The matter of Employer Branding for IT companies
This term… Employer Brand… it’s in our heads, for sure. Especially when you’re working as a marketer or HR specialist in an IT company.
That being said… should I begin by stating that the IT industry is very competitive and dynamic? Or should I say that the current academic system in Romania can’t and won’t respond properly to the actual needs of this industry regarding recruitment? Or even better… isn’t it obvious that people are not motivated just by getting a bonus of a few hundred euro to their wage?
You’ll find details about the current state of the HR needs in the Romanian IT industry within the presentation below.
Yeah, I know… we all invest in giving higher wages, better work conditions, “cheesy” events and extra benefits. However, who’s really taking the employer brand into consideration? What makes an employer brand successful in retaining the best employees and attracting the best talent as job candidates?
The dirty secret of the situation is that all those material incentives won’t work… and we’ve all figured it out the hard way. Ultimately, people consider what they can accomplish at a job in order to satisfy their needs as professionals. And, as their basic needs are already being met, their behaviour has changed. Nowadays, they’re searching for the possibilities of growing, of working alongside great people, of setting-up “out-of-this-world” projects that will leave their mark on the whole wide world.
So, the dilemmas that we’ve found throughout our experience in this industry are:
1. Is the outsourcing model (widely spread in the IT industry) on the right track? Will it motivate IT specialists (on Senior level mostly) to take part in it?
This is a tricky one… you’re in a business that still generates high revenues… but you’re overwhelmed by the competition for the human resource. When is the best time to act? And how? Mixing up your efforts with the ones of attracting good marketing and HR specialists might be a good solution, as this is actually the first step for solving my second dilemma that relates to the employer brand
2. How can we become an attractive employer? Specifically, how can we build a strong employer brand?
We have to get away from this never-ending bidding, regarding wages and benefits, and start working on differentiating ourselves through other means. There are a few steps to consider:
- Find the current perceptions of your employer brand. Make sure that you’ve defined the company’s values and culture. And, nevertheless, ask yourself: is the employer brand aligned with the master brand?
- Develop the employer brand throughout the employee lifecycle (because employer branding is not just about recruitment): from the layout and content of your website’s career section, to the interviewing methods and employee exit situations.
- Communicate consistently both externally and internally. And when I mean “consistently”, I just regard the need of having a P.L.A.N. Use differentiation in getting the right messages/ content to your target audience.
- Monitor all the activities related to the employer brand and measure the impact.
Last but not least, all these steps listed above won’t mean anything if the HR and marketing departments won’t find ways of working efficiently together. For sure, both can learn a lot from each other. The fact to consider is that we all have the same mission: a sustainable and flourishing business.
Here, at Loopaa, we’re determined to stand by your side and help you get the results that you need.
To find out more, check out my presentation during the Marketing 4IT event or send us an email anytime.
http://www.slideshare.net/Loopaa/the-crisis-of-the-marketer-in-it
