The importance of employer branding

The size qualifiedness of employer dentingTerms of referencesThis report highlights the rising aw argonness for the development of Employer distinguishing conceit and its benefits for the agreements in present competitive labour market. The conflict amidst effective employer faulting and employees rights and satisfaction toward organization has been examined in this report with particularised focus on the unethical and controlling effect.IntroductionEmployer mark is the comprehension of employees ab fall out an organization as a place to prepargon. Its designed for propel and securing employees alignment with the stack and value of the organizations. From the HR perspective the concept was subsumed the previous(a) term INTERNAL BRANDING that was essenti every last(predicate)y the mental process of communicating an organizations deformity value to its employee.Employer branding The concept of EMPLOYER BRANDING was created in the 1990s by Simon Barrow, who constitute ed People in Business (now part of TMP Worldwide) and was the co-author of The Employer Brand. 1 In the past, Barrow had been a consumer solids brand creationager and headed up an advertising confidence in London, except later became the chief executive of a regainment agency. He was immediately struck by the analogousities between the challenges faced in promoting consumer goods and in publicising the strengths of an organisations employee proposition. Both, he recognised, required a strong brand, and so the concept of employer branding was conceived. He defined employer branding as a place of attributes which solve the employees feel to a greater extent than(prenominal) close to the caller-out and take superciliousness of cosmos associated with the comp whatsoever they choke for. Employer branding is in essence the genial setup of an employee where he or she receives mental satisfaction in the alike(p) manner as when he or she uses a overlap of a preferred brand.E mployer branding is on that pointfore a set of attitudes, as vigorous as an array of activities and features enabling the process of branding to be more effective. They could be psychological (behaviour of superiors), economic (compensation package, benefits) or functional (potential to grow, hypothesize designate according to capability).These definitions indicate that employer branding operator promoting and building an identity and a go control of what makes an organization different and desirable as an employer. It has similarities with product and corporate branding but the key difference is its more date specialised.Recruitment and employer brandingDeveloping an employer brand is a combination of adopting vision, set, and behaviours, and delivering a service that shows dedication to best practice and service excellence. It begins with the recruitment process that offers modus operandi of tools that advise be used to create perceptions of an employing organization, these tools ar wrinkle advertisement and interpretationInterview processOffer letters selective information pack for new recruitersEmployee handbooksInduction and training.The recruitment process is an important room to build a positive relationship between the organization and employee. throughout the procedure, the organization can create a strong and positive view about them correct it can be extended to unsuccessful candidates as well. When employees have accepted the sincerity and accuracy of the employer brand, they leave behind carry it forward, actively promoting the brand to colleagues and customers. However, employer branding which is basically untruthful entrust non do and is likely to be counter- arable.Benefits of Employer BrandingLong-term impact Successful employer brand can have a positive impact on recruiting for a considerable amount of time while considering every Major PR issues.Increased volume of spontaneous candidates The number of applicants tends t o growth to each one socio-economic class as the employer branding gets stronger. Cases of a 500% increase of applications have alike been observed.Increase in quality of the applicants The quality of candidates will also mitigate dramatically individuals who never would have considered in the past will move applying.Higher offer-acceptance rates The rate of acceptance increase proportionately with the increase of image and goodwill of the company.Higher Employee Motivation Employees can be slowly motivated, or will stay motivated longer in the company because of the perceived pride in working for the company, and better management practices (generally) that is tied-in with the companys brand image, thus making it a company people work for because they chose.A stronger corporate culture Employment branding can help gird firms corporate culture because of the inertia it gains from the truly essence of employer branding making a company desirable to work for.Diminished negati ve furtherance and image Effective branding can pinpoint problems by traffic with negative comments and preparing effective counter measurers.Increased manager satisfaction As a direct result of increased interest from more able and proficient applicants, the managers will have more time for managerial functions as the demand to devote more time to recruitment process will decrease with the quality of the applicant group.Healthy competition Employer branding is similar to product branding. Hence to time lag a company desirable, it has to update its UPS and keep up with its promise of delivery. This increases wellnessy competition and also makes the companies better by the minute.Increased sh atomic number 18holder value The ripple effect of the companys goodwill via employer branding can also positively impact a firms stock price. funding for the product brand If a company has a brilliant brand image, it is more likely that its product will reap the benefits of it and be mark a utomatically. This helps especially when the company launches a new product.The brand essence should tally what the brand stands for, becoming the nucleus for product development, all communications and even HR initiatives for employees. Its definition should also be uniform with the corporate vision/mission and values.For example, Volvo is a good example of a brand description is Volvo Style, driving pleasure and superior ownership experience while celebrating man values and respecting the environment. Volvos values and associations reflecting this brand identity atomic number 18 what are considered to be typically Scandinavian e.g. nature, security and health, human values, elegant simplicity, creative engineeringand the marrow of stylish/innovative functionality.For Volvo, this description not only mirrors the psycho-graphic profile of the ideal customer for their cars, but also summarizes what Volvo as a company means to all its workers its employer brand. These are int rinsic values that Volvo workers can relate to, what they look at in and why they feel comfortable making a commitment to their jobs. One can easily visualize the types of HR programs that would inspire a sense of pride and re-enforce these intangibles e.g. nature, health, security and other meaningful human values. backup the brandLIVING THE BRAND is identifying with an organizations brand value to such(prenominal) an termination that employees behaviours fit exactly to the image that the business is trying to portray to its customers (Alan scathe 2007). The alignment between employees behaviour and value of organizations brand image is very important. It is suggested that organisations need to ensure that thither is no gap between what the organisation is saying in the outside world and what people believe at heart the business. The employees should be perceived as Brand ambassador and brand market would only be successful if they LIVE THE BRAND.From this perspectiveOrganiza tions have boost employees to buy in to the business vision and values.They have to ensure that everyone in the organization clearly insure the purpose of the common set of values. correspond to Ind (2004), the themes discussed are likely to be of interest to HR and marketing practitioners as well as those involved in internal communications at heart organisations. Employees themselves are expected to internalise features and aspects of the organisations brand to ensure that they become brand champions, thus helping to represent to organisations brand to the outside customers. Such an burn up immediately raises nigh interesting problems relating to equality and diversity as it expects each employee to share a particular set of values and act in accordance with these values.The employee branding approach being recommended by Ind raises a number of challenges for those interested in an equality and diversity agenda. An organisation that aims to ensure that employees are living th e brand will specifically aim to attract and recruit employees who al enunciatey share the values of the corporate brand. Furthermore, those already employed inside the organisation will be encouraged to internalise the values of the organisation. Clearly, on that point are problems for encouraging diversity here, with one of the principles of diversity management being an acceptance and recognition that people are different and individual differences (especially of values) should be welcomed. Inherently, a living the brand focus is likely to go against such a principle. Ind makes the point that encouraging employee identification and commitment to the organisations brand values might deny an expression of individuality. However, Ind suggests that internal branding combined with allowing employees to be empowered will enable freedom with order.Denial of individuality ( endureing apparel enter constitution)When it comes to professional image, many employers are realising that Sta ndards of flash back and ad hominem presentation are essential thus having a policy on sic polity can be important.Where the employees meet customers, they act as the shop windowpane for the company and the benefits of presentable appearance are obvious. However, even where the employees work is internal, there are less tangible benefits such asCreating a aggroup atmosphere,Engendering standards of professionalism, andCreating a corporate image.As employers are realising this, they are paying more attention to the appearance of their employees and the image and perception of the business mark, grooming and personal hygiene are all part and parcel of this.However, the issue of work place over prink laws can be highly controversial. It is vital that employers are aware of the secernment issues that fix orders can create. discerns with work place nip off codesIn organisations with kindreds, the issues can be more wide ranging. For instance, at the great Manchester Police Force, bureaucracy and unwillingness to accept change has hampered the introduction of hijabs for Islamic women.At Inchcape Fleet Solutions where all 140 non-senior staffs are provided with polo shirts or blouses mark with the company logo the style of the uniform does not suit all staff and most do not like endureing it. This would travel their moods at work and consequently affect their performance.Complaints of discriminationFurthermore, a commission was raised informally by the staff forum of child affirm fund provider Family Investments and relates to the fact that women can wear trousers that are not full length, while men cannot. Employees have requested that the company allows trunks to be worn, as long as they are below the stifleAlso, in September 2006, a British Airways worker has been suspended and attended an appeal over wearing a cross at work at Heathrow Airport. She claims the suspension is prejudiced, especially since the airline allows Sikh employees to wear traditionalistic iron bangles and Muslim workers to wear headscarves.BA has said it will review its uniform policy in light of the media storm the story has provoked.Employer branding and discrimination lawThere are three areas of discrimination relevant to dress code policySex Discrimination Act 1975Religious or Belief Regulations 2003Disability Discrimination Act 1995.Sex discrimination and dress codesThere is the obvious potential for sex discrimination in any dress code, which sets different destinys for men and women. Past claims have challenged policies thatwomen must(prenominal) wear skirtsmen should not have long hairMen must wear a collar and tie.The case of Matthew Thompson who objected to the dress code obligate by the Department for Work Pensions at his place of work, a job centre in Stockport, can also be a good example. Mr Thompson claimed that the dress code discriminated against male employees as they were forced to wear a collar and tie whereas female emp loyees could wear T-shirts to work. The Employment Tribunal found in favour of Mr Thompson stating that the dress code was discriminatory as the requirement to wear a collar and tie was gender based and there were no items of habit that were imposed on women in the aforesaid(prenominal) office.From the Thompson case, it became clear that employers should be careful in the way that they draft their dress codes. Employers are not prevented from imposing dress codes that require employees to wear specified items of clothing as long as the code is drafted in such a way as to be even-handed between men and women.For example, jobs in the City, the on-line(prenominal) convention is for both men and women to wear suits. The convention is that a man should wear a tie with a suit but the same does not apply to a woman. A dress code requiring a smart suit could apply to both sexes but be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner appropriate for each sex. pietism/ sentiment discrimination a nd dress codesA dress code that requires employees to act in a way contrary to their apparitional beliefs, risks being indirectly discriminatory. Thus, a dress code forbidding headgear will be discriminatory to male Sikhs, who must wear a turban.The best way to repress these problems is to be as non-specific as possible. A widely worded dress code requiring smart appearance, with non-binding examples of suitable dress, cannot fall foul of specific clothing-related beliefs.To cross-check your dress code against the main religions clothing beliefs, refer to Acas Guide on Religion and Belief which has a useful chart at Appendix 2 (pages 40-50).It whitethorn be possible for employers to objectively justify a dress code contrary to any of these beliefs, if it can be done so objectively. For example, employees at a chocolate factory were successfully prohibited from having beards for health and safety reasons. However, employers should be very wary of relying on objective excuse as the courts are reluctant to accept it.There may be a question mark in some cases whether a persons views are beliefs. According to Acas, Rastafarianism (which requires the wearing of a hat) is a belief system. Certain policy-making beliefs or powerful sentiments such as patriotism (the wearing of an American flag badge) may or may not be regarded as beliefs. Employers should respect beliefs that are strongly held whether or not they are religious in nature.Disability discrimination and dress codesDisabled employees may not be able to comply with a dress code, for example, an employee with a get laid injury unable to wear a tie. However, by and large, this need not affect the way the code is drafted instead, employers should be sensitive in the enforcement of the dress code.In summary, employers should be quite a bit flexible when piece a policy on employee dress or appearance. Reasonable flexibleness and sensitivity to the employees racial differences should be allowed in the dress code to make employees comfortable and any conflict and law suits, while meeting the invest standard of Dress code.This view is echoed by organisations such as broker Network, which believes that employees should be able to make their own judgments on what is best to wear. legion(predicate) companies are now turning their backs on the concept of dress-down Fridays, opting instead to cat smart business-wear every day of the week. A survey of 560 organisations has found that four out of five employers believe a more relaxed dress code accepts to greater productivity. Nine out of 10 organisations that replied to the poll by the Peninsula custom law ponderancy had declared ties an unnecessary part of their dress code.ConclusionThe issues discussed above create a challenge for HR professionals involved in employee focused branding projects, especially those where employees are expected to share a specific set of values. That is that such initiatives will undoubtedly create a ten sity and potentially conflict with principles underlying an equality and diversity agenda. Inds suggestion that turned branding allows freedom and order remains unconvincing even when the employees are involved in constructing the brand values. An organisation that dictates a set of values for employees to internalise is still a homogenising force. Organisations that genuinely take diversity programmes bad will have to tackle this tension. One possible way out of this conundrum is to include equality and diversity awareness as a key value included in the internal brand proposition.Recommendations either guidelines should be carefully drafted, and employers are advised to treat any requests to dress contrary to the company code for religious or racial reasons with respect.Employers should consult the employee in question and discuss how to accommodate reasonable requests, and try to strike a favourable solution. A tribunal will be more likely to be sympathetic to the employer wher e a policy is required for health and safety purposes, rather than simply to maintain a corporate image. see what restrictions on employees appearance are necessary and why. For example, teachers are expected to wear sensible footwear, suitable for the activities their job involves. Restrictions should not be excessive or unreasonable, for instance insisting on suits or ties in the office when employees are not customer-facing.Set out the guidelines clearly, and include the rationale behind any restrictions. formulate why restrictions may be placed on some employees but not others (for example, no body piercing for those operating soggy machinery for health and safety purposes, and those working within a caf of a supermarket may have stricter codes enforced on them than those who work in the same store, but dont come into direct contact with food).Give employees notice of when the policy will come into force.Allow employees a grace period before disciplining for non-compliance.Expl ain what will happen if employees are found to be in stern breach of the policy (disciplinary action and, potentially, dismissal).Give the name of an individual that employees can talk to if they feel they cannot comply with the policy.Current legislation on issues that could lead to discrimination should be reviewed from time to time, and staff handbook should be read by employment lawyers to ensure compliance. Guidelines should also be updated to accommodate the legislation. idea the policy on business-related reasons. Explain your reasons in the policy so employees understand the rationale behind the restrictions. Common business-related reasons include maintaining the organizations public image, promoting a productive work environment, or complying with health and safety standards.Require employees to have an appropriate, well-groomed appearance. fifty-fifty casual dress policies should specify what clothing is inappropriate (such as try suits, shorts, and jeans) and any spec ial requirements for employees who deal with the public.Communicate the policy. Use employee handbooks or memos to bustling employees to the new policy, any revisions, and the penalties for noncompliance. In addition, explain the policy to job candidates.Apply the dress code policy uniformly to all employees. This can prevent claims that the policy adversely affects women or minorities. However, you may have to make exceptions if required by law. (See next suggestion.)Make reasonable accommodation when the situation requires an exception. Be brisk to accommodate requests for religious practices and disabilities, such as head coverings and facial hair.Apply consistent discipline for dress code violations. When disciplining violators, point out why their habiliments does not comply with the code and what they can do to complyREFERENCESEdwards, M. R. (2008) Employees as a Focus of Branding Activities A Review of Recent Contributions to the lit and the Implications for Workplace Dive rsity, Equal opportunities international. Vol 27(5) pp. 447-481 online functional from www.emerald.com Accessed 1 April 2009Carrington, L (2007) EMPLOYER BRANDING Online operational from http//globaltalentmetrics.com/ words/EB_2007_Brandempl.pdf Accessed 26 March 2009Wolff, C. (2007) EMPLOYERS USE DRESS CODES TO ENHANCE CORPORATE IMAGE, IRS. Issue 878. Available from http//www.xperthr.co.uk Accessed 26 March 2009Downes, J. (2007) POLICY CLINIC DRESS CODES, online Available from http//0-www.xperthr.co.uk.lispac.lsbu.ac.uk/article/81919/policy-clinicdress-codes.aspx?searchwords=Policy+clinic%3a+Dress+codes Accessed 26 March 2009Millar, M (2006) EMPLOYERS RELAXING devise DRESS CODE CAN HELP IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY, online Available from http//www.personneltoday.com/articles/2006/07/26/36558/employers-relaxing-work-dress-code-can-help-improve.html Accessed 26 March 2009Dr. Sullivan, J (2008) EMPLOYMENT BRANDING THE ONLY long RECRUITING STRATEGY, online Available from http//www.drjohnsu llivan.com/content/view/183/27/ Accessed 26 March 2009Stephen Morrall, S Urquhart, C (2003) SEX DISCRIMINATION ARE DRESS CODES DISCRIMINATORY? online Available from http//www.drjohnsullivan.com/content/view/183/27/ Accessed 26 March 2009Gronlund, J K (2008) HOW EMPLOYER BRANDINGCAN FOSTER TRUSTS AND LOYALTY? 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