The way we look at the employer brand is that
that is your reputation.
It's how people see you,
so whether you have an EVP or proposition or not,
you always have a reputation of some kind.
And essentially, if you define your employer brand
as how you're seen,
the EVP can very simply also be defined
as how you would like to be seen.
So, it's your recipe, if you like.
It's the set of ideas
that you want people to associate with you as an employer.
- [Interviewer] What makes a good
employee value proposition?
- First thing is it needs to be authentic,
it needs to be credible.
You often get with recruitment advertising,
big claims about how wonderful it is gonna be
working for a company.
The EVP I think grounds things a little bit
and is hopefully much more rooted
in the actual employee experience,
so it's designed to be something that really reflects
the true culture that'll be recognized by employees.
It can also include some aspirations.
That's fine, but aspirations that are very much backed up
by leadership, commitment, and HR priorities moving forward.
So, it's somewhere between 100% truth today
and the desired truth going forward, and it's really,
that set of both description of where you are
and the commitments going forwards
that defines you as an employer.
So, that's the first thing.
Second thing is you need to try and identify
the things that make you special.
So, the role of a brand is one,
being authentic and true and trustworthy.
The second thing is
as a way of defining what makes you different,
so the brands are there generally to help you make a choice
when you're confronted with a range of products,
so what is it that makes a difference
and the brand should speak to that,
and it's exactly the same with an employer brand.
So, even though every employer in some respect
is competing with others
and they're talking about very similar things,
you have to find the kind of X factor,
you have to find the points of difference
that clarify what makes you a better choice
than maybe some of your other talent competitors.
- [Interviewer] So, how do you measure effectiveness?
How do you measure if you, as an organization,
have a strong employer brand?
- Well, of course, you need to,
on two levels, one,
work out whether you're cutting through.
So awareness, consideration, and preference
is something that Universum measures.
So obviously, you want the right people to be aware of you,
you want the right people to potentially consider you
as a relevant, potential employer,
but crucially, you want desire,
you want people to choose you as an ideal preference.
The second thing though is to make sure
that you're also getting your messages across.
So, one thing is to know that you're a great employer.
The other thing is to actually
be getting the messages across from your EVP
so that if you want people to think of you as innovative
or agile or flexible or empowering,
you can check those as well.
So, in terms of standing out from your competitors,
how are you scoring in relation to those image associations,
and are you more associated with some of those things
than some of your competitors?
So, if somebody's looking for innovation,
you've gotta be scoring higher than your competitors
to really get that audience to come and choose you
or have a preference for you,
and that's something that you need to do your research on.
- [Interviewer] What was the business impact
of having a strong employee brand?
Where do you see that return?
- There are several actually.
Externally, you're seeing the impact
hopefully through a lower cost per hire,
because if you have a strong reputation,
it means, I mean, frankly speaking,
you don't have to spend quite as much
in terms of your media advertising to attract people.
If people already know you,
they're more likely to pay attention to your advertising,
to your job adverts,
whether it's on job boards or in the media.
And therefore, the investment upfront is gonna open the door
for a lot more of that attention to come through to you.
Second thing is, and really important,
is getting the targeting right,
so the big translation generally
is getting the right people to apply,
and sometimes the wrong people not to apply.
So, if you're very clear about your employer brand,
it's not necessarily designed for everyone.
You should within it also clarify in some respects
the kinds of people you're looking for,
some of the challenges perhaps,
some of the things that people may not be looking for,
high-performance, focus, or responsibility,
whatever it may be.
And so, ideally,
that translates then to a more efficient recruitment funnel.
You're getting fewer people at the top end,
you're having to reject fewer people,
you're getting more of the people you're looking for,
and ultimately, better quality of hire.
And then, the third thing is the internal side,
is that if you have a strong employer brand identity,
it creates pride, it creates engagement,
and hopefully, if you're also getting the experience right,
then it generates advocacy.
And we know that if you get employer advocacy,
they're spreading the word through social media,
that is an enormous support to anything you're doing
in terms of your more formalized communication.
(innovative music)