Who owns the employer brand?

Who owns the employer brand in your organization?

Most people I ask this tell me: "Everyone!"

While I understand the quick logic, you realize that's not true when you stop to think about it.

Everyone does not own the employer brand.

Someone owns the employer brand, and that someone works as the employer brand manager.

The employer brand manager owns the employer brand

Employer brand manager is responsible for the overall employer brand perceptions of the organization.

And just like any managerial role, it comes with plenty of expectations and responsibilities.

• In the more junior role, the management responsibility concerns developing and sustaining a specific employer brand image.
• The more experienced employer brand managers work in demanding talent markets with very challenging goals. They manage the employer brand perceptions and employer brand value, and they are also leading the team contributing to employer brand marketing.

The purpose of employer brand management

Employer branding will be extraordinarily daunting and stressful without employer brand management because of the nature of employer brand marketing.

Employer brand management removes the likelihood of burning out caused by the growing stream of expectations, ad hoc ideas and random acts of marketing.

Most organizations confuse employer branding with recruitment marketing.

While it is true there are some overlapping elements between recruitment marketing and employer branding; there are two key elements making recruitment marketing and employer branding two different talent marketing (or HR marketing) strategies.

1. The motivators of the target audience.
2. The expected value-add for the business.

When recruitment marketing must persuade active job seekers to consider the role and apply by the deadline, employer branding must first position the organization as a clearly different option from the competition.

Once the position is secured, employer branding pursues the relevant and ideal talents to connect emotionally with the employer brand.

Recruitment marketing is the final sprint.

Employer branding is the marathon.

Key responsibilities when owning the employer brand

The ownership of the employer brand comes with specific responsibilities:

1. Growing and managing the desired employer brand perceptions in relevant target talent audiences and markets.
2. Pursuing and building the actual employer brand.
3. Converting desired employer brand value back to the business, not talent acquisition.

Having and executing a plan is the only way for employer branding success

The person who claims ownership of the employer brand must first create the employer branding plan.

You need this plan to manage the employer brand and lead the employer brand marketing day-to-day.

This plan is effectively a blueprint outlining:

• The expected employer branding value
• The desired employer brand position and image
• The expected goals and objectives for employer brand marketing
• The most crucial target segments
• The key messages building the desired employer brand image
• The distinct value-add your employer brand must repeatedly deliver to your employer brand target segments

The employer brand manager is not just responsible for creating this employer branding blueprint.

They are also responsible for planning and leading the execution of the plan. After all, you can only achieve the goals set on your plan if you do the work required to get there.

Without the actual execution plan, which in the case of employer brand marketing is a marketing & communications plan, you will end up the ad hoc and random acts of marketing alley.

And if you remember what that was? It was the road to employer branding burnout.

It doesn't matter if marketing, communications, HR or talent acquisition owns the employer brand.

What matters is that whoever claims the ownership can commit to the role and is willing to make it their priority.

Because unless employer brand management is your priority, you don't have the motivation to learn what makes your target audience tick, how to influence them and how to persuade them to choose your company over all the other options they have,

Employer branding is not a campaign but a process of convincing and converting relevant talent audiences to change their minds about your company as a place to work when they have no interest to hear about your jobs and career opportunities.

Successful employer branding paves the way for talent acquisition, but it is so much more than recruitment marketing.

Whoever claims ownership for the employer brand must be growing the business's competitive advantage.

DOWNLOAD this free eBook I wrote about Talent Marketing Team roles, including the role of an employer brand manager >>

Listen to my podcast episode on Who owns employer branding and the employer branding budget >>

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