Welcome to the fourth of Comparably’s five-part series on employer brand. Today we’re talking about new employer brand ideas for 2020, and it’s impossible to not bring up the Covid-19 crisis at this point. Organizations of every stripe are truly roiling in the cauldron of change as this is being written, and how we all will emerge from this situation in a month or a year is a story that hasn’t been written yet.
By this point every company in the US has been forced to pivot in some untested directions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and that means employer brands across the spectrum are in flux. An unmanaged employer brand will surely flail in the weeks and months to come, but smart companies are being given an opportunity right now to clarify their messages going forward. Below is some of the best advice we’ve heard on how to manage and further foster employer brand in the face of this uncertainty. Overall, the message is of a need for even sharper focus on people as well as a renewed appreciation for transparency across-the-board.
You’ll have to start telling a new story – All companies have a story to tell to new candidates, and some are so timeworn they begin to creak like legends. Regardless, your story has just changed – everyone has a new story now about how they reacted when society changed radically over a few short weeks. In the future, every organization will have to expect to be asked how they responded to Covid-19, and job candidates will weigh those crisis actions heavily when considering where to nest for the next stretch of their career. This is a crystal-clear opportunity – no matter how unfortunate the reason why – to hone the narrative you want to present to the world regarding how it is to work for your organization.
Let your employees be the voice of your company – Increasingly, the American workplace is filled with people who are adept at using the internet to make sure their voice is heard, so there’s no more keeping a bad company culture a secret by brushing under the rug. So let’s assume, because it’s 2020, that you’re already taking advantage of the benefit of the strong bond between employer and employee when a good culture is in place. There is no better “voice” for your company out there in the world than of your own satisfied employees. It’s very hard to fake the kind of glow one gives off when their job is something they actually enjoy doing. Let them tell their stories.
Remote work is now an option for many, many more people – Now that so much of this country’s professional workforce has experienced the transition to remote work, it will be hard going forward to reinforce the notion of rigid, in-office work hours as inherently necessary for an organization’s success. Especially if your team has performed well during this time. If more remote work is in the future for your employees, trust will have to become an even stronger factor between managers and workers. Workplace models change, but that doesn’t mean that values have to change with them.
Companies are looking inward – “Less is more” is the order of the day for most organizations in the country right now. With so much in flux, employer brands have the chance to get hazier or to come into sharper focus. Now is the time to look inward at a company’s policies and operations, and to deepen commitments to employees and to values. Be doubly mindful of all messaging as the economy rides out this storm.
Add value for your employees now – When companies look inward, the first thing they should see is their employees. Focus on adding value for your employees now, especially if you’re expending less energy on casting a net for new staff. We’re all a little raw at the moment, maybe even starting to feel a bit numb, so now is when every member of every organization needs to treat each other with the complex thoughtfulness we reserve for our families and closest friends.
Lean on thoughtfully-timed internal feedback requests – When the time is right, take advantage of internal feedback requests. Get your staff talking honestly about what is making them glad to be at work and what is making them question their choice. That’s the first step in addressing any sore points. But make sure your employees see the positive results of the time they’ve taken to share their feedback, and that you’ve taken them seriously.
Pay attention to 3rd-party reviews – Third-party review sites like Comparably and Glassdoor are an important repository for data when it comes to getting a real-time sense of the morale among a company’s workforce. In the case of painting a true picture of a culture, volume really matters here. That said, be sensitive about when and how you ask employees to leave third-party reviews, as such requests can easily put people on the defensive.
There may be a trend towards negative sentiment in the immediate future – The simplest way to say it is that until many people return to whatever sense of security they had before Covid-19 struck, their potential for taking out their bad mood on their employer is at least something to consider. Employers, try as they might, cannot tend to their employees’ entire lives, and just about everyone’s entire life is in turmoil right now on some fundamental level.
Culture is more important when times are heard – So are credos, mottos, and values, and anything else that is utterly intangible and also of utmost importance. Times like this, all that culture work organizations have done in the past will be road-tested and road-tested hard. So no matter where you stood a year ago, mean what you say right now when it comes to internal values.
Let employees know when something is changing thanks to them – Employee grievances will likely never be 100% addressed by any organization anywhere. That’s just part of human nature and our society. But when you do get the opportunity to change a policy because of employee feedback, make sure your workforce knows about it. It all boils down to the importance of transparency now, truly more than ever.
We’re not going to factor ourselves into these pieces, but if you’d like to learn more about us please visit Comparably to learn more about the company and the tools we offer.
This article is the fourth part of a 5-part series on employer branding. The other parts of this series are available here: I: Employer Brand Definition, Strategy, & Benefits. II: 12 Examples of Great Employer Brands III: The Best Employer Branding Software Solutions. V: Employer Brand Vs. Recruitment Marketing
