Although they are unique terms with their own definitions, the relationship between Employer Branding and Employee Experience are often misused or misunderstood. An Employer Brand is traditionally considered the perception by talent (internally and externally), of working in your organization. Employee Experience on the other hand, is what drives the ‘perception’ piece of an Employer Brand.
Perception (the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses) is just another way of saying experience (an event or occurrence that leaves an impression on someone). For CHRO’s looking to build a strong employer brand, the first and most important answer is to look at improving your employee experience.
Four quick thoughts on how CHRO’s can build an employee experience advantage:
a) A useful way to identify gaps in the Employee Experience is by considering the operating model through the team member perspective. Assessing whether employees have the necessary; Strategy, People, Structure, Technology, Governance, and Rewards, to do their jobs effectively, can help you identify organizational barriers to creating a great employee experience.
b) The Employee Experience is a 24/7-360-team game, and it requires all functions/levels in an organization. It means IT needs to have a computer ready for a new hire on day 1, and it also means that Finance needs to make sure the time sheet and expense reporting systems are easy to use.
c) You build real advantages at the leadership behavioural level. Leaders need to own the habits (cue, routine, reward), they design and encourage with team members.
It’s not enough to have leaders say that they are ‘Open to Diversity,’ they have to take the initiative to show it consistently.
d) External talent is only ever going to hear about what it’s like to work at a place, from the Employees who have already experienced it. Before you look to communicate externally how great it is to work at your organization, it’s worth making sure that your current employees support your EVP.
If you’re interested in building a strategic plan to turn your Employee Experience into an organizational advantage, we’d love to connect to share the trends we see shaping this important initiative and learn more about your goals.