EMPLOYEE BRANDING When your consumer & employment brands don’t sync
Syncing Your Employer and Consumer Brands
Aug 11, 2014
Employment branding has pretty much been accepted as part of the best practice cadre in the recruiting and HR field, and the standard thinking is that if your company has a strong and positive consumer brand, then it must be simpler to create a strong following for your employment brand. Employment branding, once a maligned fad, has come to the forefront of many talent acquisition strategic plans, with Blackberry-maker RIM using employment branding to prop up its shaky standing with consumers and financial markets alike. Billed as the solution for increased engagement, better cultural fit, reduced time to fill, and more, organizations have significant reason to build out their employment brand initiatives.
Make no mistake: the branding race has begun, and companies with a killer consumer brand have a leg up. Sometimes. I mean — what do you do if you have a great consumer brand that doesn’t align with your talent acquisition needs?
Lars Schmidt is the talent acquisition leader at National Public Radio, a company he describes as “sort of a 40-year old startup.” NPR certainly has no lack of passionate fans, so tapping into the consumer brand doesn’t seem that challenging, but as Schmidt explained, the reality is a little tougher to tackle. “We’re obviously very entrenched in the news media space but we’re relatively newer to the digital space.” And therein lies the rub. “When you think NPR, most people’s first reaction is radio, most people’s first reaction is not digital.” And digital is exactly the type of talent that Schmidt and the NPR recruiting team has trouble finding.
“Consumer brand is hearing the end result of that on air,” he says. Employment brand is the experience of that employee.”
The strong consumer brand of National Public Radio doesn’t assist when the non-profit has to compete for digital talent. The simple fact is it’s just not what NPR is known for.
The director of talent acquisition for 24 Hour Fitness has a similar issue. Lance Sapera has been solving issues in the company for over a decade, so when he was asked to lead the recruiting and staffing teams, he jumped at the chance. 24 Hour Fitness made its name by being open and flexible so that workers from any industry could work out, but the fitness company struggles with shedding light on its 20,000 employees’ varied skills.
“Most people understand there are jobs inherently to do at a club,” Sapera says, “but they don’t think about the fact that we have department heads, responsible for running multimillion-dollar retail enterprises. We go to job fairs, and people think we’re there to sell memberships. No, we’re here because we’re looking for talented IT programmers. It’s the same thing in areas like finance, accountants, finance experts — we need those same talented professionals.”
Getting over these perfectly natural hurdles is what Sapera and Schmidt have to do, not only to promote their employer brand but to tune up their companies’ brands.
Make no mistake: the branding race has begun, and companies with a killer consumer brand have a leg up. Sometimes. I mean — what do you do if you have a great consumer brand that doesn’t align with your talent acquisition needs?
Lars Schmidt is the talent acquisition leader at National Public Radio, a company he describes as “sort of a 40-year old startup.” NPR certainly has no lack of passionate fans, so tapping into the consumer brand doesn’t seem that challenging, but as Schmidt explained, the reality is a little tougher to tackle. “We’re obviously very entrenched in the news media space but we’re relatively newer to the digital space.” And therein lies the rub. “When you think NPR, most people’s first reaction is radio, most people’s first reaction is not digital.” And digital is exactly the type of talent that Schmidt and the NPR recruiting team has trouble finding.
“Consumer brand is hearing the end result of that on air,” he says. Employment brand is the experience of that employee.”
The strong consumer brand of National Public Radio doesn’t assist when the non-profit has to compete for digital talent. The simple fact is it’s just not what NPR is known for.
The director of talent acquisition for 24 Hour Fitness has a similar issue. Lance Sapera has been solving issues in the company for over a decade, so when he was asked to lead the recruiting and staffing teams, he jumped at the chance. 24 Hour Fitness made its name by being open and flexible so that workers from any industry could work out, but the fitness company struggles with shedding light on its 20,000 employees’ varied skills.
“Most people understand there are jobs inherently to do at a club,” Sapera says, “but they don’t think about the fact that we have department heads, responsible for running multimillion-dollar retail enterprises. We go to job fairs, and people think we’re there to sell memberships. No, we’re here because we’re looking for talented IT programmers. It’s the same thing in areas like finance, accountants, finance experts — we need those same talented professionals.”
Getting over these perfectly natural hurdles is what Sapera and Schmidt have to do, not only to promote their employer brand but to tune up their companies’ brands.
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
EMPLOYEE BRANDING When your consumer & employment brands don’t sync
Employment branding has become
the forefront of many talent
acquisition strategic plans
Employment branding has pretty much been accepted as part of the best practice cadre in the recruiting and hr field.
Race has begun
Companies with a killer consumer
brand have a leg up
what do you do if you have a great consumer brand that doesn’t align with your talent acquisition needs?
Meet Lars Schmidt, talent acquisition leader at National Public Radio
We Are obviously very
entrenched in the news media space but
we’re relatively newer to the Digital space.
“ ”
“When you think NPR, most people’s first reaction is radio,
most people’s first reaction is not
digital.”
digital
Finding
is exactly the Type of talent that Schmidt and the NPR recruiting team has trouble
Consumer brand is hearing the end Result of that on air.
is the experience Of that employee.
Employment brand
The director of talent
acquisition for 24 Hour Fitness has a similar
issue.
He has been solving issues in the company
for over a decade,
24 Hour Fitness made its name by being
open & flexible so that workers from any industry could work out.
BUT…
the fitness company struggles with
shedding light on its 20,000 employees’
varied skills.
we need those same talented professionals.
It’s the same thing in areas like finance, accountants,
finance experts
Promote employer brand
Tune up company brand
Get over the natural
hurdles
Keep moving forward
“You can have the best ideas in the world, but if your leaders don’t get it, and don’t see that value,
you’re not going to get very far.”
What does all this mean?
Rapid deployment
Highlighting companies mobile apps
View of behind scenes at a media company
sell The Idea of working At an organization that is really Mission Driven
Changing perceptions Is not new to 24 Hour Fitness
A hefty endorsement of the TV show
“The Biggest Loser” and more-imperfect-
looking club members in advertisements helped.
In the mid-2000s, the company struggled with consumer reluctance to join a gym unless they were already in peak physical condition
Whatever you look like, whatever
your situation is…
We can help!
In fact, the company has had eight straight quarters of year-over-year growth.
gone away from using models.
Talk about experiences.
It is more authentic.
marketing material +
Focus The company’s
On transparency is moving into the
employer brand as well
practices
to highlight the unique culture
• work/life balance initiatives • community fitness work • military recruiting campaigns
core values
We really are looking for people
that enjoy what they do, not always the stereotypical
bodybuilder. “A lot of what we’re doing in employment branding is giving our employees a voice. We showcase them, showcase their work.” -Lance Sepera, 24 hour fitness director
advice
Want to build out your
employer brand?
Commit to telling the great story you already
have
1.
Recognize it will take time
2. 2 .
Identify your
differentiators
3.
Be real and transparent about the ups & downs of your organization
4.
Ask and showcase
employees your
5.
thank you
Related Documents
![A Unified Brand: How to Win by Aligning Your Employer and Consumer Brands [webcast]](https://static.cupdf.com/doc/110x72/588411711a28ab95518b5e57/a-unified-brand-how-to-win-by-aligning-your-employer-and-consumer-brands-webcast.jpg)