The Benefits of Employer Branding

A key word in Employer Branding is EVP, or Employer (sometimes Employee) Value Proposition. What is it that raises one company head and shoulders above the rest, and makes potential candidate seek it out? What does good look like...

Positive criteria include:

• Getting more actively involved with employees from day one
• Demonstrating their importance and value to your success
• Demonstrating accessibility and good communication at all levels
• Using technology and social media effectively

A good EVP should demonstrate a close understanding of both sides of the employment equation, taking into account the range of tangible and intangible factors required to meet the expectations of a company's employees, as well its own business objectives. It should also engage fully with real-time recruitment platforms, and use social media to keep pace with the workplace community and its approval – or criticisms.

This strategy is now being successfully deployed by many large companies, turning the focus of the Employer Brand towards employee experience as a benchmark for its success. Companies like PwC and L'Oreal have made their EVP an outstanding attraction for new millennial talent.

The Glassdoor 2018 annual list of Employees' Choice: Best Places to Work is headed in the UK by Google. Coming second (by a very narrow margin) is Anglian Water, who also fielded the Highest Rated CEO in 2017. What is it about an organisation like Anglian that has earned them the encomium, "An enjoyable, inspiring and rewarding company to work for!"?

This is a medium range enterprise (1000-5000 employees) with a strong focus on improving water services, as well as reducing pollution and emissions. Anglian provides a faultless customer experience, according to the Glassdoor list. On top of that, they "believe employee wellbeing is the key to a successful business and great customer service." Employee reviews are positive, and 100% of them thought their CEO the best – so, effective Employer Branding techniques have earned Anglian not only employee and customer loyalty but also media recognition. Their half-yearly accounts just filed show a 4.3% increase in revenue, and in July the company received the 2017 Responsible Business of the Year Award.

Employer Branding demonstrates the nature and style of the company's activity, its corporate ethos and its engagement with all spheres of that activity. Everything it does must be honest, faithful and real, with immediate relevance to local and global circumstances, and with the promise of continuing growth in its understanding and capacity to fulfill its employees' needs. In the right hands, Employer Branding is the key to attracting the right kind of employees and indicates a way forward for other industries to improve their employment strategies.

Does your company measure up? We would love to hear from you about your experiences of Employer Branding, and how it has pulled your towards a company or position...or not as the case may be!