Employer branding is above all branding and like any other type of branding, it should offer a recognizable set of values that will set the company apart from the rest.
We as an industry have reduced this set of values to a set of material benefits for employees and activities unrelated to the mission and vision of the company. Probably because of this, the recruitment process increasingly resembles a bidding process instead of a process of recognizing common values and visions.
At the beginning of what we know today as the 4th Industrial Revolution, Google was the company that, among other things, revolutionized the workplace, with office design and employee “jobs”. But all of us tech enthusiasts didn’t dream of working at Google because of the offices, but because of everything, the company symbolized. Because of the set of values associated with the company.
Those values made the company a brand. The way the stationery was arranged was a reflection of the established values of the brand, not a value in itself or a foundation on which values are built.
Therefore, employer branding should, first of all, offer a clearer mission and vision, and then a long list of material benefits.
The fact is that material benefits will long be the main criterion for choosing a company in any society that is economically underdeveloped because they will bring a great advantage to the employee in acquiring another type of personal and social capital in that society. It is also a fact that with a better financial offer and a bigger package of benefits, it is easiest to become the first choice of talent. But that’s not how you become a brand.
#branding #employerbranding
