having a product name that's different from the firm name has negative impacts on recruiting and stock sales.

Green Recruiting: Building Environmental Employment Brand

Using your firm's environmentally friendly practices in recruiting Google has developed so many green programs that even former Vice President Al Gore, producer of the controversial documentary on global warming called An Inconvenient Truth is proud. It's no coincidence that Al Gore has been an advisor to the company for many years. While some companies adopt the grassroots approach to going green, others start at the top and work down. General Electric is one of a small handful of companies that have an environmental effort driven by their chief executive officer, Jeff Immelt. If you watch television or read national magazines, you might recall seeing one of hundreds of ecomagination advertisements GE has spent millions on in recent years to "greenwash" their image. The ecomagination campaign is one of the boldest approaches to capture intangible value by touting environmental efforts in play by any global company. Day in and day out, they are capturing that value by selling more product to environmentally conscious consumers and tapping candidate pools that once would have written them off as the destroyers of the environment, using the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers as living examples. Reasons Why Firms Must Practice Green Recruiting The tipping point for environmental consciousness varies around the world, but for many Americans it was the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. In one day, an iconic American company had its reputation slaughtered. Sales were affected, employee

pride was affected, as was their ability to recruit on college campuses around the world. For years, Exxon and their energy industry peers had to wage an environmental branding war in recruiting. But that was then, and this is now. The new thrust of green recruiting is proactive and focuses on making "greenness" a major element of your employment brand. Some of the reasons why green recruiting is becoming more essential include:
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Gen Y demands it. This generation has learned about the importance of the environment and recycling in classes since elementary school. They filter both product purchasing and job selection choices with their green mindset. College grads demand it. Al Gore is a hero on most campuses. Students, while they are on campus, demand that every aspect of their campus life leave a minimal "environmental footprint." On my campus, San Francisco State University, even the most conservative of all schools, the College of Business is developing a "sustainability" major to satisfy the student demand for integrating business and the environment. It has become so important that even starting salaries take a back seat behind "greenness" when students evaluate potential employers. Many job candidates care about it. Although no one has yet quantified the impact that being environmentally friendly has on recruits, if you ask candidates whether working for an environmentally friendly company is important to them, a vast majority will respond with an affirmative. Global candidates can be passionate about it. Some countries around the world are extremely passionate about the environment (Germany, Australia, and Finland to name a few). As a result, if you expect to recruit the best from around the world, you must be prepared to meet a growing set of ecoexpectations as an employer.

Action Steps to Implement Green Recruiting There are many things that recruiting leaders can do to implement a strategy, including the following 17 action steps: 1. Identify candidate decision criteria. If you can't show that a large number of quality applicants consider a firm's environmental record as one of their primary criteria for selecting a job, you'll never get senior management to buy in to a major green recruiting effort. Start by holding focus groups at industry conferences to identify what "green" factors would be important to individuals seeking a new job. Next, ask candidates during interviews and on

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the website to list their decision criteria. During orientation, ask those who accepted the job what criteria they used to make the decision. Finally, contact those who rejected your offers three to six months down the line to identify positives and negatives. Use this information to modify your recruiting processes and focus. Benchmark. Search the Web, benchmark with college recruiters, and work with recruiting consultants to identify the best practices of other firms. Use this competitive analysis to gauge your success and to plan your future actions. Your website. Make sure that both "what you do" and the results of those efforts are prominent on your corporate careers website. Include your recycling statistics, as well as whether you are carbon neutral, limit greenhouse gases, or win environmental awards. Include narrative or video profiles of your environmentally conscious employees. If your company policies allow, link your corporate jobs site on major (but primarily nonpolitical) environmental websites. Be talked about. If you have a strong environmental record, it's important to get "written up" in business, professional, and industry publications as well as in newspapers and on TV. Work with the PR department to identify which of your practices are most likely to be appealing to the media and designate an individual to be available for interviews. It's also critical to constantly scan the Web to identify and quickly counter any "negative" comments on your environmental record (Starbucks has done an excellent job but Apple is currently struggling in this area). Recruitment advertising. Advertise in magazines that candidates who are sensitive to the environment are likely to read. Highlight a few "eyecatching" facts and any environmental awards you might have won in your recruitment ads. If you use brochures or paper recruiting materials, make sure it's from recyclable stock and that it says so on the document. Job descriptions. Make sure that, where possible, job descriptions for highvolume hiring positions include responsibilities for minimizing negative environmental impacts. This is critical because if they don't see being environmentally friendly integrated into "every job" at the company, they might see your "green recruiting" as merely a PR effort. If you're really serious, include knowledge of environmental impacts under the skills required section of your job descriptions. Interviews. Provide managers with "green" fact sheets to use during interviews. If you are really aggressive, provide candidates with a side-byside comparison showing how your firm's environmental record is superior to other firms they might be considering.

8. Sourcing. One of the best ways to strengthen your environmental image is to hire lots of environmentally friendly employees who can spread your "green" story through word-of-mouth. Have your recruiting team identify the sources that produce the highest-quality environmentally friendly candidates. Source at environmental organizations (i.e., Sierra Club). Also, recruit at environmental events and use subscription lists from green publications or email and direct mail recruiting. 9. Employer referrals. Having your employees spreading the word will help both recruiting and product sales. If you have the resources, proactively seek out employees who are highly visible in environmental circles and ask them specifically to talk up your firm, to seek out candidates, and to provide you with names. 10. Awards. Winning awards for excellence is always a major element of building an employment brand, so obviously winning "environmental" awards should be a major element of your strategy. 11. Advisory group. Ask the advice of six to eight environmentally friendly employees, measuring the quality of the message you're sending and how to reach and convince more applicants of your strong "green" record. 12. Products. Obviously, applicants want to know that the products they are helping to produce are environmentally friendly. This means putting pressure on product advertising and marketing to include the fact that your products are eco-friendly in your product ads and packaging. In some industries, how you treat vendors and outsourced work can be important (i.e., Starbucks, Nike). 13. Value statements. Make sure that your corporate goals, values, and even corporate business objectives include environmental elements. 14. Annual report. Because some applicants take the time to read your annual report, make sure it includes sections that highlight your environmental record and the fact that you recruit environmentally friendly employees. If your firm uses bio-diesel fuel, pays fair market value to suppliers, is energyefficient, or if it buys "carbon offsets," highlight these selling points. 15. Employee benefits. Consider adding holistic health options, paid time to volunteer for environmental causes, matching donations to green causes, and support for alternative transportation options to your benefit package. 16. Reward criteria. Include this factor in the performance appraisal system for all employees. Obviously, use it as a hiring criteria, but also use it as a critical element in promotions, bonuses, and pay increases. 17.Develop metrics and rewards. Because whatever you measure improves and whenever you add rewards to the equation the behavior improves even faster, your

green recruiting effort must have metrics and rewards tied to it. Some of the metrics you want to include are the percentage of candidates aware of your strong environmental record, the number who reject offers because of a poor record, and the percentage of new hires who say your environmental record was one of their top-five reasons for accepting the offer. Hold post exit interviews with your top performers to identify whether environmental factors contributed to their exit.

Advertising is Not Employment Branding Unfortunately, a number of organizations have built employment branding programs that are little more than recruitment marketing programs redressed in a different name. Supporting this is a vendor community that sells a multitude of recruitment marketing-related services under the name of employment branding. If you are thinking of going down the advertising road, here are some reasons to pause:
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Advertising is expensive. An employment branding campaign should be based more on a PR model than traditional advertising. While PR is relatively cheap, placing full-page glossy ads requires a huge cash outlay. Responding to reporters' and writers' questions requires no cash. The same is true for speaking at conferences, where the travel expenses come from a budget outside of HR, and writing articles in professional journals, where manager or employee time is the only major cost. Believability counts. The basic premise of building your brand is that your brand must be built "virally" by others. In this case, viral means that your great people management practices need to be "talked up" by others in order to be credible and believable. Because advertising is paid, it just doesn't have the credibility that comes from others praising the way you manage your firm. For example, the premise is the same with restaurants as it is with firms. A great restaurant review or a friend telling you about a great restaurant carries 10 times more weight than any ad placed by the restaurant. If you want to attract serious diners, rely on word of mouth. It's a distraction. Advertising sends the message to your employees and managers that they don't need to take an active part in employment branding because the advertising will suffice. Any advertising emphasis might reduce the number of employer referrals and the willingness of managers to speak at conferences and to respond to reporters' calls.

Ads appear desperate. Paid advertising might send a message that your firm is desperate. Some might see advertising as neutral or harmless, but the fact is that if you want a great employment brand, you need to avoid it like the plague. Tooting your own horn through any "paid channel" may actually hurt your employment brand. Articles are widely read. Most top performers don't read ads, yet they are almost always interested in learning about best practices. This means that they will read and pay attention to articles and case studies written by neutral professionals in their field. The same premise holds for presentations at conferences where attendees assume that presenters are closely screened, so that only factual information about industry-leading practices is presented. Advertising can't tell a story. Anyone who knows anything about product branding already knows that the best product brands are built through powerful stories based on "personal experience," usually spread from one product user to another. The same is true of employment branding. Nothing is more likely to be listened to, believed, and passed along to others than a great story that illustrates what it's like to work at a particular firm. Stories can best be spread in articles, in person, and during presentations. Unfortunately, ads are one of the weakest mechanisms for spreading great and credible stories. Advertising is not interactive. Because of the high costs, almost all advertising must be brief. Thus, its limited amount of information minimizes the ability to tell a company's "story" in-depth. Instead, customize the story with the necessary details to meet the needs of each individual. Employees can best spread the word by answering questions, going into more or less depth as necessary, and giving specific information to each individual. Have employees spread this detailed information at conferences, via e-mail, and through the most powerful tool, the employee referral program. Slogans aren't enough. Many advertising-oriented firms push to develop a cute slogan to sell the company. Unfortunately, top performers are not impressed with slogans. Instead, they need real, detailed information that differentiates the management practices of your firm from the others. It might require compelling stories, real examples, and hard data to prove that your firm is superior. What doesn't work is simply declaring yourself as an "employer of choice" or espousing that you have "work-life balance" in an ad or on your website.

Well-Branded Firms Don't Rely on Advertising

If the above points don't shift your thinking away from relying on advertising, I suggest you look at some of the best employment brands to see how they were built. Let's start with Google, the world's strongest employment brand. Google has built both its product and its employment brand in a few brief years, almost entirely through viral marketing. You won't find a Google "ad" because the firm has understood from the very beginning the value of viral marketing. However, Google is talked about and quoted in literally every major business and functional publication. If you haven't noticed, they earned the top spot on Fortune's list of the 100 best companies to work for in America. The net result is that they get over 3,000 applications a day from the best and brightest all around the world. Yes, great employment branding turns recruiting into a "sorting problem." Southwest Airlines has successfully spread its superior employment brand through great referral programs, a best-selling book (Nuts), and even a weekly television show that demonstrates what it's like to work for Southwest (Airline on A&E). IBM, GE, Walt Disney, and HP have taken similar "viral" marketing efforts. Their managers are sought-after speakers, their management practices are written up in business and professional journals, and they all have at least one best-selling book written about their management practices. It's no accident that you are aware of the now famous "boundary-less" or "managing by walking around" practices. Even firms with a less-than-glamorous product, such as The Container Store, Wegman's Food Market, and Starbucks have become frequently talked about because of their award-winning manager practices. These firms identify what it takes to become a desired employer and secure perception of that by communicating with target populations via a variety of channels that are effective at altering opinion. While once in a great while a good advertisement reaches cult appeal, for the most part, advertising is an annoyance that is actively avoided by top and average talent, and coveted by the desperate. Advertising can be used to brag about brand status, but it cannot be used to develop it. Because this topic is on the minds of nearly every leading professional, it is important that some time be spent on clarifying what is and is not employment

branding, and on introducing what it takes to deliver an employment branding program capable of impacting corporate performance and shareholder return.

The Critical Elements of Employment Branding

Based on my observation of the best practices of leading organizations around the world and my own work in the area, I have summarized the key elements of true employment branding below. (If you are looking for detail, I have authored a number of articles on each topic here on ere.net.) Brand Initiative Preparatory Elements 1. Be a well-managed firm. Contrary to what many recruitment marketing agencies will tell you, a successful brand management initiative does not begin by selecting the color scheme, stock imagery, and tagline for an advertisement. Instead, a successful brand initiative, one capable of bringing the right type and caliber of talent to you at the right time, requires you to deliver the brand promise or value proposition needed by the targeted segments of the labor force. In short, your senior leadership team should understand that selling an employment opportunity is the same as selling a product, and that going after the most talent-affluent labor requires as much dedication to delivering an employee experience consistent with their expectations. Just as physical products have many dimensions, so to do employment opportunities. While many organizations manage the slate of benefits an employment offer provides, nearly none manage the slate of management practices that will truly deliver the workplace experience. Establishing an effort to document, monitor, revitalize, and align management practices that deliver the workplace experience is the true foundation of employer branding. 2. Understand your current brand. Whether you think you do or not, your organization already has an employer brand. Developing the brand needed to attract the right talent at the right time will require that you understand how you are currently perceived and work earnestly to alter perception on the issues for which you are negatively viewed, and drive enhanced awareness on the issues for which you are positively perceived. Brand management is the art of managing perception in an attempt to align actual with desired. If recruitment marketing professions invested a tiny sliver of what their

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mainstream brethren did into target market profiling and perception study, I wouldn't have as much of a need to write this article. Gain cooperation and support. Brand management requires a concerted effort, something few organizations are adept at delivering. Key leaders and highly visible employees need to routinely work at delivering branddevelopment content into every interaction with the public and the media. Analyst calls need to attribute performance gains to the workforce and briefly mention what people programs led to productivity gains. Articles and blog postings need to highlight key people programs and management practices. When executed in unison, such efforts will drive external interest. When interest starts to manifest itself, organizations must be adept at leveraging it. From my experience, one of the biggest barriers to employer brand development is a failure to leverage interest. When journalists call, corporate PR and legal exclaim, "We don't comment on such stories," or worse yet, offer no response at all. One EVP of PR at a major hospitality company once exclaimed that it was his job to "put heads in beds," not work with the press to manage how the company was perceived as an employer. If you are going to manage a brand, every corporate function must understand and buy into their role. Take a market-segmented approach. An employment brand promise must fit the "job switch" criteria and retention criteria of each of the major groups of applicants/employees you're trying to attract/retain. While the core components of the employment brand must remain consistent, a portion of the brand experience and brand communications must flex to fit the needs of any unique job family, business unit, or geographic region. As a brand manager, manage different brands for geographic regions and job classifications like engineers, administrative help, and hourly employees. Have clear brand pillars. No firm can be all things to all people, so identify your specific brand attributes early on. These brand pillars might include opportunities to innovate, rapid internal movement, family friendly, or benefit rich. In most cases, pillars should align with elements required to win "good place to work" awards and the key job-switch criteria of your target audience. Build a story inventory. Facts are interesting, but they rarely spread as fast through viral channels as stories. Build this matrix to document your company's best management practices and people programs, "wow" stories about the experience such practices and programs deliver, where the practice or program exists in the organization, and sources of additional information about the program or practice. Use the inventory to enable fast and detailed responses to journalist inquiries, executive speech and written

communication development, internal communications, and recruitment marketing campaigns. 7. Develop an elevator speech. The basic goal of any brand initiative is the development of a clear, concise, consistent perception in the labor market. The embodiment of that perception is an elevator speech, or a short block of content that communicates the brand promise of an organization in a memorable way. In effect, it quickly summarizes everything you would want someone to know about the employment experience at your organization. Brand Development Channels 1. Workplace rankings and awards. There's no doubt that the increase in the number of organizations and magazines that have created lists of "good places to work" has made employment branding easier. While it's true that many of these lists are heavily slanted in favor of firms that offer outstanding "benefits," no one can dispute the massive PR and exposure benefits the lists provide. The credibility granted to organizations that appear on such lists makes securing such recognition a primary goal of employment branding. 2. World-class employee referral program. Contrary once again to what some recruitment marketers will tell you, research by WetFeet, CLC, and USA Today confirm that what employees of an organization say about that organization in point-to-point interactions and more importantly in point-tomultipoint or network interactions dramatically impacts how that organization is perceived in the labor market. Organizations need their employees armed and willing to share stories that support the organization's desired brand position. A recent poll conducted by Dr. John Sullivan & Associates reveals 78% of employees would like more education on "positioning the company" and on "how to initiate referrals." The referral program is a natural excuse to communicate with employees at a time when said communications will not be dismissed as propaganda. 3. Editorial placement. To Christopher Glenn's point, the business press has become so influential that being "written up" and talked about in the business press is an essential element in building a strong employment brand. Getting written up is equivalent to getting a great restaurant review. This element contains three basic components. The first is getting managers to speak about management practices, writing about them in blogs and publications that accept bylined articles, and getting "quoted" by journalists that become aware of your greatness elsewhere. Believe me when I tell you, journalists struggle to find stories about great management practices in an

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organization willing to go on the record. If you do nothing else, work to make your practices more visible to the press. Benchmark studies. Related to, but not exactly the same as securing editorial placement, is participating in benchmark studies. This lets an organization tell its own story and position that story up against its competitors and industry. Further, journalists sometimes include such studies as sources, garnering additional editorial placement. A WOW website. Nothing can kill a great employment brand faster than a corporate web presence that does not support the desired employment brand. Unfortunately, most firms have "dull" corporate web sites that are designed primarily for one purpose, delivering information about the company, or selling products. In order to have a great employment brand deliver great talent, you must craft an Internet presence that supports the brand promise, makes it easy for talent to interact with you, and is designed from the user's perspective, not your administrative needs. The website must eventually become a primary mechanism for providing detailed information about your great management practices and people programs. Being written up in academic case studies. If you hire a large number of college graduates, a presence in academic case studies, which professors often cite, can tell your firm's stories and practices to students. This knowledge might influence their job-search activities. A world-class retention program and blocking strategy. A great employer brand will not only bring you great talent, it will bring you lots of vulchers hoping to lure away your best people. To that end, another element of true employer branding is an unrelenting focus on retention as well as attraction. It is important for the brand manager to take steps to ensure that there are programs in place that help to block or neutralize outside recruiter efforts.

Final Thoughts Protectionism is an age-old practice used by people and companies that do not want to accept a change in market conditions. Advertising was once a great channel to communicate with the labor force, but today a tremendous number of more effective channels exist. It still has its place, but trust me, it is not at the foundation of building an employment brand.

Google: the Master Story Creator Certainly, no firm has mastered the use of stories for building its culture, for recruiting, and for building its employment-brand image better than Google has. In fact, as a result of its efforts to continually create new stories about its peoplemanagement practices, Google has become the most talked about firm in the history of the world, which is an amazing feat in a handful of years. Its "story-aday" strategy of providing every employee with an exciting story to share is a model for everyone to emulate. It has made it the number one employment brand in the world. Unfortunately, most recruiting and branding managers underappreciate the value of this and certainly under-utilize stories as recruiting tools. Why Stories are Powerful Sales Tools Employee stories are powerful because they come from individuals who "live" the job. Because they come from people who have first-hand experience, the stories that they tell are just more credible and believable than anything a recruiter or PR specialist could possibly put together. Similar to someone telling you about his or her experience at a great restaurant, the resulting impact (whether positive or negative) is many times more powerful than any recruiting ad could be. Other factors that make employee stories a powerful tool include:
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Since friends and colleagues can get close to potential applicants, there is little resistance to a story because the individual telling it is trusted and not a stranger. Because employees have various personal and electronic interactions 24/7, they have numerous opportunities to spread stories to many individuals like themselves, who are thus good recruiting targets. Since individual conversations can last longer, it's possible to deliver detailed stories and much more in-depth information than is possible in a recruitment ad. Face-to-face interactions and some electronic communications allow the target of the story to interact with the storyteller and to ask questions. Make the story personalized and add whatever details the receiver has an interest in. Because stories don't sound like sales pitches, there is less initial resistance to hearing them. Stories are almost always interesting or entertaining, so they are more easily remembered and passed on to others.

In certain situations like at restaurants, in bars, at sporting events, and at social and family functions, everyone tells stories. This provides an opportunity to share something that might, in other situations or in other forms, be resisted. Employees hearing and passing on compelling stories serves to reinforce their decisions to join and stay at their current firms. Family and friends positively reacting to their stories can also reinforce their desire to stay. Hearing a good number of stories can increase their pride in the firm and the motivation to be productive.

Make Stories Available to Employees and Managers Through a Story Inventory Stories only add value if they are spread to others. Most companies have no book or central depository that contains a list of all the firm's stories about their people and management practices. Instead, they have to be sought out and put into an inventory that can be used to support the recruiting and branding efforts. Employees need access to powerful stories about the firm in order to use them in attracting potential referral candidates. Managers need to be aware of powerful stories for use in speeches, to respond to reporters' inquiries, and as sales tools for closing finalists for their open positions. The best way to make the stories available is through a corporate or business unit "story inventory." A people program and story inventory provides the basic ammunition the company can use for building its brand and image both internally and externally. It's not enough to have a large number of programs and stories. The stories themselves must be in areas (benefits, rewards, learning, or community related, etc.) to be considered important by your target audiences. In addition, these stories and programs must have some glamour factor, which makes them exciting enough to be talked about by your employees, the media, and others in your industry. When you finish building your program and story inventory, it becomes the basis for your internal and external branding and referral efforts. A story inventory is no more than an internal website (or, in some cases, an Excel spreadsheet) that collects and then categorizes stories, best practices, exciting people-management programs, awards for use in employment branding, "best place to work" applications, employer referrals, and recruiting. Stories and exciting people-management programs can be identified through a variety of methods. PR, the head of employment branding, and HR generalists are usually the ones charged with seeking out powerful stories. The stories are then

categorized by type, location, and function or business unit involved. Stories are assessed and weighted based on their relative power. In addition to direct access, stories can be proactively spread by including them in newsletters, executive speeches, management meetings, and as part of employee-referral program materials. After formally compiling its story inventory, one well-known coffee retailer found that instead of having 65 compelling stories, it had over 360 for use in branding activities. The fact is that by not having a formalized effort to gather and distribute stories, you are limiting your ability to recruit and brand by letting 75% of your stories remain in limited distribution. Before Gathering Stories, Anticipate Some Reluctance to Cooperate It's important to recognize that the culture of the organization helps determine what approach to gathering stories is most effective. In a centrally-organized firm, it is very likely that the corporate offices are already aware of the best stories, programs, and practices. However, in a good number of organizations, headquarters is kept in the dark because individuals outside headquarters are extremely reluctant to share best practices. Why? Because most managers have a well deserved fear that if corporate found out about a local practice, it would make them stop. In these all-too-frequent cases, you probably need a one-on-one visit with the local managers in order to get them to share. It is important to identify these informal programs and the related stories because, oftentimes, they are the most creative and innovative. Another problem is that in some organizations, there is a great reluctance to brag. And, you certainly can't find or spread great stories without the willingness to brag. In these cases, an announcement by the CEO that he or she supports and sponsors a story-gathering initiative is an absolute requirement. Finally, some cultures hate surveys and meetings of any kind, so they require individual interviews and phone calls to gather stories. Steps in Making Branding Stories As Powerful as Possible When you're speaking to reporters, you want to make your examples and stories as powerful as possible. The same is true when you're writing an article, preparing a "best place" list application, or giving a speech. I have researched this issue for many years and, as a result, I have identified 17 factors that you can add to any story to make it more powerful. Or in some cases, it turns an average story into what I call a "wow" story.

Once you have identified a simple story, conduct more research, then add to the story any of the following factors to make it stronger and more compelling. Remember, stories with numbers and comparison figures are the best and individual testimonials about one-time incidents that use just words have the least impact. 1. Comparison with Industry Average/Best in the Industry. Compare and show how "yours" is superior to "theirs" using a side-by-side basis. The use of direct comparison percentages or numbers makes for an even better story. Being first in your industry or region to offer a program is also an excellent story builder. 2. Comparison with Last Year's Goals. Show how you have dramatically improved your numbers from last year (or any period). 3. Quantifying Program Results. Using statistics to demonstrate the business impacts of a program is helpful. Using dollars as well as numbers to describe program outputs makes any story stronger. 4. Defining What Is a Good and Bad Number. By including inside the story a description of a good/high number and a bad/low number, you can make a good story better and make any number more meaningful. 5. Awards Received. Programs or events that were recognized with an outside award or commendation are superior. Internal awards are less powerful, but still helpful. 6. Degree of Participation. Just having a program isn't compelling if no one participates in it. Showing the estimated percentage of workers that participate in or actually use a program helps make the message stronger. 7. Stories Involving Ordinary People. Stories that focus on the success of the "little guy" (low-level employee) impress most people. Showing how the little guy matters and that he received some attention or benefit from a program is always good. 8. Stories Involving Diverse People. Stories that focus on the success of diverse employees are very powerful. Showing high-participation levels by diverse individuals or the inclusion of diverse individuals at higherorganizational levels is a great addition to any story. 9. Add a Picture. A picture that raises emotions can be a valuable addition to a story, application, or website. Test it first to see if the picture actually does add real value. 10. Add a "Wow." A "wow" is a short story element (1-2 paragraphs in length) that, when told, is so powerful that the person literally responds with a verbal sound (i.e., "Wow"). Most "wow" stories are passed on to others verbally or in e-mails.

11. Add a Web Link. Add a web link to a written story or award application so the reader can easily find more detailed follow-up information. What Kinds of Stories Have the Most Impact on Recruiting and Brand Building? They are many categories of stories that can have positive recruiting and branding impacts. And, there are other categories of stories that can help build the firm's image and its referral success rate. They include stories that illustrate:
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How employees are free to innovate and experiment. How employees are involved in decision-making. How managers listen to their employees. Strong ethics or corporate values. Flexibility and work-life balance. Learning and development opportunities. That employees share in the company's success. The firm's concern for the environment. Teamwork is encouraged.

Examples from Google In the case of Google, the company has utilized almost every story category to build a culture, attract recruits, and develop its employment brand image. Some of its programs and activities might on the surface seem outrageous, but you have to admit that they have resulted in compelling stories that have been widely spread and repeated in the media by employees and over the Internet. Here are a few examples of Google's practices that have helped build its employment brand:
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Demonstrating It's Different. Doing things that would never be allowed at most organizations sends a clear message that working at that firm would certainly be different than at almost any other firm. You can search the Internet and easily find stories about Google's Pajama Day, valet parking, on-site massage and laundromat, Movie Day, and on-site concerts. Of course it doesn't hold Pajama Day every day, but the fact that it could never happen at your firm in a million years says it all. Demonstrating Its Trust in Employees. Once again, it's easy to find stories about Google's trust in its employees. In addition to the 20% free time, there are stories about executives celebrating million-dollar failures, not tracking

sick time, and allowing employees to work remotely. Google has provided real examples that it lives its values. Showing It's a Fun Place. Almost all firms use the term "work-life balance," but stories about how no employee should be more than 200 feet away from free snacks, a martini blow-out, free meals all day, and allowing dogs on-campus illustrate that it's a fun place better than any website bulletpoint could.

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