Employer Branding summit coverage from ri5....

The lofty aim of the Employer Branding Summit 2010 was to provide practical advice on the implementation and refreshment of an employer brand, thereby improving the internal and external perception of an organisation. This was to be achieved in a day at the Canary Wharf Hilton in London's Docklands. Here, on Thursday 16th September, around sixty delegates from HR, recruitment and employment marketing gathered to listen and contribute to a whistle-stop series of nine enthusiastic presentations from leading employer branding professionals.

Dr Graham Dietz, lecturer in HR management at Durham Business School, who chaired and introduced the summit, said that ultimately the employer brand (EB) is about the covenant of trust between the organisation and the employee. A key point, he said, is that the personality traits of the organisation, including those of its employees, are decisive in attracting and retaining talented people.

Esther O'Halloran, HR director of French bakery and patisserie Paul UK, had a novel approach, offering chocolate bars to those who asked questions. She explained that understanding the employer brand is key, demonstrating how branding their company as very French, quirky, and ‘famille'-oriented has enabled them to align their employer and consumer brands and recruit good people, despite very low initial wages. The attitude, personality and culture-fit of staff are as important as their skills. Having a strong EB has led to a 69% reduction in staff turnover in the last year, yielding substantial savings in recruitment and training costs. The company no longer uses recruitment agencies and spends very little on recruitment overall, with most new joiners resulting from referrals.

Next up was Craig Pattison, senior HR business partner at Lloyd's, who spoke on transitioning the brand into an employee value proposition (EVP) to create a hook to attract and keep the best candidates. His company is a prime example of a brand being misunderstood, as Lloyd's is frequently confused with Lloyds TSB or Lloyds Pharmacies. Much of the work that goes into an employer brand is general common sense and, while it requires a dedicated budget, the cost need not be huge. An EVP can be used to create the voice of the organisation. Much needs to be done before implementation, however, including definition, discovery, research to understand the master brand of the company and perceptions of it, and planning and benchmarking.

A number of questions arose from the first three presentations concerning, among other things, the communication of the EVP, and measuring its KPIs. Suggestions here were to keep it simple, and to use a handful of key measures such as retention, reduction in cost per hire, and overheads. Delegates were also urged to engage with marketing colleagues to ensure that EVPs and an organisation's master brand are in tune.

Helene Williamson, head of resourcing at Monsoon Accessorize, kicked off the post-coffee session by saying that you cannot create an EB, because you already have one. What you can do is research what your brand is, fix any problems, shape the brand by creating an EVP (or more than one), track its impact, and identify brand ambassadors amongst your existing staff. Employer branding should not be viewed as a project, but as a long-term commitment that needs constant care to keep it real and alive. The role of recruitment is to provide the foundations of the brand, and to fish for the best possible people in the right pools, so that they fit the organisation. Often recruiters are guilty of completing an EB project and moving on, without ensuring that brand ambassadors and their line managers have the right support and information.

Honest and open communication between employer and employee is key to keeping employer branding on the right track, according to Simon Russell, director of consulting at Work Group plc, who talked about ‘the discreet charm of the EVP'. An organisation can never be in total control of its EB - just look at BP; all the more reason why it should be investing in its brand, using the EVP as a frank and honest engagement with prospective employees. Employers need to put the candidate first and ask themselves why the person they want to employ should choose to work with their organisation. Recruitment messages should be based on the true culture and spirit of the business. Building a sound EVP will help supply the honest information needed to underpin such realism. Finally, Simon emphasised that all this takes courage - you can't win by doing the same as everyone else, you must be yourself, follow your instincts and not try to hoodwink people.

Martin Cerullo, director of resourcing communications & innovation at Alexander Mann Solutions, picked up the reins from Simon by explaining how to develop a measurable EB experience. After emphasising that measurement starts with your business case, he said that there should be a strong partnership between employer branding and other facets of the business, such as recruitment, HR, sales and marketing. HR's role is to provide data, cut attrition and put a cost on losing people, working closely with marketing. The EB should be looked at from a consumer marketing point of view - he likened buying a new car to the recruitment process, with the candidate as customer. During the Q & A session, Martin said that getting marketing to enter the HR arena and become more involved in both the recruitment process and EVP was quite a challenge, but that it is starting to work in several large blue-chips, such as Shell and Unilever.

After lunch, the sessions became more interactive, including a ‘knowledge sharing networking session' among the delegates on each table. Matthew Jeffrey, head of global talent brand at video games company EA (whose company now makes 65% of its global hires through social media) led a workshop on social media and the employer brand. Social media is an interactive, two-way process, claimed to be different to "old" recruitment advertising methods. The employer brand exists within the organisation, it cannot be created, but an emotional attachment can be built using Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, blogs and the like. Many delegates were already using social media for recruitment and some have hired people for this specific purpose. The downside is that a disgruntled employee can have a devastating effect on a company's reputation from just one blog - Matthew's advice was to let it go, don't try and hit back; other employees from your online community will often come to your defence. The community becomes self-regulating and it is a matter of trusting your employees not to spend too much time on social media. Matthew concluded by saying that the old ‘post and pray' recruiters have had their day.

Marc Campman, marketing director of social media software company Webjam, spoke on Enterprise 2.0 and how businesses can use internal social networks to support the employer brand and communicate from the bottom up. Enterprise social media leads to more efficiency, innovation and openness. From the employer's point of view, it unites colleagues worldwide and helps improve and expand the business. He cited the somewhat bold predictions by technology research company Gartner that, by 2014, social networking services will replace email as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for 20% of business users; and social network analysis will be used routinely by 25% to improve performance by 2015.

The final ‘graveyard' slot fell to Graham White, HR director at Westminster City Council, who brought proceedings to an entertaining close with a presentation on using EB for engagement, featuring videos of many terrible TV ads. Key messages were that companies need to understand their employees as well as they understand their customers. In terms of engagement, information is not power if it is not shared.

Overall, a key message of the day was that employer branding is not the remit of any one part of the organisation. The employer brand must fit with the overall consumer or marketing brand of the company, and HR, recruitment and marketing need to work together on this. Another repeated theme was that a successful EB need not be expensive - indeed, if successful, it can achieve substantial savings on recruitment agency costs and other methods. Lastly, authenticity and openness are key in designing your brand.

if you can't beat em - join em....

CIPD awards
Telefónica O2 UK
performance & reward

The O2 people promise is to create a place where “happier people perform at their best and are more loyal”. One element of that, “thanks for a job well done” links directly to reward. In May 2007, a review identified a lack of communication, with staff not appreciating the rewards on offer. In partnership with Penna Barkers, the firm developed O2rewards.com - an interactive portal clearly identifying the elements of the reward package; individualised total reward statements; and interactive tools to help staff choose benefits.

To spread the word, HR used methods such as roadshows, cascading and publicising the portal on plasma screens in prominent locations. More than 13,000 visitors accessed the portal in the two months after its launch in 2007. And 2,254 people enrolled in the flexible benefits scheme last November, up from 2,095 during the last enrolment.

Judges’ comment: “Good use of communication channels across the business to raise awareness.”