Reassess your career website

Article originally published in South Africa's leading HR publication, HR Future where Brett is an International monthly columnist on employer branding.

Could this be your most undervalued talent attraction asset?

With the global population estimated at over 6.8 billion people, it’s staggering to learn there are nearly 2 billion people internet users around the world. What is even more staggering is that the fastest growing region in the world is Africa with over 2,300 % growth in users during the period 2000-2010. Compare this to around 145% growth in North America during the same period and it is clear to see that Africa is getting connected!

Developments in internet technologies to support talent attraction efforts have also been rapid during this period.  The use of the internet for activities central to the recruitment process has shifted the paradigm of traditional paper based methods.  The recruitment process is now being supported by rich media, videos, social media, RSS feeds, podcasting, blogs, and applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Google’s keyword tool says there is an average of 506,000,000 searches per month using the keyword search ‘jobs.’  Jobseekers are no longer just interested in finding a job; they are becoming more particular in gaining a better insight into a company’s culture, values and employment benefits before joining.  A company’s employer brand rates highly on a job seekers list and one of the most effective ways to communicate your employer value propositions (EVP’s) and provide an insight into, “what it is like to work here,” is through your careers website.

In most cases, the information on careers sites is simply a replica of the "about us" section of the main corporate website. It’s boring and does very little to engage visitors to your site and may actually be doing your employer brand damage.

The purpose of your careers website should be to:

Why would someone want to work for you?

Article published in ERE Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership

If more companies had the answer to the question, “Why would someone want to work for us?” chances are we wouldn’t have the increasingly high levels of disengagement we do now amongst employees in companies around the world. The past few years have witnessed one of the most severe periods in economic history following the meltdown of the global financial system, which had its roots in the subprime mortgage market and took hold when Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2008.

Employer branding needs good leadership

Article originally published in South Africa's leading HR publication, HR Future where Brett is an International monthly columnist on employer branding. click here for the published article.

This article provides some insights into "The role of leadership in employer branding as featured in Brett's new book Employer Brand Leadership - A Global Perspective.

Build employer brand leadership capabilities in your company

The role of an employer brand manager is increasing in scope as the discipline evolves. As the line between the role of human resource, marketing and communication professionals in talent attraction and retention continues to blur, employer brand managers are being empowered to deliver responsibilities from all three functions.

In 2006 when I published my book, ‘Your Employer Brand attract-engage-retain,’ the position of an employer brand manager was virtually unheard of. Today companies such as Nike, Ernst & Young, UnitedHealth Group, Vestas Wind Systems, Starbucks, IBM, Ahold, E.ON, Deloitte, Nordea, DONG Energy, HP and Deutsche Bank now all have dedicated employer brand managers focused on developing their company’s  employer brand.
 

Employer Brand Leadership Capability Framework^TM
To assist employer brand leaders to better manage their cross functional responsibilities I developed the Employer Brand Leadership Capability Framework^TM to ensure a consistent approach to employer brand management. (see figure 1).
 

Figure 1: Employer Brand Leadership Capability Framework^TM

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KEY FUNCTIONS
The key functions contained in the Employer Brand Leadership Capability Framework^TM include:

Employer Branding 3.0 - Connecting employees and customers for a better society

This is an excerpt from the article which was published in Australia, Poland and in South Africa's leading HR publication, HR Future where Brett Minchington is an International guest columnist.

This article provides some insights into Employer Branding 3.0 as featured in Brett's new book Employer Brand Leadership - A Global Perspective.

Employer Branding 3.0 - Connecting employees and customers for a better society

For the past two and half years I have been travelling the world interacting with leaders and sharing best practice in employer branding. Each new country provides an opportunity to learn about the local nuances and the challenges of delivering an employment experience which positively impacts on an employee’s ability to deliver a brand experience expected by their customers.

In each of the twenty countries I have travelled to, it is evident there are political, economic, social and technological forces confronting companies which will require a combined stakeholder effort to ensure business sustainability.  However I find there is one common force that connects us all - the human will to create a better society. We hear political leaders talk about it in discussions on critical issues such as climate change, financial reform and labour practices. Future sustainability will require a collaborative effort to maintain a healthy balance of ‘what’s good for profit’ and ‘what’s good for society.’

A study by the US Federal Reserve Board showed the dramatic increase in the importance of intangibles such as brand to overall corporate value in the second half of the twentieth century. Today it is possible to argue that in general the majority of business value is derived from intangibles such as the employer brand.

Since its inception in the early 1990’s employer branding has evolved through three stages: employer branding 1.0, employer branding 2.0 and employer branding 3.0 (see table 1).

Employer branding 1.0 was characterised by one-way interactions between employers and their employees and customers. Employees were seen as an infinite resource and talent was in abundance during the industrial revolution. Jobs were for life and employer branding was used to fill jobs as companies experienced growth.

To lead is to decide - A new view on BRANDED LEADERSHIP

by Brett Minchington MBA and Dr David Kippen PhD

Brett and David will be presenting at the upcoming:

What do we talk about when we talk about leadership? Too often, we talk about personality, charisma and charm. Too often we talk about the type of traits that defines leadership as a very senior-executive, authoritarian affair.

In this article, we provide a somewhat different definition of leadership: “To lead is to decide.” Under this definition leadership has nothing to do with how many reports one has. It simply means having the opportunity and responsibility to make decisions that matter to others, on behalf of the organization.

To choose such a limited definition throws into relief some of the essential elements we define as branded leadership. It clearly shows that, at some points in our careers (and life), virtually all of us are leaders. As leaders, we all need to possess some fundamental skills such as strategic thinking, coaching, problem solving and managing change that too frequently are never taught at middle-management levels.

A brand leadership culture results in leadership status earned by doing, not by a hierarchical title. This means that your most effective leader may be the one serving your customers right now. It also means the process of training leaders needs to push further down into the organization than it typically does today. But take the challenge, think about leadership differently, and significant organizational benefits will be quick to surface at every level.

Defining branded leadership

So, what does it take to engender branded leadership? It begins with re-defining what it means to lead - and sharing that definition throughout the organization.