Why employer branding is important for a company’s success
The birth of the employer branding concept was marked by an essay by Ambler Barrow in 1996 entitled “The Employer Brand” in the Journal of Brand Management.
Their approach is to link HR & (brand) marketing. In doing so, the employer becomes its own brand. As a logical consequence, employees enter into a (brand) relationship with the employer. And the good old marketing approach, according to which it is more lucrative to “retain existing customers than to win new ones”, is thus also transferred to the relationship between employer and employee.
„Employee, and thus corporate performance will be influenced by awareness, positive attitudes toward the “brand”, loyalty and trust that the “brand” is there for the employee.“
(Ambler, T., Barrow, S., 1996, S. 185)
Detecting corporate culture
The journey begins with the question: what culture do I need to achieve my strategic corporate goals?
Unfortunately, this target perspective does not always correspond to the corporate culture that is actually lived and perceived. This is because the most exciting and often most enlightening journey is the search for and exploration of the actual corporate culture.
A 2008 study (Hauser, F., Schubert, A., Aicher, M., Fischer, L., Wegera, K., Erne, C., Böth, I., 2008) confirms how strongly corporate culture affects the success of a company.
“Overall, it can be shown statistically that the corporate culture and the associated employee commitment have a very significant influence on the financial success of the company.”
Develop employer positioning (AGP)
The development of a strategic employer positioning is the basis for authentic communication of the corporate brand internally and externally, both with existing and potential employees as well as current applicants. An employer positioning development project goes hand in hand with in-depth analyses of existing brand and culture-relevant aspects of a company.
Our HR_4.0 approach combines several methods. In addition to document and content analyses, we conduct employee surveys and focus group interviews.
Kriegler (2018) uses his positioning triangle to describe how the elements of employer positioning are structured. It is defined in the tension triangle of anchor, driver and differentiator elements. The weighting of the individual dimensions is largely based on the individual entrepreneurial goals.
Authentic brand promises
Employer brands are embedded in the general corporate brand.
The function of the employer brand or employer identity is to attract, hire and retain employees who are a cultural fit for a company. This is because employer branding works both internally and externally.
Accordingly, all communicative messages must go hand in hand with the employer brand promise, not only in the course of recruitment but also in employee communication. The uniqueness of the value proposition must be particularly emphasized (EVP = Employer Value Proposition).
Stringently implemented employer brand messages at all relevant points of the employer image touchpoint wheel are one of the success factors for profitable employer branding.
Bibliography
Ambler, T., Barrow, S. (1996). The Employer Brand. Journal of Brand Management. S. 185-206.
Corporate Leadership Council. (2006). Attracting and Retaining Critical Talent Segments. Building a Competitive Employment Value Proposition. Corporate Executive Board. Washington. London.
Hauser, F., Schubert, A., Aicher, M., Fischer, L., Wegera, K., Erne, C., Böth, I. (2008). Unternehmenskultur,
Arbeitsqualität und Mitarbeiterengagement in den Unternehmen in Deutschland: Abschlussbericht Forschungsprojekt Nr. 18/05 ; ein Forschungsprojekt des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales. (Research report / Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, F371). Berlin: Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; Psychonomics AG; University of Cologne, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute for Economic and Social Psychology; Great Place to Work Institute.Kriegler, W. R. (2018). Practical Handbook Employer Branding – Becoming an attractive employer with a strong brand. 3rd edition. Freiburg. Munich. Stuttgart: Haufe.
