EMPLOYER

BRANDING:
A STRATEGIC
IMPERATIVE
CURRENT STATE: A TRIFLE WORRISOME

Human capital is increasingly replacing financial capital

as the primary source of growth and profitability. This
implies that the core tasks of HR – talent acquisition,
development, and retention – have become top
imperatives for organisations. The rapidly evolving and
64
expanding Indian market, especially the ecommerce %
sector, has led to a war for talent. According to 2016
ManpowerGroup annual talent survey, 48% of Indian
employers reported talent shortages. To effectively Employers claim
compete in this new environment, organisations have no to have a clear
option but to be innovative in their approach to brand and well-
themselves to attract and retain top talent. designed
employer
The approach to employer branding has undergone a branding
paradigm shift over the last few years. It started as strategy but
reputation building – in response to fierce competition only…
for talent – with companies applying the same concepts
of corporate marketing to employer branding. This led
to the creation of Employee Value Proposition (EVP), 16
which includes an array of benefits that an organisation
offers as an employer. Employer branding was more %
outward driven with a short-term focus on companies’
recruitment marketing, and fell under the purview of
Human Resources. …feel that
effective
Employer branding has become more holistic over time. employer
This means that companies are increasingly viewing branding
employer branding from an employee perspective. It is improves
also becoming a primary responsibility for leadership employee
and marketing departments – a sign of its rising engagement
strategic relevance. Technological changes such as
digitalisaiton and social media have been instrumental
in driving this massive shift. Today, employer branding is
67
not just about talent attraction but, more broadly, about %
creating satisfaction for current employees and
promoting employee advocacy for the organisation.
Employees feel
In India, the current state of employer branding is
that their
concerning. A recent TimesJobs survey of 560
employers do
organisations reveals that although 64% employers
not have a
claim to have a clear and well-designed employer
winning
branding strategy, only 16% feel that effective employer
employer
branding improves employee engagement. Further, 67% Source: TimesJobs,
branding
ManpowerGroup
of the 800 employees surveyed are of the view that their
IMA India 2016. All Rights Reserved. 2 strategy
employer does not have a winning employer branding
strategy in place. There is a huge gap between what
EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYER
BRANDING
Then Now
Objective Recruitment Marketing Employee engagement
and advocacy

Key Human Resources Human Resources,

Responsibi Marketing, Leaders,
lity Managers
Perspectiv Company first Employee/Candidate first
e
Vision Short-term initiative Long-term focus on
around recruitment creating employee
cycle satisfaction

LESSONS FROM PROGRESSIVE COMPANIES

As the competition for talent becomes intense, the

alignment of employer and corporate brand is likely to
become a strategic priority. This will not come easily as
it requires distinctive talent capabilities and branding
them consistently. The rewards could be enormous if
done right – and so could be the potential risks if got
wrong. Progressive organisations hold valuable lessons
in creating a powerful employer brand that is in synch
with corporate brand. They do this by focusing their
branding efforts on critical talent, differentiating their
brand messages from their competitors, developing a
strong EVP and delivering on it, and driving strong
employee advocacy.

Focus branding on critical talent

To attract right talent, organisations must develop Some of the
tailored messages for different talent segments by best
clearly highlighting relevant components of EVP. As a organisations do
first step, it is crucial to understand each group’s not just design
preferences and how their values differ. For instance, their
emphasising innovation in messages to attract engineers employment
can be far more effective, while insisting on leadership brand to attract
opportunities would be more relevant to attract senior talent, but also
talent. Some of the best organisations do not just design to inform better
their employment brand to attract talent, but also to candidate
inform better candidate decisions. L'Oréal, for instance, decisions
customised the home page of its career webpage to
creatively
IMA emphasise
India 2016. the qualities it seeks
All Rights Reserved. 3 in an ‘ideal’
candidate for each functional area. Employee profiles
Differentiate brand messaging
A strong brand message communicates strength and
differentiates against competitors. One possible way to Comparing EVP
highlight a company’s distinctive qualities is by creating attributes on
and communicating an effective EVP, which lays down ongoing basis
the key factors that makes a company special. with
Comparing EVP attributes on ongoing basis with competitors
competitors helps identify unique attributes that a helps identify
company could emphasise as part of its proposition. This unique
is what Genpact did by emphasising the importance of attributes that a
‘learning and growth’ in its EVP. Today, the entire company could
spectrum of stakeholders – from employees to leaders to emphasise as
customers to candidates and headhunters –recognise part of its
Genpact’s culture of learning as the key source of proposition
attracting and retaining high quality talent.

Deliver on promise
The focus of employer branding, for most companies, is A highly
limited to recruiting and onboarding a new candidate. engaged
However, a more sustainable approach to employer employee can be
branding goes beyond to include employee engagement a company’s
and advocacy. Companies need to deliver a well-rounded most effective
experience to employees, which involves paying greater and cost-
attention to processes like performance management efficient tool to
and career planning. The work culture at TCS is built on employer
the premise of ‘growth beyond boundaries’, which offers branding
employees a well-rounded global IT career based on
three core elements: global exposure, cross domain
experience and work life balance. Employees get to
work on world-class projects on a global scale and
explore cutting-edge technologies, while having the
flexibility to navigate different spheres of life. Thus,
constantly delivering on the EVP promise improves
employer brand perception and ultimately, employee Establishing an
engagement. A highly engaged employee can be a employment
company’s most effective and cost-efficient tool to brand that
employer branding. contributes to
strategic
objectives
Align HR with Marketing
requires close
Establishing an employment brand that contributes to
cooperation
strategic objectives requires close cooperation between
between HR and
HR and Marketing. The two departments can leverage
Marketing.
each other’s strengths in defining the EVP and
improving talent acquisition strategies. HR can use
marketing team’s brand messaging expertise to frame
messages to persuade the most qualified candidates.
Internally,
IMA HR
India 2016. All Rightscould
Reserved. use marketing
4 style of
communication to promote the workplace through
to external stakeholders including customers and
candidates. This initiative has been helpful in fostering
an online community – driven by internal staff – to
engage customers, share workplace stories, and connect
with other employees. HUL has turned its outgoing
employees as its brand advocates by significantly
improving the exit experience. The company puts
conscious effort to build positive relations with ex-
employees through annual get-togethers and invitations
to special occasions like product launches.

IN SUM
The focus and scope of employer brands have
significantly evolved over time. Many companies have
become more strategic in utilising their employer
brands to not only attract talent, but also to engage and
retain them for the expansion and growth of the
company. Given the changes in the business
environment and the rise of social media, many
companies are rethinking their approach to employer
branding by creating a strong EVP that is differentiated
from its competitors, delivering a well-rounded
experience to employees, aligning HR with Marketing,
and creating brand advocates out of their employees.
Ultimately, the success at employer branding can be
gauged by retention levels and the efforts required to fill
open positions with right-fit candidates.

IMA India 2016. All Rights Reserved. 5

About IMA India
IMA India is the country’s largest
peer group platform for top
functional executives, with more 20+ Years of
than 2,500 participating Indian and Experience
global functional heads from over
1,400 member companies. 2,500+ Business
Professionals

Since 1994, we’ve developed core

1,400+ Participating
capabilities in harnessing the Companies
collective wisdom of our client base
with our own internal and detailed 76% of NSE 50 Brands
research to offer incisive country
intelligence and pragmatic 77% of BSE Sensex
business solutions. Brands

We enable top managers and

industry leaders to interpret
changes and forecast developments
in the economic and operating
environment through authoritative
Corporate
guidance . Office:

107, Time Square,

1st Floor,
Sushant Lok - I, Block B
Gurgaon - 122002

Contac 91 124 459 1200 91 124 459 1250

t
www.ima-india.com 6