Showing posts with label Branding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Branding. Show all posts

Friday, April 12, 2024

What can India Inc do to attract Talent ?

 I was invited by Linkedin Editorial team to share my thoughts on Talent Attraction . 


Here are my quick thoughts 


India Inc can focus on the following to attract Talent - 


1. Focus on Employee Experience which influences Customer Experience 


2. Invest in People Managers - Managers who act as Coach are able to deliver high team performance 


3. Leverage Employee Testimonials - Encourage current employees to share their experiences working for the company on platforms like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and social media. Authentic testimonials can significantly influence potential candidates. Thats when Employee Advocacy comes to life. 


4. Setup Employee Referral Program - Great Employees refer Great candidates and bring Top talent to the organization 


5. Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion: Highlight your company's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in your employer branding efforts. Showcase diverse voices and experiences within the organization.


6. Partner with Educational Institutions: Collaborate with universities, colleges, and vocational schools to establish internship programs, sponsor student projects, or guest lectures. This can help attract young talent. 


7. Invest in Employees through skilling, reskilling, upskilling 


8. Talent Mobility Programs 


9. Focus on Employee Wellbeing

Friday, August 27, 2021

Its a Candidate Driven Market and Talent has won !

Talent Branding is a long term game .  Talent Branding is a specialised & complex role that cuts across 4 verticals - HR, Recruitment, Internal Communications, Marketing. Having delivered in this role both at IBM and WNS . I did a quick audit for Startups , while the Founders have got Funding and attention across Startup community , Product Startups needs to have visibility amongst the Right Talent Pool ( Engineering, Product, Business Development) which currently seems to be a gap area that needs to be filled in.  Talent Branding Score and Index seems to be low  , need to build it up to stand out from competition in the market . Careers Website doesnt exist. Where does the entire traffic get directed ? On Linkedin Career page visibility for People/ Culture is almost zilch. Culture needs to be highlighted through Digital ( owned media, paid media, earned media) . Need to find out if ATS ( Applicant Tracking System is in place, what kind of analytics, process, systems exist wrt HR/ HRTech to make People / Recruitment related business decisions and investments. What is the offer to acceptance ratio currently at Entry level, Lateral level and Leadership roles ? How soon Founders aspire to win award - Great Place to Work  ? Gone are the days when you post a job and expect talent to apply. Its candidate driven market and Talent needs to be wooed.    Employees are the Best Brand Ambassadors and Adovcates. That needs to be leveraged to optimum to attract future talent. 



Please write an email with your queries to  ruchibhatia23@gmail.com 

 

Saturday, July 31, 2021

What is your Talent Branding Strategy ?

 Questions to CHROs / Recruitment / Talent / HR Leaders for reflection 


1. Who do you want to be as an Employer ? What is your Employment promise to Talent ?

2. Do you hire for culture fit or culture add ?

3. Do you hire for Diversity or Inclusion   ?

4. Do your Leaders practice inclusion first culture ?

5. Do you have a culture of Diversity and Inclusion ?

6. Are you LGBT Friendly employer ?

7. % Women in Top Leadership Roles ?

8. Are your current employees engaged with your organisation ?

9. Do you offer personalised Employee Experience ?

10. Do your Leaders display high Empathy at workplace ?

11. How much focus is given to Employee Wellness in your organization ?

12. Do you offer competitive Comp and Benefits to your employees ?

13. How do you evaluate hi potential ?

14. Do you offer fast track career growth for key technical talent in your company ?

15. How do you assess Talent ?

16. % Attrition . Are you able to retain talent ?

17. What is your Campus Hiring Strategy ?

18. What is the Recruitment Source Mix ?

19. What are your Recruitment Sourcing Strategies ?

20. Do you have Employee Referrals Program ?

21. Do you know what does Technical Talent want from the employer ? Do you meet their expectations ?

22. What is your Buy Build Borrow Strategy for Technical Talent ?

23. Do you emphasise on Candidate Experience during Recruitment ?

24. Do you have Social Media Guidelines for employees ?

25. Do you actively listen to segments of Talent and incorporate feedback into your HR Policies  ?


Client Brief

Attract quality candidates

• Improve offer acceptance rate

• Build greater awareness of Brand 

• To be seen in the same league as Accenture, PwC, KPMG, Bain & Co. etc.

• To change the perception form being just a service provider to a technology company that works

with the finest minds

• Improve employee and prospective employee experience

• To reinforce/reinforce employer value proposition


Gap -

No communication, engagement or Brand Messaging with key segments of Talent and Technical

Talent Pools

Key concepts to solve this problem


Owned Media / Paid Media / Earned Media 

Your Culture is your Brand

Leverage Employees as Brand Ambassadors

Leaders as Storytellers

Recruiters as Marketers

Woo the Passive Talent by targeted paid Campaigns communicating EVP to prospective Talent

Manage the internal and external reputation by dedicated communications campaign 

Activate Employee Advocacy Program to internal employees


Approach -

Define the Message ( EVP) Employer Value Proposition

Live the message ( Employee Experience)

Deliver the Message ( Branded Campaigns )  , Employee Ambassadors 

Create high quality Social Media Campaigns to engage with right Talent to communicate EVP

( Employment Promise ) to the Technical Talent.

Start nurturing the Talent pool even before you hire them . 




Sunday, December 13, 2020

Employer Branding is the right choice to attract quality Top Talent, Social Hiring and achieve Business Goals

Image source: iStock.com







Employer Branding has gained prominence in last 4-5 years. Companies are realising that it is not enough to continue with old recruitment and hiring practices , if they were to hire best talent from the market . 

Each hire in a critical role is an investment for the organization.  Companies want to make sure that there are fewer hiring mistakes and they hire the right candidates which fit the culture of the organization and is a super star employee.  The buzzword for 2018 is Candidate Experience. Candidate experience is as important as Employee Experience. Many a times , passive candidates don’t apply to opportunities because of the time consuming application process. Linkedin offers an easy apply button and many companies Recruitment systems i.e. ATS ( Applicant Tracking Systems ) are integrated with LinkedIn. What it means for candidates is the ease of applying to companies with the click of a mouse, they can submit their cv in companies database. Linkedin easy apply is just one example of providing a seamless experience to potential candidates at the time of hiring. 


Employer branding is the process of promoting a company, or an organization, as the employer of choice to a desired target group, one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain . 


Recruiters need to think and act like marketers to attract the best candidates. 


With the rise of different digital platforms , it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose how to advertise or market your jobs to potential candidates . Gone are the days , when candidates would apply to jobs without researching the company. Candidates research their potential employer on Glassdoor , read reviews, see ratings of Top Management as much as companies try to find about candidates.  Candidates want to know what it feels to work for your organization. What is the culture, what are the career and advancement opportunities, what kind of  learning does your company provide, what are the rewards for performers ,  what are the benefits and perks for working with your organization. In short, candidates assess their potential employers before applying for the jobs. Thats where lies the importance of employer branding. 



Companies rely on different source mix for diversity in hiring - example Career Sites , Employee Referrals, Job Boards, Social Media, sometimes external Recruitment agencies and Vendors. All these are potential options to reinforce your Branded messaging which is consistent as well as Authentic.



Employees stories make a really good option to indulge in Corporate Storytelling and showcase culture of your organisation. Stories of the employees when narrated in first person are much more appealing to external candidates than formal Corporate Brand message. 


Employees are adopting social media platforms , hence the Corporate Brand gets humanised. 

Effective employer branding is the combination of market research, advisory services, communications and marketing to achieve both a credible and desirable brand position. 

Finally, through talent acquisition and retention, the end purpose of employer branding is to stimulate business growth and achieve strategic business goals.


Thursday, June 6, 2019

Employer Branding is a strategic role in Organisations

Employer Branding is a complex and hybrid role that cuts across HR, Marketing and Recruitment. That is why there are very few Employer Branding Consultants in India. 

Planning, developing and implementing Employer Branding strategy is not an easy task. This article has  defined 5 steps to follow when implementing Employer Branding strategy. 

You want to develop a Great Employer Brand for your company ? 
It begins with Employee Experience. If you do not provide good employee experience, you will have trouble retaining the talent that your recruitment team spend great efforts to hire from the Market. As Tony Heish CEO , Zappos says - Your culture is your Brand. 

However, At operational level, from Branding and Marketing perspective, there are several key tasks that Employer Branding role consist of but not limited to - 


1. Careers Website Redesign. Make sure your career website is easy to navigate, provide crucial information on the jobs and roles that you hire for your company, outlines career development model at your company,  inspiring career success stories of few employees in key roles, benefits and rewards for employees and awards that your company has won. Candidate experience starts with your website and application process to apply for jobs should not take more than few clicks.

2. Photo shoot of  employees to highlight Engaged  Employees as Brand Ambassadors 


3.   Facebook, Twitter , Linkedin - Own the Digital Assets , Populate Tw, Li, FB pages with interesting and relevant content for Job seekers. 


4.  Collaboration with Marketing is crucial since you would work closely with Marketing team to ensure Recruitment Marketing content is in alignment with Company's Branding Guidelines.

5. Content Marketing - Curation of Branded Content and Publishing on Social Media channels.
6. Content Creation  - There could be several themes such as Employees Stories , Day in the Life stories, Leader Inerviews, Leader blogs , Career stories , Women Leader, Diversity & inclusion stories

7. Branding campaigns - LifeatX , ProudofX, WomenatatX

8. Twitterchats with Company Leaders ( CEO , CHRO, Business Leaders, Recruitment Leaders)
9. Storytelling content , event pics, newsletter pics, employee engagement pics  


10 . Creation of EVP - Employer Value Proposition starts with Researching Employee Experience. EVP consists of 5 main blocks . And EVP for each organization is unique and differentiates the employer from the competition. 







11.  You would need Hootsuite License for Social Media Management and Social Analytics reports 


12. Glassdoor campaign to highlight  reviews by engaged empployees 

13 . Get  Recruiters buy in  for Social Media hiring and assign targets 



14. Linkedin training for recruiters on Social Sourcing and LinkedIn Recruitment 


15. Collaborate with Diversity and HR team for developing Women  community to  Build Women Talent Pipeline 


16. Set up Company  Careers Blog and share inspiring stories from Employees Engaged at workplace . 


17. Develop Branding Microsite on Job Boards - Naukri, Monster, IIMJobs. 


18. Working with Procurement teams to empanel vendors for Photoshoot, Video production for Recruitment purposes. 

19. Develop Candidate Persona and incorporate in Recruitment Marketing messaging to appeal and influence your target audience. You can now map journey of candidate right from the first touch point when he views the piece of recruitment content to the point where he decides to apply for your job and ultimately to final stage of hiring i.e. Selection and Onboarding. 

20 Define the channels and candidate touch points with a focus on Candidate experience 



If you need help of a Employer Branding consultant to reduce Cost of Hiring and Attract best talent from Market, please feel free to drop an email ruchibhatia23@gmail.com or call Ruchi Bhatia 9911112396. 
Ruchi Bhatia is a SHRM recognised Top 10 HR Expert  . In her last role, she worked as Employer Branding Leader with IBM. 


Sunday, May 12, 2019

Why The Best Candidates Care About The Company's Culture


Why The Best Candidates Care About The Company's Culture




So why is the company’s culture so important while hiring employees

Because quality employment not only affects financial results (retention rates, higher productivity), it formulates the aroma of how your service or product is created and delivered.

The company’s culture expresses the organization's expectations, values and beliefs, and the way the organization interacts with both its employees and with people in the communities in which they operate.

You can get the high quality, cost-effective HR services and solutions from Sharp Group HRD Services that can enable you to be conspicuous of your Senior Leadership Team and Board of Directors as they look for bottom-line results. 

According to the research done by Personnel Psychology, the best performers are 400 percent more productive than average performers. If your company wants to recruit and hire the best Candidate, understand what they want and what they need most from their employers. Fortunately, the answer is not just a generous payment.

Understanding what kind of company culture do you prefer the best, you can find out which elements of your culture are the most important for highlighting and promoting. 


The company’s culture is very important for employees with high requirements because they know that many employers can meet their remuneration requirements, but only those with an attractive work environment and focus on employees will be at the top of the list.
Here are 5 features that the best talent in the company’s culture is looking for:
Corporate culture focuses on both HR and business leaders, especially for organizations fighting for the highest or rare talent.
Autonomy
First of all, leading talent does not want or does not need micro-management in the workplace. The researchers explain the best performers are motivated, they can make their own decisions and initiate new tasks and challenges by themselves. For this reason, they prefer an autonomous work culture in which they have the freedom and versatility to complete their work at their own choice. While average performers may exploit these privileges, the best talents use them strategically and efficiently to get a better job.
Possibilities of growth
The best performers have an innate desire to learn and develop, which means they want career opportunities. In the Hewitt Associates Talent Pulse study from 2007; one of the best-performing students explained: "I'm a success-oriented person and I have to feel like I'm getting better, moving up and developing. As a result, they choose employers offering training programs and career opportunities that help them grow professionally and personally.
Transparency
The best performers are very goal-oriented; they drive in a direction that leads them to the future they want. As a result, people with high scores want their employers to be transparent so that they can make informed decisions about their careers, according to Talent Management. 
They want to work for an employer who tells employees how the company works and where the company is going. They also expect their employer to provide information on eligibility and promotion schedule, bonuses and increases. Therefore, they are looking for honest and open employers.
A good company culture is a mechanism for the raising of people in a competitive job market
Feedback
Because they are always looking for ways to improve, the best Candidates expect information from their manager. The Harvard Business Review report shows that 50 percent of high-score people say they expect to sit with managers monthly, but only 53 percent report that their managers provide them with the opinions they need. When the best performers do not receive constructive criticism, they become less motivated and devoted to the organization. Offering accurate feedback can make the greatest talents a challenge and grow, and consequently - happy and committed.
Challenges
Nobody likes hard work more than the best performers. As the company Competitive Streak explains, leading talents are constantly looking for ways to push the limits of their experiences and skills, especially at work. And according to Talent Management, a likes-quality person likes to undertake projects at work that require critical and creative thinking. Therefore, the best talents prefer the company’s culture in which employees are expected to work hard and develop on a daily basis. They want to be in the winning team, where their team members challenge them and teach them new things. When the best professionals are in an intellectually stimulating work environment, they do the best they can and experience optimal work performance.

The most qualified and talented Candidates for work will not be satisfied with any work, because they do not have to. The best Candidates have a choice, so they will thoroughly consider their career opportunities before applying to your positions. If you want to attract the best talent, think about how your company provides an environment that supports triggers and encourages high results to reach a new level of excellence. 
Then share these facts on your career site and during interviews - especially when hiring the best employees. When you explain how your company’s culture meets their needs, the best talents will accept and accept your offer.

5 ways you can strengthen the company's culture

Good company culture can be a mechanism for attracting the right people and keeping employees even in a competitive labor market.

One of the most visible, but often overlooked ways to strengthen the company’s culture is to invite employees to talk. In this sense, efforts to strengthen culture become obvious, but they also become integrative and two-way, not just top-down, which is usually more attractive to employees and effective in the long run.
The company’s culture is focused on both HR and business leaders, especially for organizations applying for the highest or rare talent
These five ways HR can strengthen the company’s culture to attract talent:

1. STRENGTHEN your current culture: 
Find and solve corporate culture problems that are important to current employees. Motivated employees are the best brand ambassadors.
2. Be consistent: 
Develop a language that consistently represents the workplace's environment and is consistently used in recruitment initiatives and materials.
3. Be suitable: 
Find out which channels your potential employees are using to find a job and be located in these locations, providing easily accessible information and resources.
4. Be mobile: 
Here the word "mobility" is from the point of view of technology. Organizations whose communication skills have the ability to adapt to mobile devices have an advantage over those who do not.

5. Be honest: 
Candidates have access to more "internal" information than ever before and are often well prepared with questions and insight. Potential employees greatly appreciate the honesty of the "reality" of the workplace, thanks to which they can make an informed decision.

5 ways you can support a strong corporate culture

The purpose of including employees in the discussion on corporate culture is to determine what is most important for the majority of employees and specific segments of the workforce. The cultural positioning of the organization must take into account diversity in the workplace.
Here are five ways in which leaders and HR specialists can support a strong corporate culture.

  1. Provide opportunities for professional development and training.
  2. Create and cultivate an innovation-friendly culture in which employees feel that their ideas will be heard and will work.
  3. Make sure your company offers an attractive, competitive salary and other benefits.
  4. Provide a friendly work environment and tools that will help employees to do their job effectively.
  5. Offer a wide range of recognition, rewards and career opportunities.
A good culture addresses and enhances the experience of employees in the workplace in a way that creates a motivated workforce that is well prepared to achieve both strategic corporate goals and personal career goals. Good culture also informs the wider community about the way it will work together and what you can expect from the organization to provide community support.
Why you should have a Specified company culture?


“A company’s culture can embrace everything from working and working hours, work-life balance, team-oriented approach to decision-making, and what physical space is in a company,” Says Paul McDonald, executive director of Robert Half at Menlo Park, California. 
An attractive office environment, for example, suggests that the company cares about its employees and wants them to be comfortable and well-equipped.
"Good HR activists and business leaders should sit down and discuss the company's culture,"

If they are not yet, they should start doing this. They should make the company’s culture a priority because it makes their company a welcome place to work. It increases productivity, recruitment and maintenance efforts.
Note to the Employer:

Moreover, employing talents that are not consistent with the culture of your company causes personal conflicts within the employee that will undoubtedly affect their work and the people they work with.
It is your responsibility as an employer to ensure your employee's success and to make sure that their values and work ethic are in line with your culture before expanding the offer, is the first thing you can do for them and for the rest of the staff.
Conclusion:


The best Candidates have a choice, so they will carefully consider their career options before applying to your positions. If you want to attract the best talent, think about how your company provides an environment that supports triggers and encourages high results to reach a new level of excellence. 
Consider whether a prospective employee can visit the office or meet with current employees to find out if they fit your company's culture. These simple ideas can be key distinguishing features for a highly sought after Candidate making a career decision. In addition, says McDonald, it should be remembered that people want to be employed where they like to work and even give back to the surrounding community. Philanthropic aspirations, such as volunteering in the local soup kitchen, are part of a socially responsible company.
Moreover, Sharp HRD Service deliver high quality, cost-effective HR services, and solutions after going through your company’s business model and your department policies.








Monday, August 17, 2015

Invited to speak on Networking for Women - Discover your Gifts and then Offer your Gifts to the World

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1c/95/fd/1c95fdf3d684723ce74f3164b9dc3469.jpg



People paid to Listen to me :-) My First
It is not what you know, it is about who you know
Networking is all about meaningful connections.
Don’t think of success in life only in terms of money and power but also fulfillment and meaningful relationships and connections in life
Successful people are part of diverse networks
In a world that speaks too much and hardly anyone listens, We all are starved for attention
Technology makes our lives hyper connected but humans feel isolated more than ever.
Use technology to make the right and meaningful connections.
3 types of People- Takers, Matchers, Givers – Be the Giver kind. It is the Givers who in the long run become successful in Life.
Network with a Strategic intent.
Become more proactive and selective about how you spend your #time,
Understand your anchor system, core values.
Personal Branding and Networking go hand in hand
Personal Branding is the most effective process to communicate your value
The powerful positive clear idea what comes to mind when people think of you.
Be YourSelf for everyone else is already taken – Oscar Wilde 
Stay Authentic ,  Identify your strengths ,what makes you unique.
Do you know your mix – Talent, Values, Passion, Strength, Ideals,  Experience
Discover your gifts and then offer your gifts to the world




Monday, February 9, 2015

Stay Authentic

 

People dont buy what, People buy Why . Tell them emotionally and with stats why they need to do something and they will do it.To be able to succeed in Digital Media, and today's world where people and individuals on Social Media exert more influence within their network than Brands, it is important to develop your reputation, create online profile, and an elevator pitch , remain discoverable online, and remain connected with communities of interest. There are many Personal Branding experts who share their wisdom through articles / books. Age old principles are mentioned in the book  How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carinege . The key is to Stay Authentic.  I am sharing couple of tactical steps to pursue your goals to become more successful in Life.
 
  1. Create a About.me Page  http://about.me/ruchibhatia
  2. Write short 100 words Bio, List your achievements
  3. Create Gmail Account
  4. Create Google Plus Profile
  5. Create Linkedin Profile
  6. Keep a Professional Photo ready
  7. Setup Blogger http://www.blogger.com/
  8. Write articles of interest
  9. Publish on Blogger
  10. Share through Linkedin, Twitter as status updates
  11. Build a following
  12. Meet Interesting People
  13. Attend conferences
  14. Share knowledge, Learn , Grow, Be Successful
 

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