Your employer brand matters now more than ever. With internal and external communications becoming public, your employer brand is now your brand, and it plays out for all your customers to see. So ensure you’re carefully considering that how you act is in line with the values you promote.
Doing the right thing by your employees, customers and stakeholders can be a tough balancing act but your people make your brand and organisations can’t run without them.
Your employer brand is your brand
Internal and external communications are becoming public, your employer brand is now your brand, and it plays out for all your customers to see. So ensure you’re carefully considering what you value and acting accordingly.
As Universum’s Director of Employer Branding James Ellis states, “We’re seeing companies praised for pledging to not lay anyone off, for leaders taking deep pay cuts, for companies giving away its own resources to support a common good. (We’re also seeing companies being called out for lip-service-level of commitment to helping others). If a company demanded that its workers to go back to the office in Wall Street the afternoon of 9/11, it wouldn’t be a company anymore. No one would work there and no one would want to be a client.
“We are absolutely, in fits and starts and occasional pandemic-driven lurches, moving to a place where the employer brand isn’t a junior partner in the marketing and branding conversation. This means [Employer Branding] has GOT to step up its game. In a lot of ways, we’ve existed in a recruiting/TA ghetto, where mediocre work (no strategy, follow-the-leader-thinking, no experimentation or innovation, etc) was acceptable. If the business is looking to us to help navigate the crisis and thrive beyond it, we all have to set the bar higher and be better.”
Protect your people
Billionaire Mark Cuban recently stated that how a company treated its workers would define the company for decades. He warned companies against sending employees back to work too soon during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Not only is it a safety issue, it’s a business issue,” Cuban said on CNBC’s “Markets in Turmoil” special. How companies respond to that very question is going to define their brand for decades. If you rushed in and somebody got sick, you were that company. If you didn’t take care of your employees or stakeholders and put them first, you were that company,” he added.
Use vulnerable transparency
With an uncertain future at our doorstep, markets and people are anxious for someone to demonstrate decisive leadership, grounded in reality. Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson shared an emotional video to employees, starting the current financial situation was worse than the worst ever quarter for the company, which saw about a 25 percent fall in revenue.
“In terms of our business, COVID-19 is like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” he said. Given the brand is nearly one hundred years old, had survived the Great Depression, World War 2, and countless economic downturns, the statement was significant.
The empathy Sorenson feels is clear to see. When he says this is the most challenging message he’s ever delivered, there is no doubt. He says, “As a leader, I have never had a more difficult moment than this one. There’s simply nothing worse than telling highly-valued associates – people who are the very heart of this company, that their roles are being impacted by events completely outside of their control.”
Without actions, layoffs and continuity plans, it’s important to consider the long-term immpacts of these changes and clearly articulate your plan for the future.
Act in line with your values
It’s worth revisiting your values and ensuring the measures you’re putting in place align with those values. (Don’t just pay lip service to caring about people.) Are your new policies in line the messages you’ve been promoting?
Consider the impact of changes in communication methods
With a large portion of the workforce shifting to remote work, consider the impact of changes in communication methods. It can be difficult to convey tone and meaning through emails and chat functions. Video conferencing, while retaining some elements of face-to-face communication, still create a somewhat impersonal barrier.
Earlier this week, Sephora laid off over 3,000 employees. A Sephora employee describes the devastating moment she and others in her district were suddenly laid off via a conference call.
“You could hear everyone absolutely sobbing,” said one former employee. “I hung up as soon as I heard the first person cry at the end. I couldn’t take it. I was in tears myself.”
According to a statement by Sephora, “All have been offered severance and provided with support resources, including coordination with companies that provide essential services and may be hiring at this time. It is our sincerest hope that we are able to bring these employees back on staff in the near future.”
With online communication detracting from things such as nonverbal cues and tone, carefully consider the impact: be mindful of tone, personalisation and make a conscious effort to increase empathy.
Communicate changes to corporate policy
Share any changes to corporate policies, such as leave of absenses or changes to shift work. You also may be eliminating non-essential travel, be implementing hiring freezes, making role and resposibility changs, or starting virtual recruitment and onboarding.
If your leadership team are making sacrifices, communicate this clearly to show solidarity with your team members.
Maintain a sense of optimism
Amidst stress and uncertainty, there’s still hope for the future and that businesses will be restored. Your team members look to leaders to gauge how to feel and act, so maintaining a sense of optimism is a must.
People need clarity, transparency, empathy and hope right now. It’s time for business leaders to step up and take their employer brand seriously during this time.