Am I the only recruiter who is working on lots of new headcount? Turnover isn’t a problem everywhere!

Steph

I’ve seen companies where identical jobs are paid 30% more in one group than the other because of a perception that one group is more elite. Yet when the market and their business plan turned around the less ‘elite ‘ group was the one that generated 80% of the revenue. Yet the compensation was not adjusted.

Or one group has great leadership and the ability to get things done while another is mired in the ‘we could never get that approved’ muck.

Companies are rarely consistent in how they manage, train, tool and compensate employees.

What is a great employer for one group can leave another demoralized and frustrated.

PRECISELY!

Because if you don’t have significant turnover, why do you need recruiting services in the first place??

David advocated a slightly different question to ask, based on his deep research and experience with getting at the heart of true questions.

The question to ask is ‘What would you tell someone who just got hired about this organization?’

The reason to ask questions like this is because it eliminates the ‘loyalty bias.’ That bias shows up whenever you ask someone what they think of working at your company.

Think about it next time you’re planning employee surveys. What would you tell a friend about ERE?

You hit it completely on the mark with:

They focus on ‘marketing the notion that the company is a good one to work for’ without…

Actually making sure it IS a good company to work for

- I can attest to that as a professional who left her last company because it wasn’t even remotely possible to build an effective EVP there. It was not the right time, and I had a hard time communicating that to our top level executives. They are still struggling, and will continue until they solve the problems and make it a great place to work again. Simple, but a lot of companies miss the really crucial factors in attempting employment branding.

David Lee?s first six suggestions begin with ?ask? or ?find out?. Best-in-class employee engagement surveys answer all these questions and many other equally important ones ? delivering much more than just a score.

Advanced surveys can now provide all the information, knowledge, insights and direction that managers need to raise employee engagement to unprecedented levels. Actionable information and clear paths forward make David?s suggestions #7 (?do something?) and #8 (?with greater mindfulness and precision?) much easier for managers to accomplish.

Unquestionably employees ?join companies? and ?leave managers?. The mission critical process of developing (and culling) managers properly starts with valid assessments. A comprehensive employee engagement survey will highlight areas for attention. From there, 360 degree reviews can zero in on issues and connect them to tailored leadership development solutions. This process provides the objective means for employers to capably and confidently address suggestions #9 and #10. Annual engagement surveys and 360 follow-up reviews provide the essential measurement and feedback on progress, at every level.

Today, we have all the necessary tools at our disposal and, better than affordable ? these solutions are downright profitable.

Highly engaged employees not only outperform, they like where they work and they tell everyone they know. Attracting, developing and retaining are all part of the same fabric. So why tinker with employer branding? Take the direct and proven path to becoming an ?employer of choice? and reap all the benefits that flow from achieving ever-higher levels of employee engagement. Best-in-class solutions discipline the process and underwrite success.

‘Good article, but this article seems to mostly address employee retention, and not candidate attraction, which is the primary function of ‘Employer branding’.

Actually, it’s not an either/or, it’s a both. Doing what the article discussed will help employee retention AND…it’s the foundation of effective employer branding.

You actually touch on the crux of the issue I was trying to communicate later when you wrote:

‘…is going to have to devote considerably more effort and resources to marketing the notion that the company is a good one to work for in order to attract a consistent pipeline of quality candidates.’

This is the big problem, as I see it, with how many companies approach ‘Employer Branding’ (what they consider it to be, not what it should be. That is:

They focus on ‘marketing the notion that the company is a good one to work for’ without…

That’s the whole point of laying the foundation discussed in the article. Without actually focusing on the work experience you deliver, all a great marketing campaign will do is get more people through the door faster, so the employer’s work experience can drive them back out the door.

Hope I’ve done a better job of communicating this point because, in my opinion, it’s the essence of getting Employer Branding right.

Best regards,

Anecdotal evidence tends to suggest that ‘employer branding’ can often be a direct side effect of the branding of the rest of an employer’s products or services. Very often, for instance, if the word gets out that a company that has a great reputation for marketing quality products has retained the services of a certain placement service, that placement service can quite suddenly and unexpectedly become inundated with phone calls and emails.

A company, on the other hand, that is very busy but makes a product with no opportunity to develop a reputation among the general public - perhaps some sub-assembly of a mechanical part or something of the sort - is going to have to devote considerably more effort and resources to marketing the notion that the company is a good one to work for in order to attract a consistent pipeline of quality candidates.

Great post and one that many employers would do well to heed. I think you’re spot on in that many employers put out one set of values, but practice a completely different set internally. I’ve heard this time and time again from colleagues and experienced it myself.

Bottom line, in this job market where it’s getting harder to attract the right talent, losing that talent because of mixed messaging is a recipe for failure.