Employer brands - when one doesn't quite seem enough

We get it. You’re a big organisation - and you cover lots of sectors. How can one brand cater for all?

Picture this, you’ve been cryogenically frozen for 20 years (just go with it). You come round, check your calendar, then quickly realise you need to be on social media (god you’re perceptive). So, someone sits you at a computer, points you in the right direction, and you see about setting up your profiles.

You start with Facebook. You take a couple of pics, then stick up a lovely shot of your thawing reddish face, doing a high five. It feels very you, nice and natural.

Then you move to Twitter. You go with an ice cube for your main pic, poking fun at your current scenario. You give yourself a playful description “Out of touch. Can come across as cold. Looking amazingly good for my age.”

Then you turn to LinkedIn. You find a picture of you in a suit, stick it on a coloured background - don’t we all love that - before writing up a professional account of your work, and attempting to gloss over the 20-year gap.

Each platform paints a slightly different picture of you. But here’s the thing – they’re still all you.

personality

You can’t capture your entire personality in a 30 second read. People probably won’t know you fully until spending months around you, maybe even longer. We’re complex creatures and very adaptable to each situation.

You’re doing a webinar – you dial up your personality.

You’re at a funeral – you dial it all down.

You’re meeting your partner’s parents – you are the best god damn version of yourself ever.

The same is true of you as an employer. There is a depth to what makes you unique. Yes, you can create succinct ways to capture that, but they are backed up with a wealth of evidence. And you can draw on that as you need for different scenarios, to give people a window into who you are.

Horses for courses

Nope, I won’t fall into another analogy, or more metaphors. But I will say that it’s important to think about your scenario, whenever you’re applying your employer brand – by that I mean your audience and objectives.

Ask yourself:

1. Who is this aimed at?

2. What am I trying to achieve?

Those two simple questions will guide you.

Trying to engage young tech talent? – Draw out the cutting-edge stuff you do, the awesome tools at your disposal and let your fun side shine through.

Looking for a new CSR director? – Talk about the sustainable vision you have and share the supportive culture that will help bring it all together.

Ok that’s total over simplification, but you get the gist.

Everyone will need to see what an awesome company you are. They’ll need to see your vision and how they connect to it. And they’ll need to know what makes you different. But there will be sector/geographic and role specific stuff too.

Your employer brand should give you the succinct and catchy headline pitch you need to engage. But it should also capture your core personality and give you the depth and flexibility to find the right evidence for the right challenge.

And so…

You have one employer personality. Flex and use it as you would your own.

The real challenge – shaping something so complex into a simple and easy tool for everyone to use. So, a quick tip before we wrap up.

When you create your brand, think about how you capture these three things:

1. What you talk about

2. How you talk about it

3. How you present it

This will help you not only create a great brand, but make it a usable tool that will live on in your organisation. So, whether you’re a brand veteran, or you’ve woken from a 20-year slumber, you can nail it first time 💪

If you want more useful tips and advice then hunt down our Kick-Arse Employer Brands podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.