Global employer branding trends

Magnet recently held an Employer Branding Workshop that explored an integrated approach to employer branding. The workshop was led by Kenneth Akselsen, Norway Director of Sales and Marketing at a Norwegian Talent Management Software Company; and former Country Manager at Universum in the Netherlands and Norway.

The workshop was attended by delegates from both the public and private sectors and produced a lively discussion throughout.

The talents

Akselsen provided a quick overview of the talents currently coming into the market, contrasting the behaviours of typical Generation X and Generation Y graduates. He pointed out that in the same way that talent is changing in its outlook and expectations, human resources (HR) functions have been evolving to better serve the talent needs of the organisation. The personnel departments of the eighties, which were basically a business function managing payroll and benefits, morphed into what became known as strategic HR.The HR function was increasingly seen as a business partner concerned with recruiting, learning and development, organisational design, total compensation and communications.

Managing the talents

“These days,” he said, “the HR function is centred on the idea of talent management, where business integration is central to the function.”

Akselsen quotedBob Baumann, chairman, GSK, in emphasising that the role of a talent manager is to guide strategic and cultural aspects of the business so that it attracts, retains and motivates the people you need to succeed. “You cannot do that if your primary responsible for the administrative processes of HR.”

This, according to Akselsen, is one of the major challenges ofemployer branding (EB). One of the most important ways of dealing with this challenge, he believes, is to play a meaningful role in the strategic planning of the organisation. He provided some insights into how to do this.

Building an employer brand

When it comes to building a strong employer brand, Akselsen has good advice for employer brand managers: “To be among the attractive employers, one must think along classic brand/marketing lines.”

He also reminded us that a brand is, to quote Meffert (1999), “…the image of a product or service as perceived in the mind of the consumer ….Brand management is therefore brain management.”

Global employer branding trends

Akselsen discussed eight of the most important employer branding trends identified by Magnet’s research conducted among HR professionals around the world.

Trend 1: Employer branding is still a fast-growing discipline

Trend 2: Employer brands serve two purposes: Attraction; and retention and engagement

Trend 3: Marketing has become more involved in employer branding

Trend 4: More companies are building strong employer brands, but they are starting with the action

Trend 5: Organisations are creating expectations that are too high, which increases employee turnover

Trend 6: The need to differentiate when all EVPs are the same

Trend 7: Increased focus on target group insights

Trend 8: Multichannel media solutions

BRICS trends

The workshop ended with a quick look at emerging talent trends in the BRICS countries, chief among them being the growing scarcity of skilled talent.