Written by Carl Freelove, Marketing Manager, Big fish Recruitment

Nurturing, recruiting or retaining talent is as vital to the health of any company or agency as the next breakthrough product or big account win.

However, in an increasingly candidate-led market, where the sheer number of vacancies is outstripping the number of talented candidates, competition for employers to attract and retain the best individuals is becoming one of the biggest challenges in 2008.

The answer lies in effective employee branding – a new management discipline that has been on the rise over the past couple of years.

Whilst many companies spend significant time, money and resources on developing their brand and market presence, the focus on developing the employer brand is often overlooked.

After all good people are great for business but like profitable customers, are free to make choices, to join, to engage, to commit, to stay. Therefore employers should be taking steps to creating an inspirational brand culture, reinforcing brands values and distinguishing the brand through employee engagement strategies.

Only by looking at longer-term strategies around better staff retention, will companies ensure that their best marketing or creative talent stay loyal. As the old adage goes, people join people, so a reputation for treating people well and offering stimulating employment is certain to attract and recruit the best individuals.

Employee brand engagement tips

• During the recruitment phase, every aspect of how prospective candidates are handled should be looked at, from the moment they make contact with the organisation through the selection phases to the subsequent offer or rejection. Making sure that all front line recruiters also understand the employer brand is also essential.
• Living the brand. Ensure that your people's understanding and commitment to delivering your customer brand promises is supported by their own experience of the brand as employees.
• Offer individuals development, training and opportunities for career progression - an essential part of the employee retention equation.
• Invest in top performers. In addition to raising productivity and profit, top performers can help to attract and retain the brightest talent, ahead of your competitors
• Flexibility is crucial in today’s modern workplace. More women in the workforce and more dads caring for their child at home mean that companies wanting to retain key people must be flexible around working arrangements. Try offering the opportunity to work from home or changing working hours.
• Rewards and recognition helps to retain talent, but these should be individually tailored. A weekend away could be a dream reward for a young account manager, but this ‘treat’ could become a logistical nightmare for someone juggling small children and child care.
• Recognition should continually change if it is to be fresh and meaningful for employees and it should not be generic, but instead address directly the work that has been undertaken and the goals achieved.

One thing to remember is that great marketers, creatives or PR’s tend to be ambitious people who need career succession planning with room to grow and develop. Good talent will have a real desire to do work that is valued; they will want to work in an stimulating environment that lifts their spirits; they want to be proud of themselves and have a boss they admire and emulate. This is the real secret of employee retention.

For more guidance on how to put employer branding into practice, please visit http://www.cipd.co.uk/research/_empbranding.htm

Until next time, best wishes

Carl Freelove
Marketing Manager