| November
/ December 2005
Employers
need branding too
ARE
YOU STANDING OUT IN TODAY’S EMPLOYMENT MARKET?
SOME
JOBS ARE SO SEXY, they sell themselves. Most, however, are
not.
In the
sex-appeal column, for instance, stands the high-visibility
opportunity for a marketing superstar to revitalize the sales
of a Fortune 50 company’s largest division. That is
the kind of opportunity ambitious superstars might kill to
get.
Contrast
the turnaround position with the following job description
found recently on a major job board:
Director
of Engineering. Oversees management of all areas
of Engineering to produce products and direct activities
so that approved products are manufactured on schedule and
within quality standards and cost objectives. Supervises
engineering office workers computing operating budgets,
compiling reports and conducting special investigations
and studies to evaluate efficiency...
The latter
is not a job with high sex appeal, even though it
is an important job, and no amount of creative writing (had
it been tried) would disguise the fact that virtually identical
jobs exist in manufacturing companies around the globe.
If truth
be told, there are more pedestrian positions than glamorous
ones. When tons of people are out of work, it may be enough
to offer someone the chance to practice his or her craft.
But as jobs increase and the employment marketplace begins
to be controlled by buyers not sellers, smart employers recognize
the need to stand out from the crowd.
So while
it never hurts to make the job as enticing as possible, employers
must sell themselves as well. Unless push comes to shove,
how many happily employed people will jump ship for a slightly
better – or slightly better-paying – job at another
company that is largely an unknown factor to them? Most will
stick with the devil they know.
Recruits
want more
than just another job
IN THE LATE 1930s,
a Procter & Gamble executive named Neil McElroy revolutionized
marketing by deciding that P&G’s many grocery products
would realize their full potential by competing not only with
other companies’ products – but with each other
as well. To make sure that happened, he placed each product
under the control of a separate “brand man” (later
brand manager) responsible for its unique performance attributes,
advertising strategy and personality. The worldwide preoccupation
with branding during the past several decades owes a huge
debt to Mr. McElroy.
For a long time,
many people thought that branding was primarily the art (or
science) of giving a product a distinctive brand name and
image that would differentiate it in the marketplace. More
recently, marketers have come to understand that good brands
also create an emotional bond with people (a mother buying
Crest may feel she is doing everything possible to protect
her family’s dental health) – while great brands
go all the way to love (how can today’s teens live without
their iPods?).
In the employment
marketplace, your organization needs to be a brand too –
competing with other employers (and perhaps with other parts
of your company or institution) for a shrinking supply of
talent. If there is any doubt the supply is shrinking, consider
the “baby boom” – those people born between
the end of World War II and the start of the Vietnam War.
In the U.S. alone, there are some 77 million boomers, and
they comprise over 40 percent of all households. Next January
they will start to turn 60 and will begin to retire.
Not only are there
fewer workers to replace them, but today’s younger employees
(the so-called “Generation X”) place a much greater
value on such intangibles as the workplace environment (“everybody
really cares about their jobs”), workplace values (“our
products benefit society”) and the place of work’s
reputation (“others admire my choice of employer”).
Unfortunately,
organizations that spend millions of dollars on branding their
products are like the shoemaker’s children when it comes
to branding themselves. Their image, their reputation, their
“love quotient” are sorely lacking, and there
never seems to be enough time or management support to do
anything about it.
How
to create a successful
branding program
CORPORATE BRANDING
actually requires less effort than it does careful thought.
The program must depict reality (not wishful thinking) and
must be consistent (not contradictory).
To begin with,
why would someone want to work here? If in doubt, ask your
employees what they most value, since they are your most effective
brand ambassadors. Maybe it’s the day-care center for
working parents, the way everyone pitched in for Hurricane
Katrina relief or the visiting executive program at the local
high school. Chances are there is something unique about your
organization that sets it apart from others.
Next, consider
the ways in which you will tell your story to prospective
employees. The standard corporate brochure and/or copy of
the employee handbook, with its recitation of benefits, may
seem to be the most obvious tools – but they also are
the least personal. The corporate website is a step up, since
it is at least interactive and also, one hopes, a thoroughly
modern combination of high-tech and high-touch. Another mass-media
tool is the corporate video, since it presents an opportunity
to put a face on your employees and let them speak.
Which brings us
to those wonderful brand ambassadors themselves: In addition
to having your employees provide testimonials in a corporate
brochure, video or recruiting ad, how else might they be put
to use?
In fact, the ways
are limited only by imagination. For example, if your company
has a college recruiting program, why not ask a “real-life”
employee to accompany the recruiting specialist – as
closely matched by discipline and school affiliation as possible?
If you conduct summer internships, look for ways to encourage
social bonding in addition to on-the-job mentoring. (In Cleveland,
Ohio, a consortium of employers sponsoring summer interns
offers an extensive program of social events and outings,
designed to showcase Cleveland as a great place to live as
well as work.) When you bring in candidates for interviews,
whether for entry-level or senior positions, consider assigning
an employee outside the interviewing process to host the candidate
throughout the visit and make him or her feel at home. Show
concern for the candidate by scheduling all first-round interviews
on the same day, thus avoiding repeated trips.
Some employees
enjoy being part of the recruiting / mentoring / hosting process,
while others do not. Involve strictly those who enjoy the
added responsibility, since less-than-willing participants
are likely to do more harm than good. And don’t be hesitant
to make sure that all volunteers understand their mission
and are comfortable with it.
Can
you afford not to?
MORE COMPANIES
are chasing fewer candidates for more and more positions.
Even though only a few may be your direct competitors for
customers, many more may be your competitors for future employees.
With so many choices
for prospective employees, and so few opportunities for prospective
employers to make a great first impression, you can’t
afford to squander any chance you have to put your best foot
forward. Your competition won’t.
—
George Snider
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