Employer branding has gained more attention recently, however creating an employer brand that is meaningful and scales globally is no easy feat.
“A company has a reputation in the market for its products and what it sells,” said Jason Seiden, Co-Founder and CEO of Brand Amper. “But companies also have a reputation as employers.”
In today’s world, most every business needs to attract and retain top talent. An employer brand strategy explains why anyone would want to join or work at your company. And your employer brand can be one of the most valuable assets of your company, if you build it meaningfully.
In order to create a meaningful employer brand, it is important to answer some critical questions:
- How do you create a powerful employer brand when your staff is spread across the country, or around the world?
- How do you make your brand understood and appreciated by people from different cultures?
- How do you encourage a common intent, attitude, and behavior among people working in far-off locations?
Rethink your brand’s “why.”
Start by rethinking how your brand can be more personally relevant and emotionally important to your employees. One way is to adopt a powerful employer value proposition (EVP) or brand promise. A people-centric, emotional-laden, and meaningful purpose helps your people understand what your brand represents and why it matters. A promise is a high-order thought designed to evoke common human emotions. The promise can readily cross cultural boundaries because the common emotions it evokes applies to everyone alike.
Express your “why” in human terms.
To translate your brand’s promise, move it from its C-Suite orientation to a strategy delivered in a human language. The strategy should focus on making the desired outcomes of the brand far more meaningful to each individual employee on a personal level, given their responsibilities and specific job function within the company.
Show employees how they can help.
Finally, show your employees how they can help your brand achieve its brand promise. Show them how the brand should ideally behave and how they should behave when representing the brand. Create a more unified brand culture – and, hence, a more unified global brand presence – by encouraging and rewarding meaningful brand behavior.
Global organization = global brand power.
As the new behavior of your employees drives communications and interactions in a meaningful way, your local customers and prospects start to better understand and appreciate your brand’s meaningful intent. They start seeing your brand as more unique, more appealing, and more desirable.
Employer Branding. It all starts with a big idea.
This big idea should be designed to be “viral” in nature. As individual employees around the world choose to behave in a more meaningful way, the idea catches us quickly and gains momentum with ease.
To view our latest employer branding project, click here
Emotive Brand is a San Francisco branding agency.
