All day today, talent acquisition and HR professionals will gather in New York City for the Employer Branding Conference. From social media and candidate experience to employee value propositions (EVP) and campus branding, there will be something for everyone. And if you’re not able to make it, don’t fret! You can follow the conversation on Twitter at #EBCON.
Internal Branding and Employee Value Propositions
In preparation for the event, I had the opportunity to chat with Kat Drum, Head of Global Employment Brand and Social Media Strategies at Research In Motion (RIM) about her session this afternoon. Titled “Building Candidate Confidence at Research In Motion During One of Our Most Dynamic and Fast-Paced Years by Keeping Candidates Engaged via Employment Brand, Social and Mobile Strategies,” Drum will focus on really taking employment brand to the next level.
“We’re truly tying it into internal engagement,” she said. “We’re taking that external EVP and bringing it to life internally. Sometimes it’s sold at the front door to candidates, but when they come in, they may never hear about it again. We don’t end it there. We keep it going: pre-hire to retire.”
While Drum said it’s still a work-in-progress at RIM, it’s a huge focus for the organization and especially important because not many others are talking about it.
“Often, they focus on talent communities and candidate experience, which is cool, but I care about more than the front-end piece,” she said.
Employment Brand is About Partnership
One of the biggest roadblocks or pain points when it comes to employment brand is too much focus on ownership. But according to Drum, it’s not about one team owning it – it’s a partnership.
“I have to work internally to make sure the sharing of ideas happens across all business units,” she said. “No one really owns it, but everyone does. It’s our job to form a committee to make sure the change management is there and that we’re living the EVP.”
While some organizations may place less emphasis on the employment brand piece, it really ties in to shareholder value and can impact the bottom line – if done correctly.
“If your employees are engaged, you’ll have better retention. And an engaged workforce plays into shareholder value.”
Image: Beautiful Places to Visit
Author: Autumn McReynolds
Autumn McReynolds is a master of communication, and with two years in the recruiting industry and over five years of experience in journalism and content creation, she was thrilled to take her career in a new direction as a Blogger and Content Strategist focused on talent acquisition in the digital age. In addition to writing, Autumn spends her time managing social media accounts for business and pleasure. Follow her on Twitter @AutumnMcRey.
