Corporate branding – Need of the hour

Corporate branding is like any other product or service branding. As part of the branding process, 3 important HR initiatives which are usually highlighted in today’s knowledge industry are as follows:

• Leadership Skills
• Learning and Development
• Empowerment Development/ Employees manage their own careers

All of the above do fall under People Leadership Skills.

It’s not the cash that fuels the joining to the firm but the emotional and intellectual energy of every employee – Hamel and Prahalad.

1. Star performer are scare in the current economy (It’s hardly 10-20% of the total workforce).
2. Your best talent is competitor’s target (Attrition rates have doubled).
3. Talent is increasingly becoming more mobile (Average durations of tenure of executives is around 2-3 years).

Short Supply is highest in the Leadership skills –

• Best employers have 50% of talent shortage.
• Other employers have 80% of talent shortage.

Today’s some hard facts:

• Talented people need Organization not less that the Organization need talented people.
• Only thing with tangible meaning today is “Cash”.
• Leaders seek loyalty but unwilling to grant them.
• Fostering engagement is huge challenge.
• The employees have more information about employers.
• The emerging workforce challenge is the looming war of talent especially with the increasing focus on individual employee attention.

Attraction = Retention (These are two sides of the same coin)

Top REASON for Attrition in India with weightage factors:

Top Retention strategies:

Anatomy of an employer brand!!!

Employee Value proposition:

• Functional Benefits – What is this job like?
• Economic Value – How will I be rewarded?
• Psychological Benefits – What will I be part of it? What will I belong to?

Eg: Ritz Carlton – “Ladies and Gentleman serving Ladies and Gentleman”

• Functional Benefits – I will be serving the world’s elite.
• Economic Value – Market value compensation.
• Psychological Benefits – Part of the world’s elite hotel group.

Benefits:

• Retention of employees - 93%
• Increase employee satisfaction - 91%
• Attracts Job Candidates - 90%
• Motivates employees at work - 79%

Best Employers –

- have well articulated Employer Brand (83% of them have it)
- employers attracts more people
- employees are retained for a longer period

If we commoditize the talent market then the only differentiating factor would be - PRICE !!!

CVP (Customer Value Proposition) should GO with EVP (Employee Value Proposition)

Some Eg:

Four steps in building an employer brand:

1. Understand the Context.
2. Create the value Proposition.
3. Commit with the employees.
4. Deliver the value.

For Organization its 2 type of audiences are as follows:

Internal – Internal employees/Ex employees/Prospects/Recruitment Partners

External – Customers/Suppliers/Investor and General Public

Employer branding usually touches all the area of HR activities as right branding is equally important for attraction as well as retention. However do we give more importance to attraction rather than retention? – It’s a good food for thought.

BTW, Jack Welch said – “Lifetime employment is not endangered, its extinct.”


Contributed By:

Mr.Ranjan Sarkar
(Associate Vice President-HR, Acclaris)