Employer Branding
Employer Branding Means
One Thing Above All: Appreciation
For decades, customers were the focus of company leadership: high attention, resources, and budgets were allocated to demand.
The topic of ’employees’ was somehow just along for the ride: as a ‘cost factor,’ or ‘human capital’ that needed to be administered and managed. Now, the tables have turned. Employees are desperately sought after in all industries, for all functions and areas.
The magic word for a solution: ‘Employer Branding.’ Numerous experts and publications address this topic from a (popular-)scientific perspective, and the term is increasingly gaining traction in the world of management.
Unfortunately, ‘Employer Branding’ is often understood merely as a short-term communication measure to attract new employees, showing happy people at work in colorful campaigns.
Other companies, faced with rapidly increasing demand, resort to impulsive measures: a fruit basket here, a home office policy there, a new bonus system elsewhere.
More mature organizations approach the topic with a more comprehensive, strategic mindset, meticulously addressing tasks such as the recruiting process, internal cultural work, health promotion, New Work models, talent management, or compensation and benefit regulations.
Yet, finding and retaining sufficiently qualified employees still seems to be a challenge, given the lack of success. Is Employer Branding, after all, not just another one of many delegable management disciplines?
IMARK is convinced that Employer Branding is only successful if it is understood and systematically implemented by entrepreneurs and leaders as a core process for business success. Above all is a human-centered attitude towards those individuals who wish to commit a period of their valuable life to a specific company.
The fundamental value that stands above all else and runs like a common thread through the relationship between (potential) employees and the company is…
This includes forms of expression such as:
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The attention given to an applicant: who conducts the interview, how is it conducted, where does it take place?
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The careful process of integrating during the first days of work (‘onboarding’)
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Presence and accessibility of company leadership
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Regular feedback to and from employees
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The individual opportunity for development and growth
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The company’s transparency towards its employees
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A culture where feedback can be given openly and without negative consequences (Psychological Safety)
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Fostering community within the team
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Recognition, praise, and profit sharing
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A respectful farewell
Guiding Principles
Building on this fundamental attitude, further guiding principles help in developing a promising Employer Branding strategy:
IT’S ABOUT BEING, NOT APPEARING.
Every (potential) employee judges not the promise, but the concrete, tangible, relevant bundle of emotional, social, and sustainable benefits for themselves.
EMPLOYER ATTRACTIVENESS WORKS THROUGH HEAD, HEART, AND HANDS.
All senses want to be addressed. Emotionality takes precedence over rational arguments.
THE BRAND WORKS EXTERNALLY AND INTERNALLY.
The company’s purpose fosters belonging and identification.
PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT.
The lifestyles, motives, and needs of different age and professional groups vary considerably.
STRUCTURES CREATE REALITIES.
Ultimately, Employer Branding only works if it is anchored close to company leadership within corporate governance.
