The Employer Branding Ecosystem

Employer branding has always been important. It’s just that more companies are investing in employer branding these days, not only by choice to stay ahead of their competitors, but most often because external market factors are making it more competitive to attract and retain the right talent at the right time. Around the world most industries are facing some kind of talent shortage, some more than others such as IT, engineering and construction.

The current workforce climate is in a state of flux. There is a growing polarization of labour-market opportunities between high- and low-skill jobs, unemployment and underemployment especially among young people, and stagnating incomes for a large proportion of households and income inequality. Migration and its effects on jobs has become a sensitive political issue in many countries.

Combine this with the growth of the global freelancer market and more online channels for companies to share their stories and for candidates and employees to comment about their experiences, we now have a competitive landscape for talent we have never experienced before.

If companies think it is hard to find the best talent now, the next three years is going to get really tough as the economic outlook in many countries is the best it has been since 2008.

As a result companies are set to increase their recruiting forecasts and candidates are much wiser now due to the growth of social media where they can check out what it’s like to work at a company at the click of a mouse.

Employer branding, like all business functions, competes for resource demands from inside and outside the organisation.

The first step for companies in developing an employer brand strategy is to recognise that employer branding is not a HR, marketing or communications function, employer branding is a business function.

In 2009 I developed The Employer Branding Ecosystem Model to support leaders in having a discussion with their Executive about the strategic value employer branding can have on an organisation's success.

The model can be used to identify and adapt to the key elements of systemic change in the world at work. I have now updated the model to reflect the scope of these changes (see figure 1).

Over the past 8 years the model has been our compass for developing senior leader training courses at the Employer Branding College and for the evolution of the annual World Employer Branding Day event that brings together key players in the industry annually from around the world to advance best practice. The 2018 will be held in Prague 25-27 April 2018.

Figure 1: The Employer Branding Ecosystem V2

(click on image to download in pdf)

Want to learn more about how to apply the model in the workplace and the background behind each element?

We invite you to join us at one of our Upcoming Online Employer Brand Leadership Certification Courses for individuals, teams or organisations.

Full details can be found HERE>