Building the brand

There is a saying: “Perception is reality”. When it comes to companies promoting their brands, this could not be truer. According to a global survey by Employer Branding International (EBI), companies that invested in developing their employer brands experienced greater ease in attracting candidates and an increase in employee engagement. Some 38% of companies stated that these are the main benefits of employer brand strategies.

Organisations in Singapore affirm that developing and building their employer brands have helped them attract the best talent as well as retain them. Koh Ying Ying, Director of Talent Resourcing, Asia-Australasia & HR Business Partner, South East and South West Asia for Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) says that especially in the services industry, “employer branding is key for us to attract and retain the best talent”.

Employers also stress that organisations need to understand how vital it is to build their reputation from within such as by delivering on the promises given to their employees.

Building the blocks

Organisations that want to build brand recognition should start by identifying their branding objectives as well as ensuring that effort and time goes into marketing them internally and externally.

Melanie Hirst, Vice President, People Engagement & Marketing for Deutsche Bank AG, Asia-Pacific head office, states that, “branding is the actual act of shaping and influencing people’s perceptions of your brand.” In order to do this, she says that the Bank has a dedicated global team, called the People Engagement & Marketing team (PEM) to promote employer branding.

The team’s main responsibility is to “develop, manage and market our EVP internally and externally and to liaise with HR product owners, brand, communications and the business to ensure we deliver on our deal,” she says.

Similarly, two other well-known organisations, 3M Singapore and IHG have been putting the word out there about their brands. 3M Singapore is an advocate for outreach programmes, says Joy Roman, head of HR for the company. She states that it has reached more than 2,000 students through the Science Outreach programmes and more than 2,000 people with innovation talks. Most importantly, 3M Singapore found that there was a 95% satisfaction rating from these programmes.

Also, one of the more interesting and beneficial details of 3M Singapore’s outreach programmes is that they are led by employees on a volunteer basis. “One of the greatest compliments an employer can receive is when their employees are so enthusiastic about their company and job that they are moved to share this with others,” she explains.

3M Singapore also ensures that it receives brand recognition by participating in outside events. It signed up for the Fair Employment Pledge at the start of the year. This is a declaration by organisations in Singapore to state that they believe in fair employment practices.

The organisation’s HR implements the brand objectives that are made by the brand globally, but one way of ensuring that they are upheld, Roman says, is that 3M Singapore looks to hire individuals “who are excited by this brand promise and then continually foster the culture.”

Promoting the organisation’s brand starts from within, and IHG has embraced this. It uses numerous methods to develop its employees in order to engage them. Koh of IHG states that the organisation knows that it is important to align their internal branding with external branding.

Koh says that IHG would like to be one of the “world’s great companies and have employees who feel proud and committed to our brands.” As such, IHG ensures that it pays attention to its people’s needs, and this starts by creating an environment where employees are recognised for their work as well as given opportunities to grow.

The hotel group’s HR has developed the ‘Room to be Yourself’ programme, under which employees have four different development and progression plans: ‘Room to have a Great Start’ ensures that IHG employees have the tools they need to start their career; ‘Room to be involved’ allows for feedback and two-way communication between management and employees; ‘Room to grow’ gives opportunities for employees to progress in their career such as training and secondment opportunities; and ‘Room for you’ consists of rewards and recognition of employee contributions.

To market the brand externally, IHG’s HR partners with key stakeholders such as schools to promote the brand, which include tie-ups with them in order for students to embark on careers with the hotels under the group. Koh adds that it uses technology such as social media and recruiting platforms to attract talent. The hotel group also ensures that it gets industry recognition through participation in industry seminars as well as awards.

All due to the name

Promoting employer branding has benefited tremendously say organisations. Roman states that employer branding efforts by 3M Singapore has helped increase the awareness of the 3M brand on the island by over 20% within a year. This is good from a talent perspective, she says. “Talent wants to work for organisations that they know to be strong.” She believes the brand is also well-received in recruiting events and career fairs. In fact, 3M Singapore is number three in the Employer of Choice in JobsCentral Employer of Choice Survey conducted this year.

Roman states that in Singapore, where the unemployment rate is around 2%, it is important for a company to appear more attractive than its competitors and “the work that 3M has done on employment branding has been very beneficial to us.”

Experts point out that ultimately, it is essential for companies not only to market their brand but also to deliver on the objectives to their employees. “Base your EVP on research, promise what you can deliver, and deliver what you promise, and you will drive marked improvements at every stage of the employment lifecycle,” concludes Hirst.