Do famous brand names equal famous employer brands ?
February 8th, 2008 Posted by sibylle in Employer BrandingCorporations with strong brand reputation think that their brand names are one of the strongest attraction factors for potential employees and, they may be right. However, more and more candidates dissociate the employer brand from the brand name.
Ex. Young engineers interested to work for a successful automotive company with strong brands, question what the company can offer as a future employer.
In their surveys, Universum deducted that companies with famous brands did not always score high, when it comes to employer reputation. The main reason for this was their ability to manage people. In the late nineties, the well known consulting firm Andersen achieved low marks on employer attractiveness because of their invention of the “mobile office”. Potential candidates interpreted that the pragmatic decision not to allocate a permanent office to their consultants as a lack of consideration. For every firm, even those who have well known brands it is more than important to create a reputation as an employer of choice, especially to attract high flyers.
Building an employer brand means asking 2 questions: what sort of people do we need to develop our business and what can we offer them?
Leadership development programs, early responsibility, cross postings, international assignments, performance related pay and work life balance are now part of candidate aspirations.
Building an employer brand means developing talent management strategies and communicating them inside and outside the organisation.
Companies will then be able to leverage both the brand name and their employer brand.
Sibylle
Tags: Employer Branding, employer marketing, High Potential recruitment, Talent Management, universum
