BRANDING FOR THE LONG HAUL - Page 2 of 2

The Deal is the simplest element of the employment brand because it is factual and can be clearly articulated. This means that it can also be more difficult to differentiate, as it can be quickly and easily replicated by your competitors. Organizations that say they want to be competitive must have clear, compelling differences to communicate in the other elements of the employment brand.

Communities: As work and personal lives become even more entwined, being in an organization where people are stimulating company is becoming an ever more important part of the offer from organizations. With this in mind, the concept of Communities is about having people who have diverse but integrated values, interests and aspirations, and who communicate authentically.

Competitive organizations have to recognize this concept of Communities, and to facilitate ways in which they can be created and fostered in order the build the culture that attracts talent.

The Managers: The ultimate bond in a talented person's relationship with an organization is often his or her relationship with the immediate manager. The oft-quoted maxim is that people join organizations and leave their manager. As a consequence, an important part of the employment brand is the building of that relationship and constantly developing the personal and professional attributes of managers.

This is especially important for top talent who are asked to manage people from the moment they join. They will need to be enabled to know the expectations of the people they will be managing and the tools and resources they will have available.
What is Compelling About Your Brand?

The promise of the employment brand attracts people to an organization but delivering on that brand is what causes people to stay. Establishing a compelling and meaningful brand requires attention to all three of the elements we have described.

Over the past year, we have been studying what is compelling about an organization that leads people to want to work there and to be committed to staying. We conduct focus groups and interviews with current employees, employees who recently left the organization and people such as search firm executives. The purpose of this questioning is to identify the current strengths and weaknesses of the organization's employment brand. We will then develop a quantitative tool to determine which of these brand elements are the most important to people.

Over the past year, we have been studying what is compelling about an organization that leads people to want to work there and to be committed to staying. We conduct focus groups and interviews with current employees, employees who recently left the organization and people such as search firm executives. The purpose of this questioning is to identify the current strengths and weaknesses of the organization's employment brand. We will then develop a quantitative tool to determine which of these brand elements are the most important to people.

The central element of the new recruitment story is about Communities - the people whom you'll work with - and how the management processes allow the development of those communities. Selling the reputation of the firm is now being downplayed - partly because we discovered that this is not so relevant to the target talent, and also because the firm's reputation is not a reason that people stay.

The consequences of this new brand are now clear: The recruitment process and key messages have been revolutionized. The message is simple and honest: This is who we are and this is what it's like to work here. A review of management training and internal communication is now being undertaken to ensure that the recruitment promise is matched by the reality.

2. Daily living of the employment brand. A data-driven approach shows what is most compelling about the organization - but also exemplifies what aspects of the brand are not delivered, or are delivered only in parts of the organization. Our work with a leading law firm has centered on working with them to identify what makes their firm compelling and unique.
Many law firms pay scant attention to developing management and leadership skills among senior associates and partners. Professional expertise translated into fees is what gets rewarded. Developing rare leadership skills among senior associates and partners will be the very thing that allows this firm to get ahead of their competitors in attracting and retaining hot legal talent.

3. Recognizing difference in the organization. The example of the global investment bank highlights that an employment brand can be differentiated according to different population centers. What is important is to recognize and agree upon what is common to all and what can be altered for different groups. For example, in a 5,000-person organization, it is very unlikely that what is compelling for one group or location will be the same everywhere else.
Taking this employment branding approach to talent management ensures the value of the work through all seasons. If organizations are about building for the future as well as managing the present, this approach allows a move from reactive to proactive. It also engages talent through an inside-out approach: Find what is good and build on it rather than paint pictures of aspirations that cannot be met.

We find it interesting that while many of our clients have good exit interview data on why people leave, surprisingly few go beyond collecting the statistics. What is even more surprising is how few know why their current employees stay with them!

Do not aim just to get people through the door: Prevent the internal cynicism that is reinforced if not created by recruitment marketing that amounts to organized lying. Create an employment brand that is realistic, honest and embedded in the culture of the organization.
How can you improve your management of talent?

Follow this checklist to make sure you are maximizing your opportunities: a. Determine your current employment brand both for the organization as a whole and for the different units and geographies. b. Check the degree to which your recruitment messages are lived (universally) internally. c. Determine if your recruitment message is based on reality. d. Understand which pockets of your organization have the best and worst record in delivering your employment brand, and find out why. e. Review attrition rates against the record of high performers: Are you managing churn to ensure that the high performers stay? f. Evaluate the attention that is paid to The Deal, and measure its long-term effectiveness against resources spent on developing Communities and The Managers. Focus attention on the weaker elements. g. Consider good practice elsewhere in your industry, and see if being competitive is purely about The Deal.

Alasdair McKenzie, a senior consultant with Smythe Dorward Lambert in Boston, has worked on talent management for eight years, most notably with high tech, investment banking and consultancy organizations. Shelley Easton-Leadley, a senior consultant in SDL's London office, works with investment banking, legal and other professional services firms.

by Alasdair McKenzie and Shelley Easton-Leadley

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