Recent global developments in the business landscape – remote work, talent shortages, the Great Resignation – have forced companies to rethink how they look at employees and build relationships with them. These developments have also catalyzed changes in the recruitment and engagement models that companies have traditionally utilized to attract and retain talent.
As employers try to navigate this new and complex landscape, employer branding has become one of the most strategic priorities for organizations everywhere. This sudden – and by no means unwelcome – focus on employer branding has led to the rise of employer brand leadership.
Who is an employer brand leader?
What do these leaders do?
And what is their role in building strong, admirable, envy-worthy employer brands?
Let’s take a look.
The Role of Employer Brand Leaders: How they Build and Strengthen Employer Brands
One of the most important responsibilities of employer brand leaders is to help build a strong employer brand and promote its values. To achieve these objectives, they forge a strategic vision for employer branding across the employment lifecycle. They also develop plans to operationalize and deliver on this vision and future-proof the company’s employment pipeline. Top management may also task these leaders with forecasting the ROI and potential business impact of the strategy and plan.
To strengthen the employer brand, employer brand leaders look for and convert opportunities to optimize engagement with employees and candidates. They apply various frameworks, human-centered design, and vital leadership skills to eliminate talent challenges, determine the key focus areas and investment priorities for employer branding, and support employer brand-related strategic decisions.
Leaders also play a crucial role in advancing employer branding through leadership and practice. To do this, they bring innovative ideas to develop the employer brand and mentor those who are involved in the effort. Additionally, they provide direction and guidance to develop people-centric solutions that position the. organization for success in a competitive talent marketplace.
The Key Qualities of a Strong Employer Brand Leader: What Makes Them Tick
Strong employer brand leaders bring valuable skills to the table. One is curiosity. Curious leaders are able to stay updated on new employer branding trends and have the confidence to implement new ideas. They are also able to ask good questions like What’s working? What’s not? What are we not doing to build our employer brand? What should we do to strengthen this brand and make our firm a desirable workplace? Equally important, they proactively look for the answers to these questions and implement them to positively influence the organization’s employer brand.
Effective employer brand leaders have great communication skills so they can effectively promote their ideas and influence the stakeholders involved in employee engagement, recruitment, and retention. They are also empathetic and can understand diverse perspectives, which enables them to see the big picture, identify roadblocks, and implement the most appropriate strategies to build and shore up the employer brand.
Great employer brand leaders are open to change and able to guide the evolution of the employer brand. They also help to create a common “language” for employer branding, which enables everyone involved in the effort to work together and achieve the firm’s goals. These leaders are also very comfortable using data and real-world examples to enable others – direct reports, employees, and C-Suite leaders – to visualize a strong employer brand and understand what they must do to develop and strengthen it for the firm.
Employer Brand Leaders and Employer Brand Content: A Match Made in Heaven
Employer brand leaders guide the design, implementation, and assessment of communication plans for talent engagement, employee experience management, recruitment, and employer brand activation. Many also assess employment experiences. Their goals are to identify the key Employer Brand Moments of Truth (EBMOTs) that influence talent attraction, engagement, and retention, and create more positive EBMOTs that can enhance employee experiences and create employer brand champions.
Mid- and senior-level employer brand leaders are frequently involved in directing efforts to create exceptional employer branding content (EB content). They help to build amazing EB content that’s authentic, relatable, and engaging and builds an emotional connection with its target audience. It stays in their hearts and minds for a long time and is highly effective at attracting candidates to the firm. These candidates are not only talented; they also relate to the business and its values, fit in with its culture and are willing to go above and beyond their job description – making them ideal “unicorns” for the company and its goals.
Employer brand leaders know what it takes to create EB content that resonates with its audience. To this end, they highlight the company’s culture, diversity efforts, and training and development initiatives – all things that modern employees are looking for in their employers. Smart leaders also invest time and energy in learning employees’ stories and in bringing these stories out into the wider world. These stories showcase the people as well as the employer brand and bring the company’s employer value proposition (EVP) to life in a natural and resonant way. Leaders also listen to their people and make a sustained effort to improve their experiences so the audience knows that the EVP is not just empty words on paper, but something that the company truly offers and believes in.
Conclusion
As with any other idea that truly matters, employer branding requires strong leaders to develop a strategic approach, clarify its business value, and implement plans to engage with current employees and attract future employees. In the evolving and employee-led employment landscape, employer branding is an urgent imperative for organizations. And to achieve this imperative, the role of employer brand leaders is critical.
Team Ergode can help you clarify your employer’s branding strategy, plan, and KPIs. Tell us your requirements and we’ll show you how to create an employer brand that’s known for its employee advocacy, engagement efforts, and successful recruitment outcomes.
