{"id":2736,"date":"2011-12-07T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/hr-advice\/the-war-for-talent-branding-101-to-the-rescue\/"},"modified":"2019-10-17T23:34:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T06:34:22","slug":"the-war-for-talent-branding-101-to-the-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/the-war-for-talent-branding-101-to-the-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"The War for Talent: Branding 101 to the Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"rsz_branding_101_to_the_rescue\"Employers who grasp the connection between marketing techniques and talent attraction stand to gain the upper hand.\u00a0 Strong brands know who they are and engender consumer loyalty by living a life of alignment.\u00a0\u00a0 This helps consumers know what they stand for and understand how to interact with them.\u00a0 To illustrate the point, let\u2019s use the McDonald\u2019s brand.\u00a0 No one would walk into a McDonald\u2019s restaurant in search of a spaghetti dinner.\u00a0 Nor would we sit down at one of their molded plastic tables and expect wait staff to arrive with an order pad.\u00a0 We know McDonald\u2019s for what their brand is: speed, a fairly consistent menu across geographies, and a standard ordering process that begins at the cash register.<\/p>\n

Employers: Branding is not just for restaurants & consumer products<\/strong>
\nYour employment brand <\/a>is the sum total of who you are as a company.\u00a0 It\u2019s how people and organizations experience you.\u00a0 It\u2019s what your customers, employees, and ex-employees say about you.\u00a0 It\u2019s the look and feel of your job ads and includes the way candidates are treated throughout the advertising, interviewing and hiring cycle.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why branding matters when you\u2019re hiring<\/strong>
\nBaby boomers are preparing to retire in numbers larger than upcoming generations will be able to fill.\u00a0 This is creating a talent shortage that we\u2019re feeling right now in North America and that promises to become more severe over the next 10 to 15 years (for more see Business Insider March 11, 2011<\/a>).\u00a0 At the same time, globalization means that companies are facing increased competition and pricing pressures that require them to do more with less resources.\u00a0 Good talent isn\u2019t good enough anymore.\u00a0 You need the best.\u00a0 The talent community is aware of these shifts and, as a result, they have become savvy shoppers when it comes to career moves.<\/p>\n

Three positive branding steps companies of any size can undertake<\/strong>
\nFirst, investigate your external employment brand.\u00a0 Take a look through glassdoor.com.\u00a0 You can gain 30 days\u2019 free access to their insight by creating an account.\u00a0 Google your company name along with a few key words like this (substituting your company name for McDonald\u2019s, of course):
\nYou can also use a site called Twitter search<\/a> to see what kind of mentions your company is receiving.\u00a0 It operates on the same principle as a Google or Bing search.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve found out what the external chatter looks and sounds like, it\u2019s time for the second step:\u00a0 talking to your employees<\/strong>.\u00a0 Does each person understand how to communicate the vision?\u00a0 Survey them for anonymous feedback to determine engagement levels.\u00a0 Help them understand that they ARE the brand.\u00a0 What they say on Facebook or at the family dinner table either adds or detracts from the business.\u00a0 There is no neutral when it comes to branding.\u00a0 Find your best internal advocates and deputize them to spread the word and help management understand where improvements could be made.<\/p>\n

The third step is external engagement.\u00a0 Consider starting an online community or forum<\/a> where people are free to express themselves.\u00a0 This can be daunting, especially if you have a strong marketing department that is accustomed to one-way communications.\u00a0 If you decide to engage with the online community, make sure you are committed.\u00a0 There is nothing worse than a Twitter or Facebook account that lies fallow.
\nIf there is only one, single takeaway from this post, I hope it is that companies need to put at least as much effort into marketing to prospective employees as we do to prospective customers.<\/p>\n

Your customer base will be worthless if you don\u2019t have the right talent to deliver.<\/p>\n

Related to The War for Talent:<\/strong><\/p>\n