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Employer Branding, Branding, Atitude
Transcript of Employer Branding Article
Employer Branding through
Social Networks Preeti Dave and Amresh Sharma, XIMB
ConQuest Online
January 2013 Edition
www.iims-conquest.in
ConQuest, IIM Shillong Consulting Club
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Introduction
The world is changing fast, with 1.01 billion 1 active users on Facebook (September 2012),
500 million registered users1 as of 2012 on Twitter, generating 340 million tweets1 daily,
more than 175 million1 registered users in more than 200 countries(June 2012) on LinkedIn,
and the count is increasing faster than the tick of the clock. In a recent Kelly Global
Workforce Index survey, it is showed that 53% of the North Americans considers a strong
employer brand to be a major force for selecting a particular employer. This growing interest
and power of social media, its viral and transparent nature, is being leveraged by the
employers for their branding and recruiting prospective employees.
Branding in True Sense
Brand is not only what others feel about the image of the company but also the emotional
quotient that people attach with the company. The brand can be a true competitive
differentiator if there is congruence between the message what the employer conveys and the
message what the employee, the breathing, living ambassadors of the company, gives. A
strong employer brand has several advantages which include:
Difference between Organization Brand and Employer Brand
Organization Brand is the image how the industry looks at the organization, its products and
services. Whereas, the Employer Brand is focused corporate image putting forth the value
proposition to its current as well as prospective employees to become an employer of choice.
As shown in the below figure, a Strong Employer Brand will lead to attracting better match
candidates which further leads to increased market share. It is about delivering an authentic
and enriching experience to various stakeholders within and outside the organization, living
and breathing the values and the culture of the organization
Increased market share
Increase in business and referrals
Better service =>Satisfied Customers
Enhanced job performers
Highly engaged employees
Higher Quality hires
Larger quality applicant pool
STRONG EMPLOYER BRAND
ATTRACTI-
ON OF
BETTER
MATCH
CANDIDAT
ES
1Source: http://thesocialskinny.com/216-social-media-and-internet-statistics-september-2012/
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Thus, we can see Employer Brand from 3 dimensions:
1. Value Proposition: Demonstrating clearly what the brand offers. It is the shared
basic understanding of the company values, benefits, culture, experience that will be
given to its employees. It is the commitment by the employer that value will be
delivered and the belief of the employees that the value will be experienced.
2. Internal Marketing: It is changing & reinforcing employee behavior, building a
workforce difficult to imitate to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. It provides
a consistent experience at every level of the company
3. External Marketing: Putting forth the value proposition to reach out the target
audience, allowing the potential candidates to picture themselves in the company for a
perfect job fit, person fit and organization fit to acquire distinctive human capital.
Social Media Importance: What began as a medium to interact on a social level has evolved
to give businesses a place to connect and grow their network, changing the dynamics of the
industry.
All organizations want to employ preferably the top 20 % of the talent pool. Therefore HR
professionals and strategists have been expending enormous amounts of time, energy and
other resources to earn the “employer of choice” tag for their organizations. It is not
about product positioning but “employer positioning”.
Source: http://www.wipro.com/Documents/Social_Media_Report_Feb_2012.pdf
Usage of Social Media by
organizations Usage of Social Media by industries
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Places like Second Life provide opportunities to interact and communicate with users
which could not be achieved through the traditional methods. It has been leveraged
by Hewlett Packard for screening prospective hires.
According to figure above, as per a survey conducted by the HR consulting arm of Wipro,
around 63% of the respondents say that they use social media in their business processes,
where as 27% say they do not. The usage of social media is maximum in the IT and ITES
sector followed by Telecom sector.
Even the employees in the organizations feel that utilizing social media makes the employer
an “employer of choice”. 58% of the respondents felt that they would rather work with a
company that utilizes social media tools. This can be proved by the below report from APCO
Worldwide and Gagen MacDonald, survey on the State of the U.S. Workplace.
There are 6 facets of social media that organizations use for their branding:
1. Collaborative projects: Collaborative projects are the most popular, renowned
manifestation of user generated content and allows the joint creation of the content by
many end users. For example, WIKIPEDIA.
2. Blogs: It is a form of social media which will provide a channel to express opinions,
facts and thoughts.
3. Content communities: These have the main purpose of sharing content between
users, including text (Book Crossing), photographs (Flickr), videos (YouTube).
4. Social Networking Sites: It enables users to connect by creating personal information
profiles. Emphasis should be laid on consistency and engagement which positions the
company as authentic and sought after.
5. Virtual Games: These include platforms that replicate 3- dimensional environment in
which users appear as personalized avatars and interact with each other as if in real
life. Example: World of Warcraft.
6. Virtual Social Worlds: These are the extensions of Virtual Games wherein the
avatars have a little more freedom of action and move without any other restriction.
Example: Second Life.
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Linking Social Media and Employer Branding
All these facets of social media can be linked to the three dimensions of Employer Branding.
For example, the following figure illustrates how Social Networking Sites cater to the 3
dimensions of employer branding.
Implementation Examples
1. Starbucks:
700,000 followers in 2010 to 3317833 followers in 2012
It has its own version of social network, where in employees can give in suggestions
about a particular flavor of coffee or a change, and if such changes are implemented, the
person is given credit, thus giving a sense of belongingness.
2. Adidas:
In 2011, Adidas had an employee strength of 40000 out of which 1/3rd were based in
Asia Pacific. They had a goal of creating a talent pool for Asia Pacific.
• Creation of organization profile depicting the culture
• Knowledge Sharing
• Building a trustworthy image
Value Proposition
• Formal and informal communication
• Thereby strengthening tiesInternal Marketing
• Represents the company to the outside world
• Filters information for specific target groupsExternal Marketing
Starbucks on Twitter: Answers questions, re-tweets: open one-one communication
Starbucks on Facebook: Uploads videos, photos, blog posts, invites people to events
Starbucks on YouTube: Allows people to embed videos anywhere they like on the
web
Starbucks on Instagram: Interspersed store images with coffee images, images of
Baristas who work, images of corporate sponsored promotions. This has helped the
company to place themselves in the job market as a place where working is cool and
fun.
Recruitment Agencies
Post job descriptions on
Adidas job board and job
portals Traditional Practice
Higher recruitment
cost
Long recruitment
cycle
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Applications of successful Employer Branding through Social Media
Let us now discuss the applications of a successful employer branding through social
networks. Apart from talent acquisition employer branding through social media can be
viewed from a different perspective. Successful employer branding should aim at using
social media analytics for behavior analytics, HR and customer.
Selection of Social
Network Type like
SNSs, Blogs,
Virtual Worlds
Analysis of pattern
and frequency of
sharing: Posting,
Sharing, Messaging
Extracting behavior
information
HR Analytics
Motivational Dimensions
Personality Dimensions
Big 5 Model
Feedbacks and surveys
Employee Life Cycle:
Recruitment,
Performance,
Development
HR processes: Hiring,
Engagement, Branding
Sentiments and predictive
analysis
Social Media helped Adidas to reach out passive candidates.
Make direct contact with people, make them engaged and excited about job
opportunities Great candidate experience.
Better communication of value proposition in areas of career development and training,
discussion on company future plans and other benefits
Quality candidates with close match to requirements
Reduced average time-to-fill from 70 days (2011) to 52 days (2012)2
Slashed hiring costs (HKD1.3 million (US$167,700) to the fraction of same)2 where it
recruited 9 employees through social media tool, LinkedIn.
2Source: www.linkedin.com
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Future of Social Media for Employer Branding
Current vs. Future Intentions
As per the latest review by the Harvard Business Review magazine, organisations are keen on
investing on social media for various purposes as shown below.
Source: Harvard Business Review Analytic Services surveyed 2,100 Harvard Business
Review magazine
Challenges:
Although the importance of social media cannot be denied for getting good talent but it has
its limitations and it should be recognised as a tool not as a wholesome replacement for every
other activity required to attract and retain potential and current employees. Employers
should be cautious when reviewing and using information from these sources during the
recruiting and hiring process, as it may expose them to claims of discrimination as it contains
information about the caste, religion. These claims could seriously tarnish the employer’s
image and can attract legal actions.
Legal Aspect
Social media legislations blocking the employer access to employee social media accounts is
gaining traction in US. California is the latest state to pass legislation which forbids
employers from requiring /requesting employees or job applicants to provide their social
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media user names and passwords (Assembly Bill 1844, sponsored by Nora Campos (D-San
Jose)). The bill also states that it is unlawful to threaten, fire or discipline an employee who
refuses to disclose this information.
From the Indian perspective, employers can take into account the IT Act for framing social
media strategy. For Example:
Recommendations
The emergence of Social Networks has compelled the organisations to redesign the way they
communicate their brand to present as well as future employees.
Consistency: Convey the same message on all the channels
Authenticity: Being true to the organization and the world
Planning: Concrete strategy with tangible and measurable objectives
Not an advertising campaign: More than recruitment, emotional quotient in the minds of the people
Respond: Two way communication to increase reliability
Section 499 Indian Penal Code: Defamation:
Whoever by words either spoken or meant to be read makes/publishes any
imputation concerning any person intending to harm, defame the person
Section 66(A) of IT Act
Punishment for sending offensive messages via electronic mail message
Any electronic mail message that is grossly offensive or is menacing
Any false info causing annoyance, insult, danger
Causing inconvenience
Deceiving or misleading recipient
New Guidelines: No less than a police officer of a rank of DCP will be allowed
to permit registration of a case under provisions of the Information Technology
Act that deals with spreading hatred through electronic messages
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Conclusion
In our opinion, employer branding through social networks is just one facet of the many.
Completely relying on the social networks would be a grave mistake that the organisations
may commit. On the contrary, not leveraging social media for the employer branding would
not be rosy either. Thus social networks do play a major role in positioning the employer
brand to the target audience.
References
1. “THREE THINGS EVERY EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA.”
By: Ray, Augie. Baylor Business Review. Fall2012, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p22-23. 2p.
2. “How Social Media Can Spur Organizational Transformation.”
By: Savitz, Eric. Forbes.com. 12/17/2012, p31-31. 1p.
3. “FINDERS KEEPERS: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES HELP FIND TOP
TALENT”.
By: Hunt, Kristin Gunderson. Journal of Property Management. Nov/Dec2010, Vol.
75 Issue 6, p36-40. 5p.
4. “Social Media Privacy Laws Stymie Financial Firms.”
By: Mont, Joe. Compliance Week. Dec2012, Vol. 9 Issue 107, p16-17. 2p.
5. “Social Media, the Law, and You.”
By: THOMPSON, MIKE. EContent. Dec2012, Vol. 35 Issue 10, p8-10. 3p.
6. “Views on Applying NLRA Principles to Social Media Shared.”
HR Focus. Dec2012, Vol. 89 Issue 12, p10-11. 2p.
7. http://www.defence.gov.au/pathwaytochange/docs/socialmedia/1.%20Social%20medi
a%20and%20its%20origins%20SM.pdf
8. http://www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=1269
9. http://www.sas.com/resources/whitepaper/wp_23348.pdf
10. http://www.randstadtechnologies.ca/downloads/072711_Build_your_employer_brand
-Technologies.pdf
11. http://www.intel.in/content/www/us/en/legal/intel-social-media-guidelines.html
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