As an organisational leader, you might feel overwhelmed by the big concept of a “brand”, thinking that it needs a huge budget and marketing costs to deploy. But interestingly, an employer brand becomes truly powerful when people can see and interact with it in small, personal, and meaningful ways.
While branding can be a “big and shiny” campaign about what makes your organisation a great place to work, it is in fact, the small things that make a real difference.
What’s more, is that this type of interaction can become even more meaningful and credible to potential candidates when they can interact with it in such a way.
Start your employer brand by understanding your “why”
As James Ellis reporting for Indeed states, employer branding starts with a well-understood “why”.
“There’s a famous story that dates back to the Great Fire of London in 1666. Sir Christopher Wren passed some stonemasons at work and asked what they were building. One replied, “A wall.” The other looked up, paused and replied with reverence, “A cathedral.”
“The message? If you have a well-understood “why,” people will work harder and better in service of it. They will complete the task to the best of their abilities and challenge bad decisions to make sure the job is done right. And that purpose trumps money when it comes to getting real passion and commitment.”
It’s all in the details. To understand your why, ask: why work at your organisation? What will working at your organisation be like? What will people get out of working here?
“You know the second stonemason’s work by how clean their station is, by how they take two extra seconds to step back and ensure their run of stones is laying properly and by the fact that it’s almost 6pm and they are the last one packing up.
“What can you tell about an airline based on how the flight attendant greets you at 6:30 in the morning? What can you tell about a restaurant from the cleanliness of its bathroom?”
Small details reveal more than all the marketing and advertising in the world.
Big shiny campaigns will only get you so far. You need to communicate why your organisation is a great place to work in a way that is authentic, for example, through great word of mouth reviews.
People build their perceptions based on experience, and this is true of brand perception.
“Any brand, be it a consumer or employer brand, is a collection of an individual’s experiences. Those experiences are small. It’s in how a waiter brings extra napkins for a messy burger without being asked versus lighting flares just to get a water refill. It’s in how easy it is to find your shirt size versus how hard it is to find someone to unlock the changing room.”
Create change by starting small
“So if you are starting to feel the pain of a poor employer brand (bad reviews, having to pay a premium for talent, low morale, high attrition, etc.) — or if you’re starting to build one — maybe the answer isn’t “big,” but rather small — changes you can implement immediately.”
Seek answers through your organisational missions and values. How well are your people working towards this? Are your people committed to inclusion and fairness, or do you just have posters about it? Do you tout an entrepreneurial spirit, but don’t provide your people with opportunities to share their ideas?
What words and messaging is being repeated across channels, from review sites, social media and recruitment advertisements?
“Changing your employer brand is a series of small changes aligned to a big idea. So if you want to make change happen, think small … before you go big.”
For more insights like this, tune into James Ellis’ podcast, The Talent Cast.
Source
It’s the Little Things: To Build a Great Employer Brand, Start Small
James Ellis
Indeed