OUTNR.® is honoured to post this blog on Employer Branding by Andy Mosmans, a leading Brand Strategist, successful Entrepreneur and author of “Ondernemingssucces & BRANDING NL”. Andy is Strategy Director and Partner at ARA creative agency.
Employer branding today In essence a corporation needs two kinds of people: customers and employees. They are the players in the game of the name (of the company, the corporate brand). Just like on the client market corporations need to build brand strength in an integrative way on the talent market: employer branding. The ultimate aim of integrated brand management is to deliver a consistent and distinctive experience, both to customers as well as to employees. And culture is the linking pin. The modern discipline of employer brand management takes a holistic approach to shaping the culture of the organization, by seeking to ensure that every people management touch-point is aligned with the purpose of the organization.
In providing a robust mechanism for aligning employees’ brand experience with the desired customer brand experience, and a common platform for marketing and HR, employer branding today represents a significant evolution in the quest for building corporate integrity and identity. I call it the pursuit of purpose, personality and potential!
Purpose, personality and potential The world’s most popular song at funerals is ‘I did it my way’. No surprise. Everyone aspires to be a truly unique personality, a one of a kind character who lives life purposefully to its full potential – and inspires others to do the same. In their own unique way. Why? Because we are creative by nature, and because – as Steve Jobs once told a class of MBA students- life is simply too short to live that of somebody else.
So, finding your flow and doing it your way is essential. For people, but also for brands and corporations of all kinds. To lead the way. Their way. To be a one and only. A rebel with a cause. A legendary that makes things happen. Not a laggard watching things happen. Or worse, a loser wondering what happened. As Gary Hamel says, to lead the revolution, corporations and brands should apply the power of creativity. Or as Tom Peters says, they have to ‘re-imagine’ themselves.
Being the best of and for the world To truly fulfill their potential, brands and corporations should find their unique way and provide an inspiring why, a purposeful sense of meaning and direction. It is as much about developing economic capital (the competence to make money), as it is about developing social capital (the competence to develop relationships) and cultural capital (the competence to inspire, innovate and improve). In their study, The Business Case for Purpose, EY found that purpose-driven companies make more money, have more engaged employees, more loyal customers, and are better at innovation and transformational change. It seems to be easier to win the game when you care about it.
More and more this ‘game’ is not only about being the best of the world, but moreover for the world. It also includes thinking about sustainability: the ability to last within the limits of the planet and societal expectation. Also called ‘social purpose’: the external benefit a business brings that society would miss if it didn’t exist.
So what’s your way? Define, develop, direct and deliver it. All the way!
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