Why young talent would die for a job with your brand

Given the current economic upswing, it’s hard enough to find the people you need to fill the vacancies, let alone the most talented. More than ever, it’s more than just a matter of throwing money at potential talent or rising stars who work for the competition.

We went through a similar spell in the nineties, but back then it was possible to get the right people just by holding the job interviews in a BMW showroom rather than your own office. Sitting next to the new company car proved to be a useful incentive: many an applicant was willing to sign with a company on the spot.

But those days are over. For many, and for a long time, having a car of one’s own provided the ultimate sense of freedom: meeting friends, going to work, having your life in your own hands... but not for millennials. They are used to having technology in every facet of their lives to connect with friends and family and to get work done. But there’s even more to it than that.

In today’s world you can forget the BMW trick. It is not that material things don’t matter to young people anymore. But financial rewards seem to have dropped a notch or two on the list of job preferences. So how do you get them to say ‘YES’?

Work is a buyer’s market today

It’s not about just “a” job; it’s about a job for that one special company that ticks all the boxes on their employer brand wish list. To be that company, it is vital to have the best, most attractive Employer Value Proposition (EVP) possible. A lot has been written about this, but let’s dig a little deeper.

A company is a brand, and therefore its EVP must be just as unique, relevant, interesting, clear and appealing. Like a brand, the EVP is a set of values and associations that together form a proposition; in this case not the brand’s, but the company’s as a potential workplace.

In the western world, EVP is a differentiator over and above your unique corporate story and just as crucial a yardstick for people to use when judging your company. After all, in developed markets, you’re the one who is chasing talent – not the other way around, like it is in emerging markets. There, people are after any job they can get as their only means of putting food table and maybe starting a life. For them it’s not just a career; they will fight for any opportunity to get ahead.

Don’t try to be what you’re not

In our part of the world, it is the company that has to prove itself now, by any means necessary. The EVP should be felt, as the corporate story should be felt. It should carry the same values, the same attitude, the same spirit and ambition, the same identity. At best, the EVP is slightly less about the WHY and more about the HOW and WHAT when it comes to communicating job opportunities and the job proposition. It is the hands-on version of the corporate story, transmitted by one person to different people.

I cannot understand how a company whose core corporate story is about trust and thoroughness, for instance, suddenly adopts a different tone of voice – jolly, cool, young, populist – the moment it appears before an audience of students or young professionals. Because of the assumption “young = cool,” so let’s act cool too? Because of the fear of missing out, of being passed over by the young, hip and happening generation? Because of the desire for views and likes?

It’s a mistake. The difference between perception and reality will backfire. Either because of a lot of expensive time-wasting – such as interviewing people who’ve come in for all the wrong reasons – or because of the confusing if not negative experience of the applicants, who will not hesitate to share their disappointment on social media. Even if you were able to trick them into a job, the damage done would be huge: stories about negative experiences can spread faster than ever. Your people represent your brand, your image, your identity. You don’t want the “wrong people” to give your brand a face.

Working on brandship

On closer inspection it is clear that the company as a brand and the company as an employer should obviously share the same story, the same image and the same reputation. Ideally, there shouldn’t be any distance at all between the identity of the company as a brand and the identity of the company as a great place to work.

Yes, it can be hard to connect with today’s young and youngish audiences. The discrepancy between, say, a venerable old firm with a tone of voice and a corporate story to match and the self-serving, individualistic, fun world of the millennial population can be huge. Still, the thing to do here is to be true to yourself as a brand and a company. Use the tone of voice you always use and tell the right part of the story. Because this is the only thing that will give you an opportunity to stand out. Otherwise, you might end up trying to fake “cool” like everybody else.

The EVP can become a stepping-stone between the corporate brand and an honest introduction to the feel of the organisation. Take advantage of millennials’ propensity for prolific online conversation. Mix and mingle, interact, invite and talk about topics that match the interests of both sides. It’s an approach I’ve called brandship, which is more than just passively “being” a brand. I wrote about it in 2016 in the book Game-Ov3r.

Try to give them a good feel for what you are made of, what you stand for, what you are looking for in terms of mission and what kind of people you need to accomplish this. It’s similar to striking up a friendship, although it doesn’t necessarily have to become one. But brandship will do very nicely too.

It is a way of communicating that can help brands build up an interested following for their services or products. There is no reason why it shouldn’t attract interest from exactly the right kind of talented people you hope will want to join your organisation. Especially when you remember that they are attracted by companies that proudly display their commitment to the world.

The commitment for commitment swap

What the new hordes of bright young talent are looking for in a company, first and foremost, is proof of at least some sort of commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the world and to society. Young people want to make an impact, so meaningful work is a very important motivator. Millennials, however, need to understand that changing society requires time and isn’t achievable in an instant. Instant gratification culture does not go well with meaningful work.

The Marketing of Meaning (MoM) is a new development that is making inroads into brand communication. People have started looking at brands and companies for their views and ideas about topics like society, sustainability, integrity, and so on. The Why, How and What behind the providers of products, services and jobs. Their meaning and purpose in life are starting to influence decision-making for consumers as much as for potential employees.

The next generation of future employees is looking beyond the general financial packages, lease cars and company laptops. They want to feel that their commitment to that particular workplace is met by the commitment to do more than just fulfilling commercial goals. It is why they are actively looking at the brand offer underneath the job offer: the WHY of the company. People don’t buy WHAT you do, but WHY you do it.

There is no doubt that any organization that wants to secure its share of the best available talent needs to examine its value proposition very closely. It should make clear to anyone interested in working for the organization the company’s commitment to the future, its ambitions, the possibilities for employee growth, the company culture, its core values, management development plans, and so on.

Employer branding goes beyond HR-branding

We’re well past the days of personnel departments, when junior copywriters learned the trade one ad at a time. HR has established itself as something close to a new science, comprising a mix of psychology, database technology, headhunting and increasingly sophisticated marketing strategies. Many companies allowed HR to tell their own story, or at least deviate from the central corporate story – if there was one.

With the new workforce focusing on less material motives when choosing a career, the core corporate story will have to do the work. This is called storyselling. Attracting, retaining and engaging quality people cannot be left to HR departments alone – it is definitely a corporate issue. The corporate brand will define the employer brand too. The company brand proposition and the employer brand proposition are one and the same in terms of meaning, beliefs, commitment, ambitions, values, attitude and behavior.

Aligning everything with everyone

Employer branding is not a standalone issue; it is fully part of corporate branding, and perhaps it has even become the corporate brand in the western world. The bigger message, the one defining “meaning” and communicating “purpose,” is the colored umbrella today’s employees are looking out for.

The corporate brand is the springboard for the EVP, and they should be aligned. The corporate brand carries the WHY, whereas HR-activities are part of the HOW, and job-propositions and compensation packages are part of the WHAT. The corporate story is defining the reputation of the company from the inside out: it is just as much a guideline for the current workforce as for the best talent in the market.

It is crucial, for example, that people inside the organization be aligned with the mission, vision and ambitions of the company. These are the days of connection. As individual as we are, we still want to be part of a group, a community. A workforce is a community, shaping the company and the story it has to tell.

Corporate story enhancing your employer brand

The corporate story is there to inspire, guide, direct, motivate, connect and align. What happens inside will have its effect outside. Employee stories will always come out on social media; they will show and tell something about the company culture, about how things work there. Potential employees are actively looking at social media accounts of the companies at which they are considering starting or continuing their career. What they read, hear and see there is probably more influential than the “about us” copy on your HR-webpages.

A well-aligned, clear and inspiring corporate story will connect positively with the people inside your organisation. It will help build your reputation as a people brand, prevent a grumbling workforce or re-engage demotivated people. It will motivate people to stay with the company longer, keeping innovative talent inside the walls and eliminating the need to hire costly external stars. It will make your employees brand ambassadors, storytellers.

When working for a company, people want to see the value of their contribution recognized; it is what energizes them, makes them feel wanted and appreciated. It will feed their commitment and they’ll be happy to go the extra mile, be pro-active. It will stimulate them to come forward with innovative ideas and set things in motion that will benefit the company as a whole.

Keeping the best, losing the worst

Right now, there are more vacancies than there are quality people to fill them. Some companies see their growth hampered because they find it difficult to attract the talent they need to achieve their ambitions. This is all the more reason why it is crucial to have a purposeful, meaningful corporate story and the EVP that flows from it.

Not only does this increase your chances of attracting the best people in the market – be it those brilliant students or rising stars at other companies – it will also prevent your own stars from leaving. Living your story inside the company is the best way to strengthen internal brand loyalty.

Better yet, if the story is clear and almost everyone finds it engaging, those that don’t will start to feel like they don’t belong. In most cases these people are already underperforming. They’re the ones who are hard to motivate, prone to grumble and more often than not just going through the motions.

Surrounded by an overwhelmingly bright and generally happy bunch of people, they won’t need much of a push to seek employment elsewhere. They’ll make room for brighter lights to shine, adding to the overall quality and the general impression that, “in this organization, we only work with the best of the best.”

Brand your purpose, not your jobs

Millennials will die to work for your company if they see, feel, hear and smell that you know where you’re going and are committed to doing anything in your power to get there.

Be authentic – purpose is not a marketing concept: it is a true mission in life. If you don’t yet have a clearly defined purpose, delve inside your company and find this common goal, one you believe your products or services can help achieve. Find a corporate dream to share, a conviction that is worth going for. Authenticity is key; if you’re peddling some opportunistic mission, people will discover the truth eventually and your reputation as a brand and as an employer brand will be severely damaged.

Be engaged – make sure the corporate story, this purpose, is shared with your workforce all across the organization. The story outside should start inside. Engage with your people, talk to them and keep talking to them. Tie them into the story, invite them to contribute, let them join in, make them living part of it. Do it right, and they will be your best brand ambassadors.

Be true – even the greatest and most authentic corporate story will suffer if the company is caught out not doing what it says. Think Volkswagen diesel software and you’ll know what I mean. Even if your reputation is so strong that it can survive a drama of this magnitude – even then it will stick, and it will keep generating doubts and criticism. It might mean you’ll have to do more in terms of talent scouting, headhunting and compensation packages. Which may not prove to be enough. The new generation of employees may not be prepared to work for a company willing to cut corners.

Be aligned – for larger companies especially, it is not easy to maintain a high level of consistency in communication. Still, it is essential to keep a grip on all communication and to align the corporate story with all activities for branding purposes. You can’t afford an employer brand to be something different than the corporate brand. The core story is the same; your reputation depends on the consistency with which the story is told for different goals to different target audiences. The messages, whether from marketing, sales, HR or PR, should all weave the same web.

Be one brand – internally and externally, online and offline, you’ll have to be one and the same brand. As much you have a special job to do as an employer brand, you’ll have to do it in a way it builds on what you’re doing to enhance your reputation as a corporate brand. It’s all about 1+1=3, because people interested in your company for their career are the same as people who are interested in your products or services. They will always look at your brand as a whole. Define a tone of voice and anchor it inside your organization. Evaluate all visible communication on a regular basis and keep an eye out for any deviation. Be one brand, corporate as well as HR, marketing, sales and PR.

Erik Saelens is founder & executive strategic director of Belgium's Brandhome group