The Corona Virus pandemic is causing a huge amount of job loss and, with line managers and companies being forced to make tough downsizing, restructuring or retrenching decisions, it is more important than ever to pay attention to your employer branding strategy.
Employer branding is the proactive management of your company’s reputation as an employer.
According to Sean Raw of RAW Management Solutions (www.rawsolutionsgroup.com), employer brand management, which includes employer branding, recruitment on-boarding and talent management, delivers a greater impact on revenue growth and profit margin for the organisation than any other HR discipline.
The way an organisation treats those who leave, whether voluntarily or not, has an impact on an organisation’s employer brand. Raw says “Your employer brand is defined by how people see you as an employer. Whether you manage it or not, positive or negative, accurate or misguided, you cannot escape the fact that you have an employer brand”.
“Your employer value proposition (EVP) defines how you would like to be seen, amongst employers, employees, people who have worked for your organisation in the past, and people you would like to attract to your organisation in the future”.
The benefits of a strong employer brand come in the form of:
Savings - Attracting the right candidates - Rationalising your creative and communications for recruiting o Reduced spend on recruitment advertising - Enhancing your pulling power - Hiring good people for less - Reducing unwanted staff attrition
Performance - Hiring higher performers vs competitors o Employing a ‘better fit’ of person - Onboarding employees more effectively o Improving employee engagement - Building brand engagement
Raw says “A company’s employer brand should be intimately linked with its corporate brand values and purpose. Core values should define an organisation’s guiding principles, and shine through the way the company communicates and behaves towards different stakeholder groups the company relies on for success”.
For an organisation to optimise the Savings and Performance-related benefits of a strong employer brand, consideration should be given to assisting those who they have been forced to lay off. How departing employees are treated upon their exit will go a long way towards enhancing your employer brand and thus achieving the Savings and Performance-related benefits listed above.
Exiting staff can be assisted with re-establishing themselves through a number of tailor-made Group & Individual Outplacement & Career Transition programmes, ranging from 2-hour workshops on CV Formatting, LinkedIn, Social Media & Job Portals, Making the “Net Work” and Interview Skills, to a 4-Day Group Programme, a 4-week Consolidated Individual Programme or a 3-6 month Executive Level Individual Programme.
In addition to an improved employer branding proposition reducing costs in retaining and attracting future staff whilst improving employee performance, other ways in which organisations can benefit from the DMA Group’s (www.linkedin.com/company/dma_group) Outplacement & Career Transition Programmes include:
Commercial decisions to change executives and other staff being made in a timely and effective manner
Allowing management to concentrate on the business, thereby facilitating growth and profit objectives
Keeping teams lean, active and effective
Resolving promotion/succession planning complications
Improving public, customer and internal relations through evidence of corporate responsibility for the welfare of employees
Enhancing the morale of remaining staff, thus retaining key performers
Improving the reputation of the organisation in the marketplace to ensure the attraction of new talent in the future
Minimising the risk of unwanted and time-consuming litigation
Reducing termination costs whilst still ensuring the parting is mutually beneficial
Helping to maintain good relationships with departing employees who may well join competitors, or become important industry contacts and even potential alliance partners in the future.
