Читать книгу The HR Trailblazer: Unlock the Potential of Your Employer Brand - Christine OSB McLeod - Страница 3

“A company’s brand is fundamentally connected to its employee culture.”

—Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos

How an organization conducts itself both externally towards its customers and internally towards its employees has never been more important... and transparent. Subsequently, the role of “HR professional” is changing before our eyes. In addition to the skillset any great HR leader possesses, the new HR trailblazers demonstrate abilities usually associated with their marketing and communications counterparts. These enterprising leaders know that the ability of customers, competitors and employees alike to evaluate the authenticity of the brand messages they get has never been easier. The HR leader with a solid grasp of this shift from information to engagement age can strategically influence the organizations’ ability to attract and retain the best.

By becoming knowledgeable about the fundamentals of employer branding and enabling the DELIVERY of that brand to create a vibrant organizational culture, HR leaders more than ever before have the potential for incredible reach, impact and leadership within the companies they work with.

Organizations that have the clearest vision of who they are and what differentiates them from the competition have the easiest time penetrating the mindset of today’s harried consumer.

It is no different when it comes to standing out as an employer. There is a positive correlation between increased share of a customer’s mind and that of a potential employee’s. When the (positive) perception of what it’s like to work at that company matches the reality of actually working there for new and current employees, the employer and corporate brands have truly been entrenched in the culture that defines the company.

Apple. Zappos. WestJet. Lululemon. Starbucks. Gap Adventures.

We all love doing business with these organizations because they have clearly identified the textures, colours, flavours and presentation that make them unique: even if we have never bought a pair of shoes from Zappos, we probably have a mental image of what it might be like to be part of that team. That is because we have seen blog posts or social media activity or magazine articles written about its culture of “spreading happiness” from both employee and employer perspectives.

Today, HR is not just about managing the “processes” associated with the employee lifecycle, but about creating the conditions and experiences in each phase of an employee’s journey that create unparalleled engagement. The opportunity is about enabling a powerful employer brand to emerge and become an extension of the brand the customer knows and loves.

With new technological platforms appearing daily that can help organizations be more effective, gain real time feedback, encourage engagement and enhance collaboration and innovation in the workplace, the payroll tied up in transactional HR can and should be freed up to focus more on strategic initiatives like employer branding.

Administration of annual employee surveys; company communications documents; administration of performance reviews; administration of recognition programs; creating policies. How many man hours could be saved with the introduction of more “social” HR tools?

HR Trailblazers are leveraging social platforms and technology to drive corporate cultural identity AND greater employee engagement. They are so crystal clear on their internal and external brands that they are able to spend more time hiring the right brand ambassadors, making sure they have the tools to work with and ensuring the right business infrastructure is in place to deliver on their employer brand promises.

Our Invitation to You

As you read this book, we invite you to consider these questions:

•What if more HR professionals were involved in company brand conversations?

•What if HR was equally comfortable and capable of designing a corporate compensation plan as knowing how to help the organization raise its collective digital IQ?

•What if organizations could attract and retain the absolute BEST to represent their brand because of a company culture that had engagement levels never before seen?

•What could you possibly do DIFFERENTLY in your department as a result of this book?

•What would a trailblazer look like in your organization leading the HR department?

•What if that someone was you?

Human Resources can be the common thread of an organization and has a key support role to play with Communications in bringing together every business function to tell the unfolding story of what the company is about—from the inside out.

HR, Marketing, Sales, IT and Operations need closer relationships than ever. The stories they tell, the emotions they evoke and the experiences they deliver to both customers and employees need to be deeply connected, authentic and consistent to be credible.

So this book is a few things, none of which is “telling” you what to do. It is part road map, part vision and part collection of what’s current and trending in HR. Mostly though, it’s an invitation to start a conversation about the opportunity we have as HR professionals to add untold value to our organizations.

Christine McLeod, CHRP & Jeff Waldman