HR Professional - December 2007/January 2008 - (Page 27)

David Betke of Avatar Brand Management defines a brand as “the promise you make to your customers—or employees—together with their perception of how well you deliver that promise.” According to Betke, this process begins with an engaging vision and is developed through the consistent and repeated communication of that vision. A powerfu l ex a mple of the impact an “engaging vision” can have on potential and current employees is a campaign Betke developed for EBA Eng ineering Consultants. It was so compelling, it convinced recruits in the United Kingdom to relocate to Western Canada. To do this, Betke developed a high-tech/hightouch promotional tool that commu n icated EBA’s employ ment brand in a powerful way. The promotional tool, a leather-bound album, featured stunning natural photographs of Western Canada, testimonials from EBA employees who had been previously recruited from overseas, and a USB key that linked candidates to a comprehensive website. At the back of the album, a leather luggage tag was mounted as a call-to-action, inviting candidates to pack their bags and join the EBA family in Canada. In Southland’s case, their brand vision was centred on people who enjoy dealing with children and who bring a genuine sense of caring to their work. “That’s the personality of our company,” says Read. Southland and EBA illustrate the impact an effective employment brand can make when it genuinely represents the organization and speaks to potential employees in a compelling way. In a tight labour market, an employment brand that resonates with job seekers will make the differ- ence in winning the competition for candidates. Building the brand inside and out No matter how compelling the brand, it needs to be communicated consistently and repeatedly to be effective. To achieve this, human resources teams must collaborate with marketing and communications from the get-go, an area where organizations often fall short. “Many companies forget the element of repetition that’s crucial to maintaining a strong employment brand, especially on the internal side,” said Betke. “To retain employees, you have to keep them engaged in the vision.” The Hodes survey emphasizes this message as well, ﬁnding that employees repeatedly express a desire to feel they are part of an organization’s brand, able to align with and inﬂuence the organization’s culture and behaviours. Betke and the Hodes survey also agree that this type of engagement is largely developed by internal tactics that reinforce the employment brand. As Betke puts it, “Repetition of the brand must be institutionalized.” This institutionalization can take many forms. Betke believes in creative recognition, rather than relying on monetary rewards. To achieve a greater sense of engagement, Betke designs rewards that build on the vision at the heart of the organization’s employment brand and rewards employees with something that can’t be bought. Scotiabank is another company that has been very successful at extending its employment brand internally to effectively engage employees. For the past three years, Scotiabank has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 50 employers, but to maintain that they needed to continue engaging employees in the brand. So Scotiabank revamped its employee reward and recognition program, Applause, to engage employees in the bank’s core values in a fresh and creative way. I n t he new prog ra m, e a ch employee has a personal webpage on the bank’s intranet where coworkers can post notes recognizing each other’s achievements and w w w .H RThought L e ader . c om 305400_First.indd 1 D e ce mb e r 2 0 0 7/J 10/20/06008 12:22:14 a n u a ry 2 27 PM http://www.HRThoughtLeader.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Professional - December 2007/January 2008

HR Professional - December 2007/January 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Contributors Leadership Matters Website Did You Know By the Numbers Technology Study News: Ontario Regulatory Enforcement Compensation News: Postponing Retirement Legal Compensation On Message Public Image Ltd. Building Brand Equity Research Strategy HR 101 Interview with Marshall Goldsmith Off the Shelf The Last Word

HR Professional - December 2007/January 2008

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