Employer branding, talent and engagement Part 1

I really need to thank Regina for linking to employerbrand.com. I'm finding it to be quite fascinating. There's really a huge amount of content here about employer branding and employee engagement. I think everyone should read/view the MicroSoft case study they have, not because it's the best one, but for me it's the easiest to follow (I'm a visual learner). The case of how great managers can affect the bottom line with this one (of I'm sure hundreds) strategy to engage their employees and create better results is pursuasive. What I find most interesting, is that managers are at the beginning of the chain. When you communicate your employer brand (as opposed to your customer facing "product brand"), there are probably just a few means of communicating this.

Print communications

Verbal/Management communications

Depending on the culture of your organization, and this would even vary by employee, I would guess that the web tools or the manager are the most effective means of communicating employer brand. Some people (like me) talk to their direct manager once every other month. However, we should make sure that we include direct training as part of the brand communication exercise contained within managing the employee. Every person to person interaction within your organization becomes part of the brand communication, and management should be particularly aware of the positive or negative niuances. As we think about person to person communications, we must also weigh in the effects of team building and camaraderie. Employees who experience higher levels of camaraderie in the workplace will have a more positive view of the employer brand. Managers must foster camaraderie and can do so by effectively utilizing teams and team building activities.

I'll talk more about "print communications" next post.