Saturday finally sees the day when we consign our daughter over to university – be nice to her, Warwick… What I’m struck by is not her sense of fear or apprehension or even entitlement about taking up a university place. There’s not a hint of this simply representing the next, routine, logical step, post GCSEs and A-levels. She is genuinely excited about higher education. And whilst this says a lot about her, it also speaks to the way the university has presented and projected itself in what is a hugely competitive marketplace.
And what can employer branding learn from the sense of confidence and anticipation that this university has managed to capture and convey? For me, two examples, with approximately one hundred years between them, make this case beautifully.
Sir Ernest Shackleton is nearly as famous for his, apparently apocryphal, ad in the Times around 1901 seeking candidates for his Imperial Trans-Antarctica expedition, as for the expedition itself. Spare, concise, honest and open, he manages to convey excitement and his own passion for the project –
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. Sir Ernest Shackleton 4 Burlington Street”
You may question his call to action and his gender inclusivity, however the sense of anticipation he created saw him inundated with interest. If not, ultimately, luck.
A unique moment in time, something never to be repeated? I’m not so sure. This month saw a high profile update on the Dutch-led Mars One initiative. The expedition aims to create a permanent colony of settlers on Mars by 2023. Whilst undoubtedly an incomparable opportunity, the project comes with an important proviso – your ticket is one-way. A truly and literally once in a lifetime opportunity. And whilst the expedition offers much in the way of training, development and profile, it seems unlikely to enhance your CV for future opportunities elsewhere. The return, if you like, of the job for life? When you factor in that applicants have to pony up between $5 and $75 for the privilege of simply being a candidate, it seems like a tough sell.
Not a word of it. The deadline for application came at the end of August and no fewer than 202,000 individuals had put their hat in the ring. And if the organisers demonstrated a little more diversity awareness than Sir Ernest, they were equally successful in generating passion, excitement and anticipation –
“You must be at least 18 years of age, have a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self reflection and ability to trust”
And for me, this represents a key learning for employer branding practitioners. The last four-five years have been bruising for the sector. The employer brand has largely been a defensive term – it is couched typically as a tool in the war for talent. The focus, in many organisations can be on retaining and not losing talent rather than – with the aid of a great employer brand – growing and developing it. As the economy continues its journey out of hibernation, the employer brand, in many cases, remains on the back foot, wary, apprehensive and lacking in confidence, avoiding risk, confrontation and differentiation. It remains apparently intimidated by and in the thrall of its more confident and better-off consumer brand cousin.
It’s hard to imagine an employer brand managed by Sir Ernest demonstrating timidity and confidence issues.
Another hugely indicative example of when a brand loses its lustre, loses the sense of excitement and aspiration that has seen it succeed? The continued plight of Blackberry seems to sum up this and more. This week saw the organisation announce plans to cull 4,500 jobs worldwide or 40% of its employee base. This in the light of the organisation announcing second quarter losses of $995m. Where once, the brand conveyed technological excitement, it has seen its lunch eaten by the likes of Apply and Samsung. Given the downward spiral it now faces – unlikely to attract the talent it needs to turn itself around – Blackberry’s best option appears to be a trade sale.
If a browbeaten employer brand has, until very recently, been in keeping with the bruised, low/negative growth times, this is fast ceasing to be the case. Market announced today that UK job security had risen two points to 46.8 in September – its highest levels since the survey began in February 2009. People now feel more confident in their employment situation than they have at any point in the last four years.
If organisations then are not creating excitement, passion and real anticipation through their employer brands, they may well find themselves losing out to competitors who are making a better job of this. Tomorrow looks a whole lot more positive than the last four years – employees are waking up to this, and employers need to follow suit.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 
What a nice piece of narrative, and I think Neil has really caught the sense of the time.
The growing optimism is manifesting itself in the growing use of the newest media mediums. More organisations are now investigating the various digital ans SoMe platforms now out there to help them convey their 'story'/employment brand. This can be seen in the number of organisations who are investing in apps to improve their use of Facebook and other platforms. The biggest growth seems to be seen in the use of video. Once only to be seen to be used by just large organisations with large branding budgets, the reduction of the cost barrier and the expectation of the target audience has seen video quickly becoming as common an option as the lineage advertisement of Sir Ernest Shackleton's day.
If you are working in an organisation that shares Neil's optimism of the current recruitment climate and are interested to learn more about how to use social media platforms and services to maximize your employer brand story then you need to book yourself a place at the Graduate Recruitment Social Media Conference in January, in London. (http://somegradawards.eventbrite.com/)
The conference will be full of case studies from various organisations looking to share their use of various platforms and services. The key session is looking at the 'Use of Video in Graduate Recruitment' and Casual Films will be running a very interesting session entitled – 'Why 90% of graduate recruitment videos don't work!'
As Neil suggests 'Tomorrow looks a whole lot more positive that the last four years.'
Now is the time for employers to grasp the nettle and look to enter the war for talent by exploring these new roads to market.
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I read this, nodding along in agreement. It's exactly why we're evolving our Employer Brand.
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