This has kind of been a hot topic for a few months now and I feel like a dirt bag writing about it, but that won't stop me. I guess I am hoping for feedback that will spark debate or even a better understanding of the concept of Employment Branding.

Has there been a maligned effort to propose that employment branding is something other than company branding? Many consider the "B" word to be the death knell for recruiting, a wasted discussion. Corporate recruiters make it part of their pitch..., sometimes do third-party and executive. But what are they really pitching? Is it a Disney-esque story of how great that company is? What the company wants to be? What they want potential employees to believe?

Is real employment branding for potential hires non-existent? We sit with our job descriptions in our hot little hands or on the screens in front of us and spew a few key phrases from a script or company brochure expecting to spin this web of glorious inclusion that will make the candidate drool all over themselves and scream, "Yes, I want to be considered." Is it just a ploy, an attempt at seduction? Will it work?

Is it simply company branding? Does employment or employer branding begin after the third or fourth week on the job and everyone assumes you know what you're doing thus leaving you alone in your cubicle or office and expect that you have embraced the culture, that you get "it"? Some companies get employment branding right at this point and others don't. How are they different? The companies that get it care about turnover and they care about their people. The retention process is on-going from the moment you say, "I am recruiting for a ___________ , would you like to know more?" It is relentless and often forgotten in a rush to just get a position filled.

Assumptions made are people forgotten. The magic required is really just engagement in its purest form. Caring about the concerns and needs of the employees, the employees caring about the needs and concerns of the company. Reciprocation. A fantastic word. Do right by me, I'll do right by you. Retention efforts = employment/employee branding. A simple equation when you realize that the equal sign is in the middle.


© by rayannethorn