So you’re ready to start building your employer branding and recruitment marketing, but not sure where to start?
We’ve got you covered!
We’ve joined forces with Havas People to bring you a series of events packed full of exclusive expert insights that can help your business stand out from the crowd.
For our second event, we talked all things employer branding and recruitment markets.
Hosted by Business Director (APAC) for Havas People, Fiona Warren, we sat down with Ella Cullen (Woolworths group), Madison Bailey (Metcash) and Lauren Miller (Commonwealth Bank) and found out how they successfully built long lasting strategies and and what they wish they knew when starting out.
EVP, Values & Employer Brand – What’s the difference?
Before we begin, let’s get our terminology in order. We kicked the discussion off by asking the experts, is there even a difference between an EVP and employer brand? Turns out, yes there is.
Having company values is important, but for Lauren, an EVP is actually much more, well, valuable.
An “EVP is very much grounded in the people experience and what we have to offer …. the employer branding piece is how we take that to market, what stories we tell.
“I don’t think the notion of a company’s purpose or a set of values actually does much in terms of giving people a day-to-day understanding of what it’s like to work there”.
For Ella, it’s about having the whole package – having a vision, values and an EVP go hand-in-hand.
“I’d say vision is what you’re wanting to achieve as a company. EVP, your brand and your employer brand are how you say it, what you say and how you get real experiences for your people .. then your values are the way we behave to achieve that.”
Following a similar suit, Maddie feels each component is important in helping you build that stellar reputation.
“The employer brand is the reputation you have in the market … your EVP is something that you manufacture .. [it’s] a mixture of our aspirations. What do we want to be as an employer?”
The chameleon of the recruitment realm
It seems safe to say we all agree an EVP is pretty vital, but how do we actually use that to inform our employer brand?
Think of an EVP like a chameleon. As Lauren highlighted, it not only gives an overview of what it’s like to work for your company, but it can also be used to directly target different candidate pools. We love a multipurpose tool.
“It gives us the messages that we want to take to market… we might have critical talent segments that we go after and they might have a specific key message that really resonates for them. The approach to taking it to their market would be dialing up that particular message.”
Once you’ve nailed your EVP, Maddie says don’t be afraid to use it to show everyone how good you are – don’t be afraid of a little humble brag.
“When it comes to your EVP, that’s what you’re pushing out – you’re values and those real career stories.”
Building the building blocks
To showcase an employer brand, we sort of need to build one first. So how should we start building a solid strategy?
If you’re really not sure where to start, who better to ask than the people who already know you? That’s why Ella says start in-house.
“I would do an audit of how people feel in the business and why they work there. I would speak to senior stakeholders and talk about stories – is there someone that’s come from a completely different vertical and really succeeded very quickly?”
Not to mention getting your employees involved also speaks to the inclusivity of your business. That’s a win-win.
“It’s bringing everyone into the business and bringing them along on the journey.
Step two – Maddie says spend time on your discovery phase. You can’t be better than the rest if you don’t know what the rest are doing.
“[Look] at the competitor analysis – what does good look like and what’s out in the market.”
Step three – Lauren says make sure everyone is on the same page.
“[Get] really clear on what the objective is and making sure that all your stakeholders are aligned on what they want. Is it to support hiring needs, is it to change perceptions in the market or is it to go after a particular segment?”
Let’s talk budget
Ah yes, the dreaded, do we have enough money to do this talk. Budgets aren’t necessarily a fun topic, but they are vital to ensuring all this work you’re doing can actually get off the ground and make a difference.
Good news – you don’t need a ton of cash to be effective. As Lauren pointed out, it’s all about how you use it.
“I think it doesn’t really matter how much money you have. [It’s about] what you do with it and determining the right channels.”
Ella feels that even if your budget is non-existent, you’d be surprised at what you can achieve.
“There is still a lot you can do without a budget. People really freak out and don’t know where to start … It’s so simple. It’s the people in your organisation.”
Need an example of what to do with that imaginary cash? Maddie has something for you.
“Something that requires no budget and also works really well is our referral program. [We get] our own employees to be our advocates because they know the job better than anyone else.
“We created a bit of a toolkit and a bit of a handbook for the why, some information around career development and benefits … [We] set our employees up with a really easy process to be able to refer a friend. That was free. We didn’t even incentivise it.”
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