Throwing Axe

Don’t Throw Away Your Employer Brand When Times Get Tough

Has your employer brand become a victim of these uncertain times? If you answered yes and your employer brand was mainly tied to your recruitment activities, then trying to convince your organisation as to why employer branding does matter in recessionary times is a tough task!

Your employer brand is undeniably a powerful tool when utilised in recruitment, but what many organisations fail to realise is that it is equally useful as retention tool.

Ask yourself – Are we at risk of losing key talent? The same talent that is accountable for driving productivity and successfully navigating the company through these rough times!

Abandoning your employer brand during recessionary times will prove to be a costly mistake in the long run!

If you have recently cut staff, think for a minute about the approach you took and how your people were treated:

o How will it affect remaining staff?
o How will it affect client relationships?
o How will it affect customer loyalty?
o What will be the impact of loss of knowledge from the company?
o How will it affect your organisation’s ability to re-hire and at what increased cost when the economy recovers?

Managing your staff during redundancies with integrity and open communication is a must to mitigate damaging your employer brand, but more importantly it is the decent thing to do for the people who have served your organisation. Compare this approach with that of Pacific Brands, the result would have been vastly different if they had been open and engaging in their communication with employees! And I would have continued to purchase Bonds underpants – but no more!

It is not an expensive exercise to reinvigorate or ‘live and breathe’ your employer brand – here are some tips to consider:

* Communication to your people is a must. Employee communication is often the first to get the budget axe, which is back to front to our way of thinking. At present employees are anxious, fearful of losing their jobs and rumours are rife. Frequent communication and two-way leader led meetings are crucial to ‘stamping out’ rumours and refocusing employees on the job at hand. Be Honest, Clear & Consistent with your message!

* Engage CEO’s to cement loyalty. Leaders must be seen and heard in uncertain times, after all this is when they should be earning their 7 figure pay packets! It is that simple, you will be amazed how the ‘mood’ changes after the CEO has done the walk and spoken to the team. Tell the team that the company is in good shape with encouraging prospects. And if not, tell it straight. Get the CEO out of the office and onto the floor!

* Use your employer brand to recruit the best at ‘normalised’ salaries. In most markets now is the best time to invest, if you had the cash! The same is true in the human capital market; you should view the current market slowdown as an opportunity to secure top talent who may now be enticed to move. Be clear about your Employment Value Proposition (EVP) and compelling reasons why they should work for your organisation. Be Proactive and Build for the future Today!

As John Quelch, Professor Harvard Business School has stated “Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.” The same applies for your employer brand and as many companies will remember from previous recessionary times, it is a long, difficult and costly journey to rebuild a talented workforce.

About the Author

The Right Group’s core areas of expertise are brand strategy, research and people & culture. Our research services are often engaged as part of our work in brand strategy or can be commissioned separately. For more information, visit Branding.

Axe Throwing (Hand Axe / Hawk)

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