Two delightful stories, doing the rounds currently, illustrate the importance not so much of the brand, rather of how brand owners can drive engagement activity with and through their brands. This applies as much to organisational brands as it does to employer branding.
The West Coast mainline tendering process has been described as many things, few of them hugely positive and even fewer likely to enhance anyone’s brand values. First Group, initially awarded the franchise, only to see that decision subsequently reversed, have had millions wiped off their share value; Virgin’s business will have suffered significant disruption and the Department for Transport (DfT) will still be cringing in the face of universal criticism. However, out of this carnage comes the story of Bigjigs – no, I’d never heard of them either – maker of wooden toys, particularly toy trains. With an eye to PR rather than diversifying their business, Bigjigs put in a bid late last year to take over the West Coast rail franchise. Getting the decision right on this occasion, the DfT rejected their bid. However, rather than doing this in true po-faced, grey mandarin style, the Department responded with wit and personality suggesting they could not award Bigjigs the franchise because ‘While perfect for the in-home market, toy wooden carriages are unlikely to meet modern crashworthiness standards for operation on the heavy rail network.’ Whatever my misgiving about the DfT, brand engagement along these lines can only enhance their standing and I’m more likely to give them the benefit of reputational doubt in the future.
And this month saw a similar story from the US. What was the White House’s response to a petition signed by no less than 35,000 recommending the construction of a (Star Wars-like) Death Star as part of the country’s defence priorities? Churlish, stony silence? Covert threats? Not a word of it. A comprehensive response was issued from the Office of Management and Budget suggesting that the Death Star was probably not their defence option of choice. Firstly, a cost of $850,000,000,000,000,000 was going to be a stretch. Secondly, the US government was not condoning the blowing up of planets. And thirdly, why would they spend so much on something with a fundamental flaw which could be exploited by a one-man starship (I think you have to know something about the Star Wars movies to truly pick that one up). However, and regardless of your level of geekiness, a lovely, specific and thoughtful response to something the US government could easily have ignored. Instead, reaching out in this way, engaging with its audiences, they seem in-touch, relevant, human and real.
But can this be applied to the employer branding space?
There was a fascinating story from the Police this week. The number of young officers – in this case, those aged under 26 – has fallen by around 50% in just two years. In 2009-10, there were just over 9,000 across the country, but by 2011-12, that number had fallen to 4,700. The reasons behind this are very straightforward. Because of the Comprehensive Spending Review, there has been an effective recruitment freeze for police officers and this has understandably impacted at the younger end of the spectrum, as individuals aged 26 and younger would form the majority of those that would have been hired over the last two-three years, had UK finances been in a rosier state. The employee make up, and therefore the employer brand of the force, has changed – in terms of age, the police are less able to reflect the communities they serve. This is particularly the case for younger people who typically comprise the majority of both victims and perpetrators of crime. If the police are increasingly less able to reach out and engage with these audiences, then their effectiveness will decline. Good news for very few of us.
However, if you want an insight into probably the most high profile example of employer brand reach out and engagement, look no further than Facebook’s Graph Search. How it really works and how to get the most out of it have yet to be genuinely clarified. However, it has all the makings of a game-changer. This is from Lars Rasmussen, co-creator of Graph Search – ‘Suppose I want a job at Pinterest and I want someone to introduce me there. I can simply search for my friends who are friends with Pinterest employees’. The opportunities for employer brand reach-out (as well as referrals) seem vast.
Therefore, it’s not enough to have a logically, authentically, aspirationally crafted employer brand (it’s not a bad thing, admittedly, if you do), increasingly, brands need the oxygen of engagement. They need to work hard and work imaginatively to reach their audiences. The two examples of the DfT and the US government demonstrate how brands can challenge received wisdom about organisations. The police, however, have a major and worsening challenge – they need to reach out and engage with their communities despite demographics working increasingly against them. For employers, though, opportunities through emerging technologies, such as Graph Search, mean that great employer brands can touch great talent pools by approaching engagement with imagination, wit and personality.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 