We all want our organisation’s employer brand to be magnetic and attractive. But what’s the difference between magnetic and faux employer branding? Keep this central goal in mind.
Faux employer branding might look pretty and attractive to candidates to lure them through the door; but what’s portrayed doesn’t meet their lived experience when they join your organisation. On the other hand, according to Lee reporting for ERE, magnetic employer branding is a process that is a comprehensive, integrated approach to, first, being an employer of choice, and then communicating this in a compelling way.
Magnetic employer branding is based on authenticity.
If a brand is doing the following, but neglecting authenticity, they are engaging in faux employer branding:
- Creating clever messaging designed to position themselves as a great employer
- Producing fancy videos that showcase attractive, fun employees saying how much they love working for their employer
- Upgrading marketing materials so they (allegedly) communicate a particular “on brand” message to job applicants.
- Spiffing up their careers page on their website to make it more appealing and again, “on brand”.
Employer branding is not a “rebrand” or a marketing makeover. It should be deeply rooted in authenticity.
Organisations who achieve magnetic employer branding based on authenticity are exceptionally more effective at recruiting talent. Candidates are not only drawn to the brand, but their experience matches up to their expectations.
Lee provides the following example as a way of illustrating the power of creating an employer brand that is magnetic:
“Imagine that at the next job fair your organisation attends, you recruiting booth is filled not by trained recruiters, but by a random selection of your employees. As job hunters stop to talk with your employees, would they think: “Wow, I’d like to work with these people!” and “This is the kind of company I’ve been looking for!” or … would they escape as quickly as possible, hurrying off to the next booth? Would what your employees said, and who they were as people, act as a talent magnet or a talent repellent?”
When Lee presents this idea to managers and HR professionals, he notes that some react anxiously, while others smile confidently. Typically, if managers react anxiously, their employer brand is not magnetic.
“This scenario is a litmus test for whether or not you have a magnetic employer brand, because it illustrates the defining characteristics and benefits of a powerful employer brand.”
Why it’s worth focusing on authenticity to create magnetic employer branding.
Recruit from a position of strength
If you don’t need to convince people why they should work for your organisation, then congratulations, your employer brand is magnetic. You have a strong brand presence and prospective employees want to work for you without further convincing or explanations as to why your brand is great.
“At our hypothetical job fair, if your organisation has a magnetic employer brand, the most talented prospects will make a beeline for your booth. Unlike organisations who have either a poor reputation as an employer or who haven’t differentiated themselves, your conversation doesn’t need to be a sales pitch.”
Increase your recruiting power
With a good employer brand, you won’t be held back by the size of your recruitment team or your budget.
“When you have a magnetic employer brand, your whole workforce is one large recruiting department. This is the most under-recognised benefit of creating a compelling employer brand: it unleashes the recruiting potential lying dormant in your workforce.”
While rewards and incentives to promote your employer brand can be effective in obtaining good referrals from current employees, Lee states with a magnetic employer brand, team members will be “evangelical in spreading the word when they feel passionate about their employer.”
Create a coherent, compelling message
Lee notes that a strong employer brand requires excellent coherency in its messaging.
“Good brand managers carefully scrutinise the various messages and experiences their brand delivers to make sure they don’t send conflicting messages.”
Lee references Scott Bedbury (former brand managers at Starbucks and Nike) and his book A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the Twenty-First Century, focusing on how everything matters when it comes to great branding and messages.
“Bedbury tells the story of how the bean-counters at Starbucks suggested the company purchase cheaper toilet paper, thus saving millions of dollars every year. Bedbury reminded them that “everything matters” and having a Starbucks bathroom experience feel similar to a gas station bathroom experience didn’t fit with its brand, and certainly wouldn’t strengthen it.”
When you think of your employer brand, “everything matters” too; from employee perception to your organisation’s mission and values. Ensure all your messaging (which includes the actions you take, and the materials and tools you provide your people) coherently expresses your brand.
Foster a network of “talent magnets”
“When you have a strong employer brand, your employees are your best recruiters, not only because they tell great stories about your organisation, but because they also embody your company’s unique spirit and value-set.”
Turning your current employees into brand ambassadors is one of the most powerful ways to recruit and attract the best talent. Your people experience your employer brand in action, and their positive experiences are reflected in their comments, actions and information they share.
“Without this conscious effort at strengthening your culture — and therefore your employer brand — you will have some employees who are inspiring messengers, some who leave no impact, and others who are talent repellents. As mentioned previously, lack of coherency and consistency weakens an employer brand.”
In order to enjoy the benefits of an excellent and magnetic employer brand, you must build a strong foundation.
“Developing a magnetic employer brand is far more than just making sure your ads, radio spots, Internet postings, and recruiting booth presentations work synergistically. It’s far more than a marketing makeover. If you don’t actually do the great things you say about your organisation, you don’t have a brand, you have a recipe for high turnover. Thus, creating a magnetic employer brand requires that your management team look honestly at themselves and your organisation’s daily operations and ask, ‘Do we really deliver a great work experience … or even a good one?’”
Source
Employer branding vs. magnetic branding
David Lee
ERE
Nikita Thorne is an Oxford-based digital marketer and writer. After completing a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Film & Theatre from the University of Reading followed by a six-month internship in marketing, Nikita has been travelling the world.
While temping as a Content Producer at Employment Office in Brisbane, she gained expertise in recruitment marketing, writing articles and coordinating webinars on multiple recruitment marketing subjects.