Comments - "EMPLOYMENT BRAND' is BULLSHIT - YEAH BUDDY - RecruitingBlogs2024-03-29T04:40:49Zhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=502551%3ABlogPost%3A1423560&xn_auth=noI'll go for culture , work en…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14242022011-09-23T23:23:44.524ZSandra McCartthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/SandraMcCartt
I'll go for culture , work environment but to me that's not a brand. It can change as fast as a new president coming in next week. my take on a brand is that is a consistent identifier. You made my point re horses/cows. No matter where they are or if they get lost in a snowstorm, when somebody sees the brand they know where they live. That doesn't work with employees. They walk out the door and nobody knows where they work unless they wear uniforms or have the company logo tat on their…
I'll go for culture , work environment but to me that's not a brand. It can change as fast as a new president coming in next week. my take on a brand is that is a consistent identifier. You made my point re horses/cows. No matter where they are or if they get lost in a snowstorm, when somebody sees the brand they know where they live. That doesn't work with employees. They walk out the door and nobody knows where they work unless they wear uniforms or have the company logo tat on their forehead. If somebody else hires them the new employer has no idea if they are representative of this mystical thing called employment brand.<br />
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I'll use Jerry's example from yesterday. What's the employment brand or what is it like to work for the state of Texas? What is the employment brand of AT&T. All relative to department , location, this weeks supervisor.<br />
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For the record. All horses that wear the hat brand are black and almost the same size except the pony who looks like mini me. There is a pic on here somewhere. The one gray horse does not wear the hat brand because he is not representative of the "hat brand" horses. In fact we call him brand x. Cows all black baldys and you couldn't tell them from every other black cow in the country without the M7. And we can'tbtell them apart.<br />
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The problem with what you are calling employment brand is that there could be 100 companies with the same corporate culture or management model. So co A B C etc could have the same employment brand ergo it would not be a distinctive employment brand that would differentiate one from the other so does not qualify as a brand. They would be just like those black cows can't tell one from the other unless you know the name=brand they work for like Ford or Cadillac..<br />
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If you and I look alike, dress alike and do the same thing, the same way neither of us has a personal brand except our names so one of us has to change hats. :)<br />
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I agree that the idea of a brand has been so snarled up by buzzword bingo that it means nothing. McCartt,
"Let’s take a compa…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14242982011-09-23T22:29:36.667ZBill Boormanhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/BillBoorman
<p>McCartt, </p>
<p>"Let’s take a company that has a large accounting department, big IS dept. small close knit R & D group, huge Distribution division. The pres. is a great leader and therefore selects the best people he can find to lead each of those divisions. <br></br><br></br>Accounting is very structured, full of CPA's who wear ties because their boss wants it that way. He hires structured people who like to wear ties, they don't kid around and some of them are so dry they fart…</p>
<p>McCartt, </p>
<p>"Let’s take a company that has a large accounting department, big IS dept. small close knit R & D group, huge Distribution division. The pres. is a great leader and therefore selects the best people he can find to lead each of those divisions. <br/><br/>Accounting is very structured, full of CPA's who wear ties because their boss wants it that way. He hires structured people who like to wear ties, they don't kid around and some of them are so dry they fart dust. <br/><br/>IS is a younger, very diverse group of bit tweakers with pony tails, except for the conservative cowboy type who is the VP and the Ex military guy who is the programming director and a flaming liberal to boot. <br/><br/>R & D is headed by a somewhat mad scientist and his band of test tube thumpers who know they are smarter than everybody else in the company, eat wheat germ for lunch and don't comb their hair most days. They mostly look like they have been sniffing glue at a foreign university for the duration of their PhD. <br/><br/>Then we move on to distribution. There are 10 distribution centers scattered all over the US. with upwards of 300 hourly workers in each location. They speak several languages, work three shifts and mostly don’t make over 10 to 12 bucks an hour except for the industrial engineers and the supply chain systems super users who spend copious amounts of time debating time motion studies. <br/><br/>Somehow it all works but what's the "employment brand"?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I think the "employment brand" is clear in your description. As I see it:</p>
<p>You have a President who lets Managers build their own teams and be individuals.</p>
<p>You have a culture, environment (whatever you want to call it,) where depts can set their own rules over how they work, as long as they get results.The leader is interested in results, not methods of work, dress etc,Managers are allowed to manage as they seem fit.</p>
<p>Difference is encouraged. It'snot a place with lots of rules. Results focussed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm sure there would be plenty of potential Managers who would love to be allowed to work in that way, and given that message would choose to go work there, wanting to leave another place where they feel they can't build a team the way they want it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm sure your horses with the cowboy hat, or the cows branded with M7 are all different to look at. They will have some traits that make them different, not robot clones. What they do have however are some consistent traits. Like the fact that they won't buck. The brand as you describe it says to me that I know that I'm getting the things that are important to me, even if the horse is black or white in colouring. Tall or shorter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don't see employment brand is any different. I agree 100% with you and Jerry that there are a lot of Bullshit employment brands messages. Usually put together by marketing or someother dept, that have no relation to what it is really like to work there. Manufactured without reality, but looks good in a brochure.</p>
<p>Just my thoughts on this,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bill</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/><br/>Accounting is very structured, full of CPA's who wear ties because their boss wants it that way. He hires structured people who like to wear ties, they don't kid around and some of them are so dry they fart dust. <br/><br/>IS is a younger, very diverse group of bit tweakers with pony tails, except for the conservative cowboy type who is the VP and the Ex military guy who is the programming director and a flaming liberal to boot. <br/><br/>R & D is headed by a somewhat mad scientist and his band of test tube thumpers who know they are smarter than everybody else in the company, eat wheat germ for lunch and don't comb their hair most days. They mostly look like they have been sniffing glue at a foreign university for the duration of their PhD. <br/><br/>Then we move on to distribution. There are 10 distribu</p> I would agree Francois and a…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14236812011-09-23T18:55:42.130ZSandra McCartthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/SandraMcCartt
<p>I would agree Francois and a vision is certainly something to aspire to and all the different things you mention will be different for a different reason so it can't be crammed into one buzzword . How many times have we heard, "XYZ company is a great place to work unless you have to work for Bob Jones in the java group. He is a bear so find a candidate who has a thick skin. And don't forget that Judy in marketing likes people who can work late and don't have to worry about picking up…</p>
<p>I would agree Francois and a vision is certainly something to aspire to and all the different things you mention will be different for a different reason so it can't be crammed into one buzzword . How many times have we heard, "XYZ company is a great place to work unless you have to work for Bob Jones in the java group. He is a bear so find a candidate who has a thick skin. And don't forget that Judy in marketing likes people who can work late and don't have to worry about picking up kids. You made my point very well and in many fewer words. There is no way that an employment brand could ever be anything but a collection of impressions and experiences which will be as different as the people who interact with the people in that company on any given day. Cultural fit is real and vital. People cluster and work well if they like or respect each other so a group finds it's own level. We can't create people , we can match them where the end result will be a good one. That would not be branding.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>@Alasdair that was about the time we first heard it. We thought it was so hokey back then that we drew a big R in a circle and pinned it on our collars and called it our "employment brand".</p> I was actually working at the…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14234842011-09-23T18:21:07.338ZAlasdair Murrayhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/AlasdairMurray
I was actually working at the recruitment advertising agency that first used the phrase 'employer brand' in the UK back in the late 80s! That's how old I am :-)
I was actually working at the recruitment advertising agency that first used the phrase 'employer brand' in the UK back in the late 80s! That's how old I am :-) Great post Sandra,
To me em…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14234802011-09-23T17:51:55.902ZFrancois Guayhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/FrancoisGuay
<p>Great post Sandra,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To me employment brand is the vision a company aspires to, hopefully and truthfully but <strong>word on the street (disgruntled and happy employees and former employees)</strong>, what people are saying about the company, management, culture,etc. is really what it comes down to and poses our greatest challenge on getting people to consider certain employers.</p>
<p>Great post Sandra,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To me employment brand is the vision a company aspires to, hopefully and truthfully but <strong>word on the street (disgruntled and happy employees and former employees)</strong>, what people are saying about the company, management, culture,etc. is really what it comes down to and poses our greatest challenge on getting people to consider certain employers.</p> You are correct Alasdair, it…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14236652011-09-23T17:47:49.751ZSandra McCartthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/SandraMcCartt
<p>You are correct Alasdair, it is not a new term as many would have us believe. It didn't work then and with all the talk about transparency and being real corporate culture or work environment makes sense. Or in plain English, "what is like to work there"? It now seems to be a rerun for consultants to sell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My take is that a corporate culture evolves as companies grow or don't, leadership , people and even customers change. It's not something you go in the back room and…</p>
<p>You are correct Alasdair, it is not a new term as many would have us believe. It didn't work then and with all the talk about transparency and being real corporate culture or work environment makes sense. Or in plain English, "what is like to work there"? It now seems to be a rerun for consultants to sell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My take is that a corporate culture evolves as companies grow or don't, leadership , people and even customers change. It's not something you go in the back room and decide what you want it to be then cram everybody into the mold. In my world loyalty is referred to as "riding for the brand". </p>
<p> </p> I think one of my first blogs…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2011-09-23:502551:Comment:14235632011-09-23T17:26:04.425ZAlasdair Murrayhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/AlasdairMurray
I think one of my first blogs on here was about the same subject. I too am no advocate of 'employer brand'. I find the term a bit of a misnomer. Sure, most switched on companies have a wish list of what they want to be and how they want to be perceived by the outside world but it's a bit of a gimmick really. To me, the term company culture is more acceptable. i.e. small family run business versus sprawling corporate giant - there are bound to be big differences and someone from one of those…
I think one of my first blogs on here was about the same subject. I too am no advocate of 'employer brand'. I find the term a bit of a misnomer. Sure, most switched on companies have a wish list of what they want to be and how they want to be perceived by the outside world but it's a bit of a gimmick really. To me, the term company culture is more acceptable. i.e. small family run business versus sprawling corporate giant - there are bound to be big differences and someone from one of those companies may well not fit into the other's way of working. I know myself when I went from a national newspaper to work at a local one the move didn't really work as it was a whole different set up. So, cultural fit is important I feel, I'd be happy for people to talk about the working environment, but employer brand has never cut it with me. It was pretty much a term dreamed up years ago by advertising and marketing types to try and sell into organisations the fact that they needed to have one.