Importance of Employer Branding Concepts

Importance of Employer stigmatisation ConceptsTerms of referencesThis report highlights the rising aw arness for the development of Employer Branding concept and its benefits for the organisations in familiarise hawkish labour market. The conflict between effective employer branding and employees rights and satisf deportion toward organization has been examined in this report with specific focus on the unethical and imperious effect.IntroductionEmployer branding is the perception of employees well-nigh an organization as a place to work. Its designed for motivating and securing employees alignment with the vision and nurses of the organizations. From the HR location the concept was subsumed the older term INTERNAL BRANDING that was essentially the process of communicating an organizations brand nurse to its employee.Employer brandingThe concept of EMPLOYER BRANDING was created in the mid-nineties by Simon tumulus, who planted People in Business (now part of TMP Worldwide) and was the co-author of The Employer Brand. 1 In the past, Barrow had been a consumer goods brand manager and headed up an advertising federal agency in London, but later became the chief executive of a recruitment agency. He was immediately struck by the similarities between the challenges faced in promoting consumer goods and in publicising the strengths of an organisations employee proposition. Both, he recognised, required a strong brand, and so the concept of employer branding was conceived.Barrow defined the employer brand as the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by consumption and identified with the employing comp whatsoever. Sullivan (2004) defines employer branding as a targeted, long-term strategy to manage the awargonness and perceptions of employees, potential employees, and related stakeholders with regards to a particular firm. Ambler and Barrow (1996) define employer brand in terms of the benefits it conveys on employees. In other words, the employer brand represents the array of economic, functional and psychological benefits that an employee might receive because of joining an organization. skillful as product brands convey an kitchen range to customers, an employer brand conveys an organizational image to potential and current employees. In that regard, the employer brand presents a value proposition about what people might receive as a result of working for a particular employer (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). These definitions indicate that employer branding means promoting and building an identity and a slip a representation view of what rack ups an organization different and desirable as an employer. It has similarities with product and bodily branding but the key difference is its more employment specific.enlisting and employer brandingDeveloping an employer brand is a combination of adopting vision, determine, and behaviours, and delivering a service that shows commitment to best practice and serv ice excellence. It begins with the recruitment process that offers number of tools that back be used to create perceptions of an employing organization, these tools ar 1. Job advertisement and description 2. Interview process 3. Offer letters 4. Information pack for new recruiters 5. Employee handbooks 6. installation and training. The recruitment process is an important way to build a positive relationship between the organization and employee. Throughout the procedure, the organization clear create a strong and positive view about them even it lavatory be extended to unsuccessful candidates as well. When employees ease up accepted the sincerity and accuracy of the employer brand, they result carry it forward, actively promoting the brand to colleagues and customers. However, employer branding which is basically untruthful willing not work and is probable to be counter-generative.Benefits of Employer BrandingLong-term impact productive employer brand can film positive im pacts on recruiting for at least five years baring whatever major PR issues surrounding the company. increase volume of spontaneous candidates The number of applicants will increase each year. In some cases, applications will increase by 500%. Higher quality candidates not only the quantity but the quality of candidates will improve dramatically, individuals who never would have considered in the past will start applying. Higher offer-acceptance rates As employment image becomes better known and more powerful, firms offer acceptance rates will improve dramatically. Increased employee motivation Employee motivation will be easier to maintain because of employees increased pride in the firm and the better management practices that are required to maintain an employer-of-choice status. A stronger corporate culture Because one of the goals of employment branding is to develop a consistent message about what its like to work and what it feel to be a part of the organization, employment branding can help strengthen firms corporate culture. Decreased corporate negatives Effective branding programs identify and counter negative comments about the organisation. Increased manager satisfaction The resulting higher(prenominal) quality of candidates and higher offer-acceptance rate means that hiring managers will have to devote less time to interviews, and they will be more satisfied with the recruiting function. A competitive advantage Because employment branding efforts include extensive metrics and side-by-side comparisons with talent competitors, firms can ensure that their talent-management approaches are differentiated and continually superior. Increased shareholder value The effective and improved employer image can positively impact a firms stock price. Support for the product brand An employment brand can bet on the corporate brand and related product brands because many consumers mentally make the link between displumeing quality employees and producing a qual ity product. The brand essence should add together what the brand stands for, becoming the nucleus for product development, all communications and even HR initiatives for employees. Its definition should also be consistent with the corporate vision/ heraldic bearing and values. For example, Volvo is a good example of a brand description is Volvo Style, driving pleasure and superior ownership experience while celebrating human values and respecting the environment. Volvos values and associations reflecting this brand identity are what are considered to be typically Scandinavian e.g. nature, security and health, human values, elegant simplicity, creative engineering and the spirit of stylish/ advance(a) functionality.For Volvo, this description not only mirrors the psycho-graphic profile of the ideal customer for their cars, but also summarizes what Volvo as a company means to all its workers its employer brand. These are congenital values that Volvo workers can relate to, what t hey believe in and why they feel comfortable making a commitment to their jobs. One can easily cast the types of HR programs that would inspire a sense of pride and re-enforce these intangibles e.g. nature, health, security and other meaningful human values.Living the brandLIVING THE BRAND is identifying with an organizations brand value to such an extent that employees behaviours fit exactly to the image that the business is trying to portray to its customers (Alan Price 2007). The alignment between employees behaviour and value of organizations brand image is very important. It is suggested that organisations need to ensure that in that respect is no gap between what the organisation is saying in the outside world and what people believe at heart the business. The employees should be perceived as Brand ambassador and brand marketing would only be successful if they LIVE THE BRAND. From this perspective 1. Organizations have encouraged employees to get in to the business visi on and values. 2. They have to ensure that everyone in the organization clearly understand the purpose of the common set of values. According to Ind (2004), the themes discussed are likely to be of interest to HR and marketing practitioners as well as those baffling in internal communications within organisations. Employees themselves are expected to interiorise features and aspects of the organisations brand to ensure that they become brand champions, thus helping to represent to organisations brand to the outside customers. Such an approach immediately raises some interesting problems relating to par and diversity as it expects each employee to share a particular set of values and act in accordance with these values. The employee branding approach universe recommended by Ind raises a number of challenges for those interested in an equality and diversity agenda. An organisation that aims to ensure that employees are living the brand will specifically aim to attract and recrui t employees who already share the values of the corporate brand. Furthermore, those already employed within the organisation will be encouraged to internalise the values of the organisation. Clearly, there are problems for encouraging diversity here, with one of the principles of diversity management being an acceptance and recognition that people are different and individual differences (especially of values) should be welcomed. Inherently, a living the brand focus is likely to go against such a principle. Ind makes the point that encouraging employee identification and commitment to the organisations brand values might abandon an expression of individuality. However, Ind suggests that internal branding combined with allowing employees to be empowered will enable freedom with order.Denial of individuality ( tog out enactment policy)When it comes to professional image, many employers are realising that Standards of fit out and personal presentation are essential thus having a po licy on dress compute can be important. Where the employees meet customers, they act as the shop window for the company and the benefits of presentable appearance are diaphanous. However, even where the employees work is internal, there are less tangible benefits such as Creating a team atmosphere, Engendering standards of professionalism, and Creating a corporate image. As employers are realising this, they are paying more attention to the appearance of their employees and the image and perception of the business dress, fertilisation and personal hygiene are all part and parcel of this. However, the issue of work place dress codes can be highly controversial. It is vital that employers are aware of the discrimination issues that dress codes can create.Issues with work place dress codesIn organisations with ordereds, the issues can be more wide ranging. For instance, at the Greater Manchester police force Force, bureaucracy and unwillingness to accept change has hampered the introduction of hijabs for Muslim women. At Inchcape Fleet Solutions where all 140 non-senior staffs are provided with polo shirts or blouses branded with the company logotype the style of the uniform does not suit all staff and most do not like wearing it. This would affect their moods at work and accordingly affect their performance.Complaints of discriminationFurthermore, a complaint was raised informally by the staff forum of child trust fund provider Family Investments and relates to the fact that women can wear trousers that are not full length, while men cannot. Employees have requested that the company allows shorts to be worn, as long as they are below the knee Also, in September 2006, a British Airways worker has been suspended and attended an appeal over wearing a cross at work at Heathrow Airport. She claims the suspension is discriminatory, especially since the airline allows Sikh employees to wear traditional iron bangles and Muslim workers to wear headscarve s.BA has said it will review its uniform policy in light of the media storm the story has provoked.Employer branding and discrimination lawThere are three areas of discrimination relevant to dress code policy 1. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 2. Religious or Belief Regulations 2003 3. Disability Discrimination Act 1995.Sex discrimination and dress codesThere is the obvious potential for sex discrimination in any dress code, which sets different requirements for men and women. Past claims have challenged policies that women must wear skirts men should not have long hair Men must wear a collar and tie. The case of Matthew Thompson who objected to the dress code imposed by the Department for Work Pensions at his place of work, a job centre in Stockport, can also be a good example. Mr Thompson claimed that the dress code discriminated against male employees as they were agonistic to wear a collar and tie whereas female employees could wear T-shirts to work. The Employment Tribunal f ound in favour of Mr Thompson stating that the dress code was discriminatory as the requirement to wear a collar and tie was gender based and there were no items of clothing that were imposed on women in the same office. From the Thompson case, it became clear that employers should be careful in the way that they draft their dress codes. Employers are not prevented from imposing dress codes that require employees to wear specified items of clothing as long as the code is drafted in such a way as to be even-handed between men and women. For example, jobs in the City, the current convention is for some(prenominal) men and women to wear suits. The convention is that a man should wear a tie with a suit but the same does not apply to a woman. A dress code requiring a smart suit could apply to both sexes but be enforced in a non-discriminatory manner subdue for each sex.Religion/belief discrimination and dress codesA dress code that requires employees to act in a way contrary to their phantasmal beliefs, risks being indirectly discriminatory. Thus, a dress code forbidding headgear will be discriminatory to male Sikhs, who must wear a turban. The best way to avoid these problems is to be as non-specific as possible. A widely worded dress code requiring smart appearance, with non-binding examples of suitable dress, cannot fall foul of specific clothing-related beliefs. To cross-check your dress code against the main religions clothing beliefs, refer to Acas Guide on Religion and Belief which has a useful chart at Appendix 2 (pages 40-50). It whitethorn be possible for employers to objectively justify a dress code contrary to any of these beliefs, if it can be done so objectively. For example, employees at a chocolate factory were successfully prohibited from having beards for health and sentry duty reasons. However, employers should be very wary of relying on objective justification as the courts are indisposed(p) to accept it. There whitethorn be a questio n mark in some cases whether a persons views are beliefs. According to Acas, Rastafarianism (which requires the wearing of a hat) is a belief system. Certain political beliefs or powerful sentiments such as patriotism (the wearing of an American flag badge) may or may not be regarded as beliefs. Employers should respect beliefs that are strongly held whether or not they are religious in nature.Disability discrimination and dress codesDisabled employees may not be able to comply with a dress code, for example, an employee with a neck injury unable to wear a tie. However, by and large, this need not affect the way the code is drafted instead, employers should be sensitive in the enforcement of the dress code. In summary, employers should be quite a bit flexible when writing a policy on employee dress or appearance. Reasonable flexibility and sensitivity to the employees racial differences should be allowed in the dress code to make employees comfortable and any conflict and law suits , while meeting the Trust standard of Dress code. This view is echoed by organisations such as Broker Network, which believes that employees should be able to make their own judgments on what is best to wear. Many companies are now turning their backs on the concept of dress-down Fridays, opting instead to ditch smart business-wear every day of the week. A survey of 560 organisations has found that four out of five employers believe a more relaxed dress code leads to greater productivity. Nine out of 10 organisations that replied to the crownwork by the Peninsula employment law consultancy had declared ties an unnecessary part of their dress code.ConclusionThe issues discussed above create a challenge for HR professionals involved in employee focused branding projects, especially those where employees are expected to share a specific set of values. That is that such initiatives will undoubtedly create a tautness and potentially conflict with principles underlying an equality and diversity agenda. Inds suggestion that inside-out branding allows freedom and order remains unconvincing even when the employees are involved in constructing the brand values. An organisation that dictates a set of values for employees to internalise is still a homogenising force. Organisations that genuinely take diversity programmes seriously will have to tackle this tension. One possible way out of this conundrum is to include equality and diversity awareness as a key value include in the internal brand proposition.RecommendationsAny guidelines should be carefully drafted, and employers are advised to treat any requests to dress contrary to the company code for religious or racial reasons with respect. Employers should consult the employee in question and discuss how to include reasonable requests, and try to find a favourable solution. A tribunal will be more likely to be sympathetic to the employer where a policy is required for health and safety purposes, rather than simply to maintain a corporate image.Decide what restrictions on employees appearance are necessary and why. For example, teachers are expected to wear sensible footwear, suitable for the activities their job involves. Restrictions should not be excessive or unreasonable, for instance insisting on suits or ties in the office when employees are not customer-facing.Set out the guidelines clearly, and include the rationale behind any restrictions. relieve why restrictions may be placed on some employees but not others (for example, no body piercing for those operating heavy machinery for health and safety purposes, and those working within a caf of a supermarket may have stricter codes enforced on them than those who work in the same store, but dont come into direct link with food).Give employees notice of when the policy will come into force. Allow employees a grace period before disciplining for non-compliance. Explain what will happen if employees are found to be in persistent breach of the policy (disciplinary action and, potentially, dismissal). Give the name of an individual that employees can talk to if they feel they cannot comply with the policy. Current legislation on issues that could lead to discrimination should be reviewed from time to time, and staff handbook should be read by employment lawyers to ensure compliance. Guidelines should also be updated to accommodate the legislation. Base the policy on business-related reasons. Explain your reasons in the policy so employees understand the rationale behind the restrictions. Common business-related reasons include maintaining the organizations public image, promoting a productive work environment, or complying with health and safety standards. Require employees to have an appropriate, well-groomed appearance. Even casual dress policies should specify what clothing is inappropriate (such as sweat suits, shorts, and jeans) and any special requirements for employees who deal with the public. Communica te the policy. Use employee handbooks or memos to alert employees to the new policy, any revisions, and the penalties for noncompliance. In addition, explain the policy to job candidates. Apply the dress code policy uniformly to all employees. This can prevent claims that the policy adversely affects women or minorities. However, you may have to make exceptions if required by law. (See next suggestion.) counterbalance reasonable accommodation when the situation requires an exception. Be prepared to accommodate requests for religious practices and disabilities, such as head coverings and facial hair. Apply consistent discipline for dress code violations. When disciplining violators, point out why their attire does not comply with the code and what they can do to complyREFERENCESEdwards, M. R. 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