As content marketing specialists, we know that the HR/recruitment world is a tad behind the times when it comes to engaging audiences (candidates/talent in general) in a non-salesy way to create a long term relationship. The targets-driven, payment-on-results culture in recruitment has created an environment in which genuine relationships with prospective talent have been overlooked in the past.
Having become more and more interested in employer branding as a way of saving on recruitment costs, improving employee engagement/retention and aiding long term growth, my business partner Jo and I signed up to get the latest industry insights at the Talent Trends 2016 conference in London on 19 April. What surprised us was that, despite being in a room full of HR marketing specialists, we were ahead of the game when it came to understanding candidate engagement.
The highlight of the day for us was a talk by Francesca Campalani, Head of Attraction & Talent at Deloitte, who is in the process of implementing her strategy to take the ‘big 4’ accountancy firm from a focus on ‘employer marketing’ (which focuses on employers) to a focus on their ‘talent brand’ (which focuses on people). It is this move from ‘you-centric’ (selling the personal career benefits) to ‘purpose-centric’ (giving candidates a common goal to believe in and work towards over the long term) employer branding that she believes will help them attract and retain the best, most innovative and agile people in the sector.
So how do you build a truly authentic employer brand that has a long term impact on the growth and success of the business? Here are some of Francesca’s tips:
- Identify what your personality and ethos is as a business – and find people who have the right fit, not the right set of credentials
- Make your whole recruitment process meaningful and find an emotional connection
- Align all of your HR, marketing, PR, internal comms and organisational development activity
- Stop measuring short term hires and start measuring impact on culture
- Don’t worry about the ‘cost per hire’ – investing in strategic employer branding activity will be more cost effective in the long term
‘HR marketing’ has come a long way in recent years and it because instead of HR teams trying to use marketing tactics, they’re working with marketing specialists to take a strategic approach to employer branding.
We’re keen to talk to HR Directors who need help with developing a meaningful Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that goes further than just a set of benefits to incorporate an employer branding strategy that will mean instead of paying commission to chase after the best talent, the right people with the right values and the right skills will find you. Get in touch to find out more.
