Confidence.
Is there a less definable, less tangible, more important attribute in human society? I’ve been watching confidence levels within my own house ebb and flow over the last month. My youngest started secondary school just three weeks ago. From being top dogs in their primary school just months ago, suddenly he and his cohorts find themselves at the bottom of the educational hierarchy. With bottom lip twitching, shoes (temporarily) shining and gleaming new protractor safely on board, off he went for his new adventure. Despite a brave outward appearance, his confidence levels were not stellar. However, the last week has brought with it changes. Selection to the rugby squad, football matches, new friends, a mastering of the bus timetable, non-disastrous homework assignments. As a parent, it has been hugely gratifying to see his confidence levels on an upward trajectory.
And is the UK economy starting to experience similar warm and tingly sensations? Inflation is now down to 2.5%, unemployment, to the surprise of many, has come down once again (236,000 new jobs were added in the quarter ending in July) according to the ONS, activity within the service sector rose sharply last month (the index rose from 51 to 53.7 in July). And even John Major has this week been channelling Norman Lamont and his ‘green shoots’ speech of 20 years ago.
It was fascinating and insightful too to see Ian Powell , chairman and senior partner at PWC, suggest that he, his firm and his sector will be working hard ‘to build trust and confidence within British business’. And one of Mr Powell’s key rivals, Deloitte, appear to be demonstrating such confidence and chutzpah in spades. Today saw the announcement that Deloitte was on track to hit its target of 250,000 staff by 2015 – a target that necessitates the hiring of 19,000 people for each of the next three years. The firm’s UK Chief Executive, David Sproul commented that ‘Given continued market uncertainty…it is of the utmost importance that we stay ahead of the curve and develop our professionals.’ Despite the uncertainty to which Mr Sproul alludes, it is clear that Deloitte’s employer brand will be projecting purpose, direction and confidence.
Could the same, however, be said of employer branding itself? I was indebted this week to Brett Minchington, from Employer Brand International, TMP’s employer branding partner, for sending on a fascinating piece of Linked In research. The whitepaper, out earlier this year, and based on a robust survey of over 7,000 participants, suggests that a strong employer brand is twice as likely to be linked to candidate job consideration as a strong organisational brand. For more volume based roles and those outside the US, there is even stronger evidence of the importance of the employer brand in job changing decisions.
This is startling on more than one level. For as long as employer brand has emerged as a discipline in its own right over the course of the last 20 years, the practice (and its practitioners) has tended to be in the thrall of the corporate brand (and, indeed, its practitioners). In terms of ambition, scope and budget, poor relations, country cousins. So not only does this research suggest that an organisation’s employer brand should have more confidence and self belief, the fact that such telling insights have rather humbly sneaked under the radar also points to a sector with self esteem issues.
And the key learnings? For organisations without the luxury of an exemplary institutional brand, recruitment and engagement help, in the shape of a revitalised and re-invigorated employer brand, is at hand. At the same time, only that small handful of organisations with a truly exceptional consumer brand can rest on their laurels, confident in the knowledge that great people will continue to be attracted. (And in my experience, organisations with such brands tend to do very little resting. Laurels optional).
Just as the UK has enjoyed a sizeable shot in the confidence arm from the emphatically successful staging of the Olympics and Paralympics, employer branding, and all its key stakeholders, should adopt a far more confident, decisive and game changing approach to what a great employer brand can and does deliver. It’s time for the sector to stand shoulder to shoulder with colleagues in comms and marketing, rather than remaining a deferential step behind.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 