Does HR play a role in Employer Branding?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010



Employer Branding is an important aspect for any organisation, big or small. Larger organisations thrive on a full-fledged Marketing division that throws out a series of advertising campaigns via various mediums, handles SEOs, investigates out-of-the-box methods and the list goes on. For any activity to be a complete success it is important that the whole team acts as a proof to the word that is being spread around. For example, the dog in the Hutch Ad created a mark but it needs to be supported by a telecom network that is actually widespread, the Naukri Ad with a Hari Sadu was funny but it has to be supported by a good database of companies having requirements. 


My recent conversation with my friend Smriti triggered the same thought. She explained that as a company they were more interested in consultants who valued HR aspects along with Technical aspects. For example, as a client, she expected them to be asking questions like: Is there a regular history of candidates who are kept waiting when called for interviews or What is the TAT for response on resumes or What are the induction/orientation procedures for new hires. Now this is noteworthy. I, for one, am in this profession more due to the intangibles associated with it.

One must understand that being part of an organisation means fulfilling the Job Description assigned along with the Company Values. Employer Branding is a part of the same. So as a HR what might be your role? HR interacts with many internal stakeholders that are the face of the company. When the department supports internal employees efficiently with issues like grievance handling, payroll processing, training and employee engagement activities it is a strategic long-term intangible measure of Employer Branding. Your internal stakeholders play a BIG role in word-of-mouth advertising, retention rates and productivity rates. Secondly, the HR department also significantly leaves an impression in the minds of potential employees. When potential candidates have a good experience during the interviewing process there is a good chance that they will re-apply in the future or will be more motivated to be a part of the organisation but a bad experience may result in a personal blacklisting of companies.

Unfortunately, today due to the mad rush and technological advancement these are just written statements. Do you think that we are forgetting what our actual goals are? Why are we letting go of the HR values? Why have we stopped making that difference..?
 


4 comments:

shabu said...

there ... you did it again ... :D brought out the stuff from under the carpet. i heard someone say that art is good when it arouses curiosity and makes questions pop in your head.
this one sort of does that ... :)

Radhika said...

Well unfortunately being part of the HR fraternity I still have had bad experiences with HR of other companies. Its not so difficult to realise these things but maybe ppl choose to be more robotic than human.. we are heading towards that anyway! :)

memoirs of my memories said...

Nice …. Have got a halo over my head right now… and yes what you have mentioned is true… HR’s role is not only to find the right candidate, how you reach that end defines the process of the company, the role of HR reflects the values of a company. Keeping candidates waiting endlessly for interviews/ feedback…the attitude of the interviewer.. all this definitely plays an important role in a company’s branding … Any job seeker must be viewed as an external customer and one cannot undervalue their importance. Knowledge about technologies is important, but core values will take you that extra mile in HR…. that’s what I feel... Your doing a good job with your blog Raddo!

Radhika said...

Thank you with a bow :)