With job security on the decline and conventional differentiators such as salary and compensation becoming hygiene factors, an effective employer brand is becoming an instrument of organisational change.
Stimulating loyalty through identity
Employers aim to recruit, engage, and retain a dedicated workforce and this seems to shape the fundamentals of workplace satisfaction and identification with organisational goals.
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This approach looks at how HR policies can influence the way employees speak, behave, think, and feel about their organisation. When companies create an environment where employees feel challenged, and where their contributions are valued and recognised, employees consequently become more engaged in their work. Higher levels of engagement in turn lead to superior quality of service or product, and eventually, an enhanced bottom line. Further, when people love their work, they are likely to be vocal about it. Hence, employees can help drive the business forward and also help fill vacancies.
Effective employer branding - A competitive edge in a challenging environment
Employer branding has moved beyond recruitment advertising and is a way of business life. Companies that engage people and are clear about what they have on offer are more likely to recruit and retain the right talent that in turn helps in structured organisational growth. Studies have revealed that companies evolve and move towards a strategic approach to employer brand management after two to three years of implementing the concept. This is exactly how employer branding evolves in an organisation, as skills and experience develop across the leadership teams. Since it takes time to develop, it becomes hard to replicate and gives you an edge over your competitors.
The road ahead - HR as the best brand marketer
Employer branding is an evolving HRM response to the various product and talent market circumstances that organisations face. As the HR function begins to view employees and potential employees as internal customers, it foresees, identifies, and satisfies basic employee requirements. Organisations today have realised that valued employees, like lucrative customers, are governed by their free will to make choices to join, engage, commit, stay, or move on. To attract and retain the right talent and to have loyal and skilled employees calls for a focused, sound, and benefit-led approach to recruitment. The primary reason why employer branding is here to stay is that it is the most effective approach that steers and sustains loyal and committed employees who in turn drive organisational growth.