Employer-Branding-Some-Ideas-And-Strategies | Till It Clicks

Employer Branding: Some Ideas And Strategies

Simple strategies to perk up your company’s employer value proposition

What has changed in the recent past

Employer branding has increasingly become an urgent need for employers in the last few decades, and especially so in this emerging, changing current era, as it is still being shaped by global changes and exigencies. Recent generations of employees have, in a way, become spoilt for choice, if one may say so in a lighter vein, but not only that. It is also an inevitable part of the kind of global technological changes that the world has seen in modern times. Successive generations will turn out more and more technologically literate as they will be brought up on science and technology since childhood. They will, as a matter of course, acquire a friendliness with leading edge developments and by virtue of their up to date education will be more and more in a position to dictate their own terms to future employers.

Employers around the world must address and efficiently meet the urgent need to project the worthiness of a company as a deserving employer, as a place that is worth spending most of an employer’s work life in, which offers the employee creative, lasting benefits and adds something of real human value to an employee’s life, besides providing a stable sustenance and friendly work environment. The survival and thriving of companies is inextricably linked to the satisfaction of their employees with their work and employer.

There is a way around hassles

The previous blogs have made it evident that employer branding is now a key factor in the life of companies. It is the new challenge of the current times. However, the execution can be tricky because it is highly cross functional in nature. When you start diving deeper, you realise that there is a great deal of overlap between HR and Marketing. The HR team can feel that it falls under Marketing and vice versa.

We, at TIC, tried to look at the problem objectively and realised that even without touching the core of HR policies and frameworks, a lot can be achieved in this regard. Every employer starts a business with the backstory of wanting to make the world a better place. However, as the company grows, the founders get too engrossed in growing the business and never get the time to convey the ‘Why’ behind their business. Thus the value of the business never percolates all the way down to the new joinees. And therefore, employees look at the company as a money vending machine, and move on as soon as they find a higher paying employer.

How millennials think

Generations that have been brought up on science and technology since childhood, and have had them as an integral part of their environments, also have a restless mind that seeks to advance its understanding of technology. They want to keep learning, not just to keep abreast of developing trends but also possibly to try and innovate something new. If the employers are stuck in a previous era, the employees are not likely to stick with them.

Our previous blogs in this series have dealt in more specifics with the changing global situation and its repercussions on our daily life, whether the changes be the result of generational change or current local and global events. We took into perspective the urgent need for employers to make changes in their policies and workplaces or work cultures to keep their employees inspired, dynamic and efficient. This blog will briefly introduce an outline of practical strategies that employers can use to achieve better employee attraction, retention and performance.

More human solutions and participation

Employers must work towards creating an employee oriented atmosphere which isn’t cold and impersonal, but engaging and participatory. The employees must be aided in every way to imbibe the feeling of being part of the company’s larger goal, of being part of the family that the company could be projected to be, instead of a mechanical machine without a human face. Employees will treat the employers in the same way the employers treat their employees. This reciprocatory relationship ultimately translates into the overall status of the company’s well-being.

One more thing that affects employee performance and influences their general conditioning as they show up for work everyday is the degree of anticipation they come with. Boredom is an extremely important factor. If the employee comes to work every day with a foreboding that they are going to find everything exactly as it was the previous day, they aren’t going to be very motivated. Furthermore, if they believe in the work and the goal that the company has set for them, they will show up with positive anticipation and motivation.

Some companies like Google or Tesla are able to do a good job with letting their people know the WHY of their business. And have you met the employees of these companies? They treat their employment like a prized possession and are willing to go to any lengths to help their company succeed.

Employers need to tell their story to their people. Just like a YouTube Ad that plays again and again to drive a point home, Employers need to find ways and means through which the story can be conveyed to the employees. They should bring employees up to speed through all possible avenues. We call these avenues Employee Touchpoints. What we have realised is that if these Employee Touchpoints are correctly identified and modified, it can leave a tremendous impact on existing as well as future employees.

Letter of Appointment – An example of Employee Touchpoint

A person on an average works at about 5 to 10 jobs in a span of 30 years of career. Which means that they receive only 5 to 10 ‘Appointment Letters’ in their entire lifetime. Chances of them preserving these ‘Appointment Letters’ is high. If companies can put a small additional effort in making the Appointment Letters remarkable  the employee is likely to remember it for a lifetime. “Remarkable” here can be in terms of the content of the Offer Letter as well as the way the Letter is presented.

Here’s an example of an offer letter that addresses a human being, instead of just a new name in the company’s employee roster.

Employer Branding: Some Ideas And Strategies | Till It Clicks

Something on these lines can make for a very human appointment letter to a fresh, without compromising at all on professionalism. This sample letter is just an example to inspire your imagination.

Welcome Video from the Founders – An example of Employee Touchpoint

Here is another example. We have already established the fact that it becomes very difficult for the founders to welcome the new joinees personally, and tell the story of the company to them. How do we solve this problem? Simple. Create a smashing video where the founders share their brand story in their own words. Here is the Adobe example for inspiration.

How about sharing a video like this along with a unique Offer Letter email? Can you imagine how motivated and ecstatic the employees would show up on the first day of work?

In conclusion

We at TIC have identified over 20 unique Employee Touchpoints which can be easily integrated in your employer branding strategy. We help you identify the right Employee Touchpoints suitable for your business, and then build them for you.

Although it isn’t much talked about, boredom is a great factor in all aspects of human life. Employer branding strategies are an attempt to deal with the challenge of boredom in an employee’s work-life. Delivering a remarkable work experience is simply about finding creative ways to help employees efficiently tackle the challenge of boredom. A happy employee is a very efficient employee. A creative employer is a remarkable employer.

We are human beings. No matter how impressed our work-lives may be by statistics, our lives cannot be plotted on a chart. Human problems require human solutions. There is much to be gained from simply being human, without compromising on professionalism. Simple, inexpensive ideas can be used to condition and recondition both the employer and the employee. The benefits will be lasting and dramatic. Till It Clicks offers just these ideas and practical strategies for the benefit of your company.

What-do-millennial-employees-want | Till It Clicks

Who are the millennials? Why do they matter? Employers take notice, adapt.

The large group of active engineers, scientists, data scientists, software developers, team leaders, managers, artists, entrepreneurs, various professionals, educators, leaders, innovators and experts in their chosen fields, who started working professionally some time in the last 5 to 15 years, are the millennials. They are the ones at the forefront of their chosen disciplines who are driving the change in today’s world. 

It is a known psychological fact that we are in many ways a product of our times. Here in India, we have heard of generation gaps between those born in the era of the British rule and their progeny. The well spoken-of and heard-of generation gap has also been a source and cause of conflict between generations, and it continues to this day. It is a product of the times and no modern generation has been spared it. It has to be taken into account by modern day humans as an inseparable part of daily practical modern life, be it professional or domestic. 

We at

Till It Clicks

took a survey of the generation that is now the young and dynamic skilled workforce which has started working in the corporate offices around the world in the last decade or so. It is they who are shaping and are going to shape the world from what they found it to be, to what they want it to be. They are a force to reckon with and no employer can afford to ignore their ideas, aspirations, expectations, preferences and priorities.

 

We collated all the data we gathered from the survey into the most common 9 categories. They are as follows:

A healthy work life 

Millennial employees want a healthy work environment. They expect good facilities in the office building, and stress-free working conditions. They want a work culture which is balanced by fun activities like pizza parties, team building activities, small breaks in the course of work which could have games to rejuvenate and refresh themselves, which would naturally increase productivity. They expect a work driven, merit based work culture, a friendly environment free from internal politics. They expect a workplace where the employees’ work is valued above all. Millenials want a good, positive environment to work in, where the employee is treated as if they really matter to the company as someone who adds value to the company. They want to make time for their hobbies and have well earned vacations from time to time. 

 

Money 

Millenials want money. They are very well aware of the enormous amounts of money they have spent on their education, to get where they are now, qualification wise, and they want a return of their investment in full and more. They look at a good salary in return for dedicated work as a motivational factor. The millennials are arguably the hardest working generation and they want a just appreciation of their work. They are attracted by the idea of a prosperous social lifestyle, a good pay scale, travelling abroad once in a while, a home well equipped with technological facilities. They are not going to sell themselves short. 

 

Career

Millennial employees do not take their careers lightly. They are willing to work hard, expecting to work longer in their lives. They want challenges in their work life and also value stability. They want flourishing careers. Their expensive educations have given them confidence and ambition to look at their careers more proactively than earlier generations. They value their careers an important aspect of their lives and more than just a means of livelihood. 

 

Work satisfaction

The millennial generation wants work satisfaction. They are prepared to be choosy and selective about their work. They value respect and well earned comfort. Before they choose to work for a company they do like to know of the prospects of their rise to the top. Being in more responsible positions gives them a sense of self worth. Many millennials care a lot about the world they live in. They like to choose lifestyles with value systems like reducing carbon footprint with respect to global warming, veganism, minimalism, spiritual practice, etc. They want to work for companies that have a value system, companies that believe in giving something back to the world. Working for such companies gives them an immense sense of work satisfaction.

 

Learning and Exposure

Millennial employees want exposure to a learning environment. They want new learning opportunities to give them a sense of growth and newness, an intellectual satisfaction. They want to work with dedicated teams led by knowledgeable seniors, trainers, leaders, who will willingly pass on their experience to juniors. They want to work with new technologies, innovative software development, different kinds of clients, different cultures, and also look forward to opportunities to travel to new places.

 

Job security 

Among their other priorities, millenials look for job security. They want a secure, stable job in a reliable company that isn’t going to fold up soon. The 21st century has seen many ups and downs in the corporate world and the millennials are cautious about the uncertainty that corporate companies are prone to. A company that is known for giving out pink slips randomly isn’t likely to retain millennial employees. The socio-economic landscape has changed a lot in their times and millennials are anxious to at least retain the lifestyle that their well-to-do parents have built for them, and which they are used to since their childhoods. They want to go a few steps ahead of their parent generation. 

 

Freedom of work / Flexibility 

As much as they seem to value job security, millennials also look for flexible working hours. They do not want their work schedules to be a shackle that restricts their life experience, and which allows for no variations whatsoever. They also want to have the option of working remotely. Going to the office for work they can do more happily from home seems unreasonable to them. Provided they deliver, what does it matter where they work from is what they think. Also, being able to work from the comfort of their homes beats travelling for a couple of hours to the office through gruelling traffic jams.

 

Transparency

Millennial employees are well aware of their educational qualifications and their market value. They treasure their talent and want to know how their talents are being used by the company. They expect their employers to be reasonably transparent with them. Office politics is a big disappointing factor for them. They want value initiatives like fair, 360 degree performance appraisals, peer reviews, reverse mentoring, etc. They want to know who is promoted and why. A company that has internal politics as an integral part of their work culture is not an attractive place at all. Millennials spend a major part of their lives in the office and they detest working in diseased environments. Clean, clear and reasonable policies and treatment will keep them in the company.

 

Identity and recognition

Millenials value their talents and skills, are willing to learn, are very confident and are dynamic enough and decisive enough to build their work life accordingly, in the light of their self assurance. They are well qualified and they want their talent’s worth. They want to be valued for their talents and their dedication. They don’t want to be treated as if they were easily replaceable. They like to think they are special and are well assured of their dependability. If they realize that their talents are well valued in the company, they will be likely to stick around longer.

So, here they are – the millennial employees in a nutshell. 

 

It will be obvious from this survey that millennials have a strong personality. A healthy work life free from internal politics or any kind of prejudice, characterized by an honest, healthy appreciation of talent and dedicated work is what they look forward to. They want to get rid of orthodox ideas about work and believe that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. They want a vibrant workplace that isn’t just a place where you punch the keys and accept the checks, but an alive environment which gives them a sense of having an enjoyable life. They want a workplace which values its employees as human beings, and not a mechanical work force to be exploited for the company’s benefit. It is a healthy enjoyable work environment that they think will increase productivity and not relentless managers driving them towards deadlines. The millenials are well aware that they have enough choice of employment and are not shy to exercise it. 

The general picture that the survey paints is one of a fun loving, self assured, demanding generation that is considerably more street smart than their predecessors. Thanks to social media, their perception cannot be easily controlled by the powers that be. The millenials know the technological world very well, even better than their college teachers. They can very well envisage the future of technology and have a very good sense of where the world is headed, technology-wise. They will not hesitate to change jobs. They will assert their priorities, whatever they may be. They want to have fun where they work and will not settle for a dull work culture. They want to learn and grow in a work environment that is at least as employee centric as it is mission centric. 

 

Employers around the world had better sit up and take notice. The millennials aren’t pushovers.

Employer-branding-a-path-to-more-than-just-corporate-excellence | Till It Clicks

Employer branding: a path to more than just corporate excellence

A dynamic look at the need for employer branding in post pandemic times

The need

A standing challenge before employers is and has always been the question of motivating their employees and keeping them motivated. Human beings are not machines that can be programmed and set on a task, the only requirement thereafter being keeping them well oiled and free from disrepair. Motivation is one of the basic needs of the human mind. It is a natural challenge before each human being to keep themselves motivated every single day. It is no wonder, therefore, that employers around the world should face a problem in this regard. 

Employee motivation is especially a problem when they fail to identify with the mission of the employer. Employees, as individuals, have their own personal goals and aspirations which drive them to work at all, and cannot be ignored in any way. Suppression or repression of natural instincts always leads to disaster. Motivation is a clear and present challenge.

 

Change in the office structure

An office of a company is an assortment of individuals who have gathered there with their own individual aspirations, expectations and purposes. The employer cannot simply presume that employees would automatically have an affiliation for the company’s mission. It would be unrealistic for the employer to hope that employees would align themselves with the company’s mission simply because they are now employed by it.

In the post Covid world this challenge has been made more difficult by the many social restrictions imposed by the perception of threat to public health due to contagion. All companies have had to completely change their working strategies and environments. Companies have been forced to make their employees work from home, because social contact has come to be perceived as an imminent threat to personal health and well being. As entire work forces have become confined to their homes, their working environments have suddenly changed and are no longer controlled by employers. As a result, all motivational cues that the workplace could be used to give to employees have become redundant. With the changed workplace, the employees must adapt and so must their employers on several levels. 

 

Is the workplace becoming redundant?

The psychological effects of the workplace – the impressive office building with it’s formal and swanky exteriors and interiors, the perks of working there like good food, unlimited coffee, games for recreation, workplace colleagues and friends, actual personal interaction, etc. – are no longer part of the employee’s work environment. So, what possibly motivated them before to get out of their homes, apart from work itself, and head for work is no longer available to them or their employers. 

The work cultures of companies have become almost nonexistent as a result of the severe restrictions on HR activities, employee outings, interpersonal interaction between senior and junior employees. 

Visual cues such as quotes on walls or pictures used at the workplace that motivated employees and reminded them of their work goals can no longer be effectively employed. 

The workplace is now empty and the employer can no longer showcase the workplace on social media through pictures and videos in an attempt to lure prospective employees to join the company as a fun place to work in. Screenshots of video call meetings would have no such effect on one. Since the workplace is no longer in the hands of the employer to use as an asset to optimize productivity and professionalism, the adaptation has to be more conceptual and the change in design directed towards the work ethic itself rather than a physical workplace. 

 

Office Hours and Personal Time

The idea of office hours has become nonexistent, too. Earlier there was a more or less distinct demarcation between office time and non-working hours. Employees had a routine in place that helped to organise their day. Now, since there is no travelling to be accounted for, travel time may be used for getting work done which before was a time to just relax, perhaps catch up on sleep or just look out the window and drift. Employees are now complaining about increased workloads. The situation outside has made things no easier and has only increased levels of stress for employees. Travel time served as a natural convenient buffer between the home and work environments of employees and was a refreshing interval which possibly generated enthusiasm for the work day, may have also served as a brief recess in which the employee, who had just walked out of their home, could recondition themself for work, think about the tasks of the day, scheduled meetings, important issues to be discussed in them, or just rethink a practical approach to a task in hand. Travelling to work afforded all these unconscious benefits to the employee.

To add to this, the reduced levels of actual contact between employees and the employer have made it difficult for employers to imbibe their value system in their employees. 

 

Changing Employee Experience

The overall result of all these factors is that an employee working for a big company like Infosys would feel no different than one working for a small IT company.

The cumulative consequence of the changing situation is that now companies will have to take more effort to deliver a more remarkable experience to their employees. How they manage to do that is one of the new challenges of the post-Covid times. 

 

Employers need to be proactive to acquire and retain talent

The human mind, on account of being human, has it’s human needs which need to be respected. Any naturally occurring human activity is preceded by the conditioning and reconditioning of the mind in accordance with the nature of the activity. Naturally, the body, too, needs to be conditioned for every specific activity. For instance, rigorous exercise must be preceded by an adequate warming up of all the muscles in the body, which includes aerobics to prepare lungs and heart for exertion, stretching, and a light flexing of all muscle groups. Similarly, the mind needs to be preconditioned for every specific activity. The very organisation and nature of the workplace, it’s physical differentiation from one’s home, it’s difference in spirit and tone used to help somewhat to precondition the employee’s mind for the work day. Such preconditioning undeniably helps productivity. Now that employees are working from home – which norm seems to be here to stay – there is nothing to conveniently precondition the employees anymore for the day’s work. 

One factor which probably encompasses all others and also stands alone as the most vital in the work experience of people is work satisfaction. No matter how adequate other factors may be they cannot supplant the importance of job satisfaction, the joy of the work itself. It is a psychological fact that a person searches for a sense of self worth in whatever they do, consciously or subconsciously. This need for a secure sense of self worth is very natural and cannot be ignored or repressed. A person values that work which gives them a wholesome sense of self worth. The more self aware a person is the more they will expect to gain a sense of self worth from their work. Not only that, but the more self aware a person is, the more creative and productive they will naturally be, too. 

Part of the self worth comes also from a sense of personality development arising from the work one does. 

This is a deeper, more intellectual human need which employers must respect and cater to. Employers can adopt a more proactive approach towards employer branding, rather than let it take care of itself. They can look at work and employment as a more human activity, than merely economic or corporate. It would certainly lead to more empathy in the overall interpersonal interaction between employer and employee and help transform the workplace for both. It is always possible for the employer as well as the employee to improve the quality of their work experience and work satisfaction through changes in outlook and approach. It is a practical, everyday necessity. Considering these changes that the world, and as a result the workplace is going through, attracting new talent will need to be approached with respect to the same challenges of the changing times, as retaining employed talent. 

Attracting new talent, however, has its own peculiar set of considerations and scope for innovation and creativity. It could be an all new direction that the employee as well as the employer could take. It could transform not only their work life but could also be intensely dynamic and life changing in a broader personal and universal context.