employer brand: rebrand, refresh or tweak

Employer Brand: Rebrand, Refresh or Tweak? A David Group Webinar, February 9, 2016

HR’s ad agency.

Today’s

Webinar Employer Brand: Rebrand,

Refresh or Tweak?

Facilitated by:

N. Robert Johnson

Practice Leader

Workforce Communications

2HR’s ad agency.

HR’s ad agency.We apply advertising and marketing

practices to help organizations attract

and retain talent.

The focus of The David Group’s

Workforce Communications Practice is

to strengthen employer brands,

engage people and cut the cost of

talent.

3HR’s ad agency.

Agenda1. The stages of strengthening

your employer brand

2. When to rebrand, refresh or

tweak

3. A roadmap for employer brand

strength

4HR’s ad agency.

Employer Brand Strength

Employer

BrandAn employer brand is the story of you

as an employer as told by the every

day experiences of your people.

• Employer brand promise

• Employer brand attributes

• Employee value proposition

6HR’s ad agency.

Strengthening Employer Brand

Lifecycle

7HR’s ad agency.


Employer brand for attraction Employer brand and employee communications for retention

• Social Media

• PR/Publicity

• Employees

• Customers

• Careers site

• Talent

community

• Special

events

• Corp. site

• Mobile site

• EE Stories

• ATS

• Mobile site

• Recruiters

• Hiring Mgr

• Process and

updates

• Offer

• Alignment

experience

• Collateral

• Initial

engagement

• EE comm

• Leadership

comm

• Rewards

• Engagement

drivers

• Exit interview

• Social media

• Special events

8HR’s ad agency.


The strongest employer brands reflect the authentic story of

an organization’s employment experience

Employer Brand Strength Continuum

“We’ll just go

with what we

think”

weaker stronger

“We’re using

validated

employee

perspectives”

Point-of-View

ValidationValidation = Discovery

• Focus groups

• Interviews

• Surveys

• Engagement data

• Stay/exit interviews

• Communications audit

9HR’s ad agency.


WCP’s approach to employer branding

Rebrand• Full discovery (focus groups,

executive interviews, audits, surveys, etc.)

• Enterprise-wide communication

strategy and action plan

• All new materials across all

media channels

• Tied to measurable business

outcomes

10HR’s ad agency.


Comprehensive

overhaul of an

employer brand

Refresh• One to several issues identified

• Organized and well thought-out

response (discovery based)

• Tied to measurable outcome(s)

• A brand update but within

existing employer branding

statements and guidelines

11HR’s ad agency.


Rebrand “lite” –

targeted and

focused intervention

Tweak• “Spot” improvements

• Limited to passing feedback

• Common sense based

• Doesn’t alter or change existing

employer brand standards

• Less direct alignment to

business outcomes

12HR’s ad agency.


Adjustments to

existing brand

elements

Take-AwayEmployer brand strength is

directly correlated to validated

employee experiences

Not every organization needs a

full-blown rebranding of their

employer brand

13HR’s ad agency.


Rebrand, Refresh or Tweak?

OverviewGuiding Principles

• Every organization is unique

and is in a different place in

terms of talent communications

• Branding is fluid: you can think

big, start small and scale up

15HR’s ad agency.

When to Rebrand, Refresh or Tweak?

Rebrand• Poor recruitment and retention

performance (negative impact)

• External brand alignment

• Shifts in mission and/or culture

change

16HR’s ad agency.


When a dramatic

change is needed

Refresh• Targeted talent communication

intervention

• To solve a specific talent

problem

• Change management initiative

17HR’s ad agency.


When a targeted

branding solution is

needed

Tweak• Instances of simple

miscommunication

• Adjustment/reactions to social

media

• A need for something different

• Connecting the dots

18HR’s ad agency.


When there is a

need to connect

better

Take-AwayIt is important to calibrate the

desire for something new with

need, levels of validation and the

organization’s willingness to act

19HR’s ad agency.


Roadmap to a Stronger Employer Brand

Elements• Organize (do I need to take a journey?)

• Assess (what kind of journey should I

take?)

• Plan (how am I going to take this

journey?)

21HR’s ad agency.


Organizing• What is prompting me to think about

employer branding?

• What problem(s) am I trying to

solve?

• On a five point scale, how urgent

are these challenges?

• Where do they fall as we’ve

discussed?

22HR’s ad agency.


Assessment• What level of validation will I need to

solve my branding challenge?

• What’s the magnitude or scope of

contemplated changes to our

employer brand?

• What levels of support and

resources would I have to

accomplish these changes?

23HR’s ad agency.


Planning • What business outcomes am I

tying to my employer branding

initiatives?

• What’s my budget?

• How will I measure success?

• What’s the long-term plan?

24HR’s ad agency.


Take-AwayPlanning helps for every phase:

whether rebrand or just tweaking,

having a detailed plan adds value

to the project

Short-term fixes may lead to more

complex problems in the future,

try to think “steps-ahead”

25HR’s ad agency.


THANK YOU!

Resources Employer Brand: Rebrand or Refresh?, 2015 White

Paper, The David Group

Employer Brand Dimensions, Talent Solutions, The

David Group

Employer Brand Readiness Checklist, Talent

Solutions, The David Group

Our Approach to Employer Branding, 2015 White

Paper, The David Group

All of these items can be found at:

www.davidgroup.com/what-we-think/downloads/

27HR’s ad agency.

ContactN. Robert Johnson

The David Group216.685.4486

216.410.5258 (cell)

[email protected]

http://www.davidgroup.com/what-we-think/downloads/

mailto:[email protected]

employer brand: rebrand, refresh or tweak

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