TALENTX BRANDING: An alternate view of employer branding. Treat employees as businesses-of-one...
Updated: Jun 22, 2021
...Their brand has 100x more power than yours!
Before I share my perspective, I would like you to observe these two pictures of LinkedIn posts from the same company – one post as an employer, another from one of its employee’s.
(these pictures from Oracle are for reference purposes only)
Now read the blog title again
Need I say more?
Employer branding was forever known as the art of building an image of a company as an employer of choice. In 2013, Talent Branding, (promoted by LinkedIn) came to be known as the more social aspect of employer branding where employer review sites like Glassdoor, Quora gave voice to the employees.
In 2017, we will move towards an era where employees will not only have voice, choice but also more “power”.
The term I have coined for it is TalentX Branding: Talent with an exponential power to build or break an employer’s image either through the use of their social platforms or channelizing their personal brands.
The company that will win the war of talent will be the one that “realizes the potential” of this unused, underutilized power.
Why this sudden sweeping shift of power into the hands of employees?
If you carefully observe global trends in the workforce you will notice a lot of shifts - #sharingeconomy #digital #transformation #artificialintelligence #portfoliocareers #gigeconomy – where Independent workers, freelancers, rehires, contractors, specialist/multi-talented staff, businesses-of-one, robots, algorithms, uberisation of business, are defining the #futureofwork.
Business models are shifting, businesses are becoming irrelevant sooner, and employee base is reducing to a tenth of its original size. Large employers are transitioning into networks of small businesses, micro entrepreneurs are on a rise, new age platforms (aggregators/marketplaces) are rapidly displacing business empires.
Examples:
· With 6500 employees Uber supports 1.5 million cars & drivers!
· Airbnb terrifies the hotel industry. With more than 3.1 million rooms, Airbnb’s room supply growth will outpace the traditional hospitality industry by 2020.
· Flipkart merchants sell more, and have lower costs of sale - hence make more money than before and pay more to a highly specialist staff! (Read An Alternate View of the Future: India in the Age of Technological Disruption)
Most traditional economies (i.e. manufacturing, agriculture) are fast becoming services-led, digitally-led, and knowledge-led which means “talent” is becoming core to the business. Some lifestyle employers recognize their talent as businesses-of-one and have created a flexible workplace that suits the schedule and personal needs of its employees. Other progressive employers, have started to celebrate the power of their employees’ personal brands.
The world of work has changed.
What TalentX means for employers and their brands?
1. It is a massive opportunity for marketers to build “Power-of-One” branding which refers to a #mashup and potent combination of corporate, consumer, employer and employee brands into one unified brand promise that furthers a unified business agenda.
Let’s pick one brand as a showcase example. Ernst & Young: Building a Better Working World does it pleasingly well. It is one brand promise that is beautifully aligned to their business purpose, employee experience and community goals and Diversity & Inclusion efforts. The only thing they need to get better at is aligning their talent’s X personal brand into this mix.
2. Cultivate your employee’s personal brands. Don’t leave it on the employees to work on their personal brands. Help them build their brand. Don’t just focus on building an image for your senior leaders, your recruiters are the most connected (minimum connections they have on LinkedIn is 20,000+), utilize their networks. Your junior most employees are most active on Quora, make them your brand ambassadors. Develop your most followed leaders and employees on Twitter, Github, StackOverflow into #influencers connect with influential experts through their networks.
3. Alter your social media policies to embrace #socialHR. Your brand should reflect a pleasurable and innovative culture on social, and your induction program should tell people on how get involved in your social communities. Periodically revise your social media policy. With network improvements, new platforms and enhanced community interactions, last year’s social media policy may be obsolete and irrelevant.
4. Create employer hashtags that employees can use across the globe to share content that they care about. Find your inspiration here: Sapient’s #houseoftrouble #Hootsuitelife #targetvolunteers Starbucks #tobeapartner #insidezappos
5. Get serious about blogging. Get your employees to share their personal career development experiences as blogs on LinkedIn. It will go a long way in shaping or reshaping how talent outside of your organization thinks about working with you. Get your expert employees registered as contributors to top-of-the-line blogs like Forbes, Huffington Post, ET Tech
I have listed some ideas here for you to reap the potential of TalentX. What will you do differently with this new knowledge? What is your strategy to channelize the power of your Talent’s X factor? Have you begun the journey of aligning all your brands?
Looking forward to your comments, reactions and suggestions.
PS: This Blog was originally published on Corporate Shiksha
Let us continue tweeting about #newHR #talentbranding @amantweetkaur26
#socialmedia #viralvideos #talentbranding #personalbrands #talentXbranding