Alice Streatfeild, ORC International

While the link between employer branding and networking is long established, the growing popularity of social networking and web 2.0 websites means that employers cannot afford to ignore how employer branding is shaped by the internet.



Internet - feast of information

The increasing prevalence of the internet is creating a feast of information. Whether this relates to Joan from Fairford’s favoured fairy cake recipe, to the latest spotting of Elvis, the information is varied both in content and in quality. With 65% of the population being regular users of the internet, opinions are increasingly shaped by the information supplied by the web, however tenuous or reliable the source is. 

In its simplest form, an employer brand painstakingly constructed by an organisation can be further enhanced, or indeed detracted from, by an employee’s blog. Links to a company’s website may have a ‘meet the employees’ blog to enhance the culture conveyed by recruitment literature, providing a more personal touch. Such tactics, as used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, bring a greater understanding to the wider public about what the organisation does and also help to give potential recruits a better, more informed idea, about what a career could be like.

Harnessing social networking’s potential

The relationship between employers and social networking sites such as Facebook varies, but like or loathe them, networking sites have a huge presence within the digital world. Although some employers may believe that the only relationship they have with such sites is the grievance they feel towards employees spending work time on them, other employers are wise to realise their potential.

Rather than blocking access, some recruitment companies are actively encouraging their employees to use their Facebook networks to look up potential recruits and to create a professional relationship through a social medium.

Second Life and Yell.com

Second Life provides people with the opportunity to explore and build an alternative ‘life’ online and the website even invites organisations to ‘build a community’ around their brand. How this relates to the world of employment was successfully illustrated by Yell.com. In 2007, Yell.com won a CIPD Innovation Award for their use of the site when they created a team of “avatars” dressed in Yell branded shirts who mixed with locals and encouraged them to visit their branded phone boxes in order to find out about careers within the organisation.

Securing your employer brand

On the flip side, sites with user driven content have the opportunity to undermine branding efforts. Aside from the an individual’s page or profile, where friends or members of the same network can see any comments about their job, user generated groups also have the potential to reach wider audiences. Groups such as: “I Have Worked For An Employer That's A F#ckin' Joke!!” may use veiled references to specific employers, but other groups clearly reference the employer in question, mentioning managers, customers  and wider working experiences.

Meeting these groups head on are large employers such as Goldman Sachs, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Barclays who all have networks which allow their employees to “meet” each other, network and share best practice. Only possible to join when individuals provide their work email address, these networks prevent others from looking in, thus securing their employer brand. 

When blogs go bad…

Who can forget in 2005 when a Scottish man blogged about his working life at a thinly veiled employer: ‘Bastardstones’? He was subsequently fired and the media helped to fuel the fire by widely reporting it. The comments may have just been the rantings of a disgruntled employee, but the fundamental difference here is the potential audience; rather than sharing their frustrations or personal grievances with immediate friends and family, the company was brought into ‘disrepute’ as the whole world, and its dog, could learn about how bad their day at work was.

Although potential recruits could have taken these comments with a pinch of salt, such blogs are an undeniable ‘touchpoint’ that could form a part of an employer brand, however unintentional.

Rather than treat symptoms, cure them

An employer brand should reflect reality. Why spend time and effort creating an effective image to attract ‘the best’ when current employees view the reality as being entirely different? Previously, employees may have just talked about their day with friends at the pub and could have been overheard by a few people; now there is the possibility that their thoughts could be ‘overhead’ by a world-wide audience.

Where an employer brand matches reality, this would not be a problem. In fact, such testimonials would further consolidate a picture promoted by an organisation. The problem arises when they are contradictory. When creating an employer brand, you need to understand the pertinent issues of both current employees and also your target recruitment market.

Budget wisely

Within an economic downturn, the initial reaction may be to cut branding and research budgets; however it's important to consider the longer term issues which will have a bearing on an organisation’s success. Aside from having a disengaged workforce, CIPD reports that the cost of a recruitment error ranges between £5,000 and £50,000 (depending on seniority and potential for business errors) and it's wise to think carefully about which budgets are scrapped and which are maintained.

While customers become choosier about where they spend their hard earned money, employees can have the same thoughts about which organization they will invest their hard earned intelligence, expertise and discretionary efforts. The high calibre and loyalty of your employees can help your organisation succeed where others fail.

Understanding is everything

Without the right information to hand, how can you be certain that the decisions you are making about your employees, or the employees you are trying to attract, are the right ones? Think about conducting some extensive qualitative and quantitative research, supported by desk reviews, so you can use the information you need to better inform decision making and to establish a harmonious picture.

Armed with such insights, you can better target the messages spread corporately to potential recruits. By harmonizing your employer brand and reality you can let your employees be your spokespeople, and viral messages could no longer be something to fear but instead a welcomed asset which further reaffirms your status as an employer of choice.