I was genuinely humbled to be asked earlier this month to speak at the Kiev Employer Branding Conference. It was a hugely impressive event, well organised, with sizeable audiences and some fascinating speakers, including the Ukraine Minister for Education. The venue was polished, the technology far too advanced for me and the hospitality far too tempting. It wasn’t until mid way through the first day that it became clear that the country was still, albeit quietly, at war with Russia.
People were still dying on the frontline, displaced individuals were finding their way homeless to cities such as Kiev, hunger was appalling in some areas and the economy remains in a terrible place. But rather than focus on these woes, the tone and focus of the event was around a country finding its feet, its direction and its voice. There was debate around the new Ukrainian values moving forward, a desire for true independence, a need to train and develop digital and language skills and a plea for openness and integrity. Above all, the sense of positivity and purpose shone through.
I’ve been struck by two other similarly poignant examples of people, moments and issues finding their voice. The world of cricket is slowly coming to terms with the tragic death of talented Australian batsman, Philip Hughes. Hughes was hit by a bouncer, collapsed at the wicket, fell into a coma and never recovered. Cricket can be a snarling, nasty and unforgiving environment in which to ply your trade, particularly at the top levels. This was all put to one side – in all likelihood, on a temporary basis – throughout the cricketing world. Along with genuinely heartfelt sympathies, the cricket world expressed their feelings to Hughes and his family through viral photos of bats and caps, carried by the hashtag #putoutyourbats.
We saw something very similar just this week. The terrible hostage taking of Australians in a Sydney Central Business District cafe, followed by its even more terrible denouement was horrendous to watch unfold. Unlikely though it might appear, however, something hugely positive rose from such a tragedy. With Muslims in Sydney apprehensive about wearing their traditional clothing, fearing an Islamaphobic backlash, something rather wonderful happened.
Rachael Jacobs, a Sydney commuter, noticed a fellow traveller, Muslim woman quietly taking off her hijab as the train approached her station. Understanding the reasons, Jacobs ran up to her with the words, ‘Put it back on, I’ll ride with you’. Subsequently the #illridewithyou hashtag has taken off as a symbol for religious tolerance. As an overarching theme for togetherness, it has created a genuine voice.
Caught up in the Sydney siege was a side story about Uber, the controversial online taxi ordering service. As the hostage situation began to take hold, Sydney business professionals were understandably keen to leave the area at speed. As a result, Uber picked up on the ‘Sydney surge’ – with prices, provoked by a sudden demand, spiking. Social media immediately turned on Uber for apparently taking advantage of the situation and benefiting from this dramatic, demand-fuelled rise in prices. Uber, not deaf to consumer sentiment, responded by offering taxi journeys, within the CBD for free and reimbursing those who had already been charged.
Coincidentally, Uber were also in the news from an employer branding perspective this month. Their particular use of language for some recruitment communications was questioned. And perhaps not without reason. The online job posting that caught the attention used terms such as ‘we prioritise growth at all costs’ and ‘we get down to experimenting’. Strong, uncompromising terms, perhaps unwise given the publicity Uber has attracted – banned in countries including France and the source of London black cab drivers bringing the city to a halt last month.
However, is Uber’s stance and approach wrong? This is an organisation that has experienced huge growth. Their business approach has been aggressive and they have challenged an often cosy status quo. Their business model makes sense and customer feedback has been positive.
How they describe their business and their working reality might not suit everyone, but neither is it designed to do so. It stands out. It makes a statement. It will appeal to some people and not to others. As a piece of employer branding communications, it is doing its job. It is giving Uber a clear, identifiable and distinguishable voice.
And employment markets are making increasing demands on employers’ voices and their ability to express them. If 2014 took many recruiting organisations by surprise, 2015 will only be more challenging. If candidates are getting used to an employment market in which they have choices and options, then employers need to get used to that situation quickly too.
The evidence? It’s all around you. The Association for Professional Staffing Companies in early December suggested that recruiting firms were sitting on 27% more vacancies than a year earlier. According to Manpower, the net balance of large firms seeking to take on staff was +21. A point made clearly by Manpower’s Mark Cahill, ‘More of the UK’s largest employers are planning to take on staff than at any point in the last decade’. And for Robert Walters, 72% of firms seeking to hire professionals cited talent shortages as the biggest recruitment challenge they face – but, at the same time, 63% had no plan as to how to address such a challenge.
It is not so much that such organisations do not possess a voice, more that they do not know how to use and express it in an environment that is increasingly demanding exactly that.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 