2021 Employer Branding Team Structure for Effective Execution on KPIs

8 ROLES that every employer branding team in India or globally should cultivate in their function to create the MOST AUTHENTIC AND MOST RESPONSIVE EMPLOYER BRAND in a post-pandemic world.

As per a 2021 LinkedIn research, companies with a STRONG EMPLOYER BRAND see 50% more applicants and a reduction in employee turnover by 28% and cost per hire by 50%.

India, picked up on the employer branding agenda much later than their US and European counterparts. However, during the pandemic almost every organisation realized the criticality of a full-fledged team invested 24/7 in building their employer branding story. Social media suddenly became the only face of the organisation and careersites became a traditional tool of employer branding almost overnight. and so did old structures of employer branding teams. Why?

Because 73% of candidates are NOW finding their last position through social media (as per the Aberdeen Group)

So,

if you still have one person doing the entire employer branding work; you are losing on many opportunities.

if you still have one core EB lead ably supported by the Marketing Communications, Social Media Teams and Internal Communications team; you are in a better 'promotional' spot than most employers.

however if you have the following employer branding team structure in place, then you are at a COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE in the talent market space:

Basis my recent interactions with clients and looking at a booming hiring market, I wish to highlight the importance of different functions under #employerbranding and how they contribute to building the right perception of your organization in a highly volatile market.

First ?? what #marketing is for the business and product/services of the organization, #employerbranding is for the talent and HR policies of the organization

Second ?? HR creates a great place to work,  #employerbranding communicates it is a great place to work!

With this established, it is vital to segregate your #employerbranding teams as per the KPIs expected from this function

If you really want go build a successful #employerbranding team then this is how you should slice your employer branding team roles in 2021-22:

1. Employer Branding (EB) Strategist

The person who understands the context of your business and can create an EB ROADMAP that tallies with the business vision of your organization. This person is also someone who understands the core behavior of your talent set, talent markets, and has a handle on best EB practices in your particular industry. They also help define your employer value proposition EVPs. and tailor them to full-time roles, remotes jobs or gigs. He or she is the guiding light ??. the leader giving direction to the employer branding strategy whether for a regional talent market or for a global talent acquisition strategy. This person should know what drives talent in which geography. African talent market works very differently than India.

2. EB Internal (Culture Interface & Glassdoor Monitor)

The person who has a pulse on employee engagement, monitors Glassdoor effectively and feeds the HR and internal communications team to create remedial programs. He or she also rallies activities around CSR , social justice, employee volunteering , referrals, personal branding training for employees, blogs, diversity champion etc. He/she picks up the most progressive policies of HR or internal programs that deserve an external showcase. This person identifies your DIFFERENTIATORS.

3. EB External Relations (PR, Influencer, Networks Lead)

The person that identifies external promotion opportunities for your employer brand and ties up with professional networking platforms or skill platforms like Gracehopper, TechGig etc. to showcase your thought leadership capabilties. He/she creates an effective PR strategy, regularly connects with Editors of ET HR World, People Matters etc. to create talent stories that boost your employer brand image in the market. They also actively pitch for employer branding awards to CONSOLIDATE YOUR IMAGE in the market.

4. EB Social Media Expert

You can make this person responsible for all your career handles and charge them to build your communication plans for key social media that drives talent to your careersite. As you can see their role is becoming more powerful day by day as talent has now started actively #tagging the organizations on Twitter, Instagram and even LinkedIn. He/ she will not only post regularly on social media but also RESPOND ACTIVELY on all talent queries. They will have a knack to spot early crisis stories on social media and alert ?? relevant teams to take corrective action. Example candidates tagging your company on delay in job offers or rejection reason not given. oh by the way PRO TIP - you will soon need a CHIEF LINKEDIN OFFICER to manage the mushrooming EB content on @linkedin!

5. EB Campaigns Manager for Lead Generation

Talent acquisition team needs targeted leads and relevant talent leads. they dont want to sieve through junk profiles. And the employer branding person is expected to create TAILOR-MADE RECRUITMENT MARKETING PROGRAMS OR PERSONALIZED EVPs FOR EACH CRITICAL TALENT SEGMENT OF THE BUSINESS. This person effectively tailors creative media campaigns, hackathons, virtual events etc. to channelize the right talent towards meeting your hiring targets.

6. EB Content Marketing

No employer branding team can survive without good content, without employee generated content, without effective brand collateral. your designers can also report to this person as content and design need to be married effectively to generate the right emotion from your target audience whether they are internal employees or external candidates.

7. EB Program Manager for on-ground coordination

The person who gets the work done ? on-ground, rallies different internal teams and coordinates with different vendors, admin teams to ensure all EB programs run on schedule. he/she is the link. You could also train them to keep a handle on KPIs and manage the EB Dashboard or track metrics.

8. Network of EB Agencies, Partners

Like marketing teams need scores of agency partners for different aspects of their branding needs. So does the employer branding team of 2021!

Please build your repertoire of #employerbranding agencies you will go to for different specializations like:

• Talent research to GAIN UNIQUE INSIGHTS that will help attract and retain the right talent
• Internal-external campaigns, IDEA GENERATORS at a short notice
• OFFICE BRANDING & GIFTING partners, talent booth fabricators etc
• EB Technology partner to build VR GAMING, MOBILE APPS, TOOLS to generate JDs etc
• EB ADVERTISING to create interesting brand collateral, careerpages etc.
• SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCIES to product content 24/7
• or may be a one stop shop like PHOENIX TALENTX BRANDING to meet all your EB agency requirements in one go!

We hope you found this article useful. If you are a talent acquisition leader or a marketing leader owning an EB team, please do build these capabilities in your teams. Or if you have a lean EB team then do support them by empanelling EB agencies as retainers to support your on-going momentum.

If you get these 8 ROLES right, chances you will produce INFINITE ∞ RESULTS for your company's employer brand in 2021-22!