Employer branding is a powerful tool that deeply impacts the lives of all individuals working in a company and by extension the lives of their families and partners. The results of research on the effects of employer branding in the fields of marketing, communications, and human resources were surprising but nonetheless expected, considering the future trends in the workplace over the next years or decades: employer branding matters and is becoming increasingly important for stakeholders.
Why It’s a Big Topic
First of all, we have all been going through some difficult times since the beginning of this year. Some of us are still going through some circumstances that are harder than anything we could have ever imagined. Any positive experience tends to give us a push forward, shape us for the better and make us more hopeful with regards to our future, individually and collectively.
I was unemployed recently before I looked at freelancing, trying my luck to earn some ‘flexible income’ that would help me get on with my life (and, of course, take care of my two cats – priorities first). It did not work out, so I had to find another job.
Analysing the things that matter to me when in the workplace, I realised that one of the things that made me leave a previous employer was the fact that we had different perspectives about employer-employee relations, from a professional and personal perspective. By this I mean we just were not as compatible as I thought when I took the job. So that led me to think – it would have been so much better had I truly had a way of understanding the company before joining it.
The Importance of Employer Branding
Employer branding is about reputation, it is about making sure a company becomes the employer that people want to work for. To attract top talent, a company might provide above-the-market salaries and extra benefits such as paid time off for volunteering. One thing is clear: employer branding is what you need in order to build and measure employee lifetime value, and it determines how competitive you eventually get to be on the market. A good branding strategy explains why people choose one company over the other, why the competition sometimes wins, and why some companies manage to retain their employees better than others. Large companies usually offer their employees more than just the average benefits. Consider what you can offer your employees or what more you can offer them and how you can better invest in them.
In recent years, companies of all sizes have had massive opportunities to influence our society more and more, mainly because the internet and developments in technology have allowed them to do so. The progress over the last two centuries, since machines have been put to work for us, has provided companies with incentives to build products and services facilitating continuous growth. However, this comes with a side-effect: the workforce has also changed.
People coming from different backgrounds, of different ethnicities, of different opinions, have built a world of diversity, inclusion, and empowerment. They have shaped and continue to shape our industries. That is why companies have to treat the workforce – their employees, as complex individuals, with needs, aspirations, and a forever changing mindset that evolves with society and recent technological developments.
Article by Vlad Onutu. He is a humanitarian involved in different social projects and an aspiring writer with a practical background in social media marketing and IT systems. His main purpose is to create value for others, no matter the medium of communication.