Kindly explain what are the roles of HR in Branding? And types of Branding?

HR Role in Branding

Kindly explain what the roles of HR are in branding and what the types of branding are.

Hi,

Role of HR in Employer Branding in Today's Organization

First, let us understand what employer branding is. Employer branding is the internal culture a company creates based on its brand story and how employees live out the brand values both internally and externally.

The importance of employer branding in an organization:
- Attracting and retaining top talent.
- Increased financial performance.
- Increasing motivation and engagement of employees.
- Becoming an employer of choice.

Role of Marketing in building an employer brand:
The marketing department plays an important role in communicating the brand message of an organization to its stakeholders. The department should have a thorough knowledge of the organization and its culture and should know how it can be best communicated to people. A brand starts from the inside and extends outside, which is why people believe that employer branding should come under the umbrella of marketing.

Role of HR in building a positive employer brand:
HR is the face of the company and is responsible for recruitment. New employees get their first impression of the organization through their interaction with HR. HR also sets policies for the organization that align best with the company's values and culture. Therefore, HR professionals believe that employer branding should sit under their responsibility.

Employer branding is not confined to a single domain, and both must work together in defining a strategy that communicates the organization's principles and builds a positive employer brand.

The role of Human Resources has evolved. It is no longer restricted to paperwork and just hiring and firing employees. It is now more focused on creating a positive experience for the employee at different levels of the organization. Organizations are now taking interest in meeting employees where they are and in knowing their growth needs, skill development requirements, and understanding their career goals. Increasing employee engagement and creating goodwill among the employees is now the focus of HR departments. Constant efforts are being made to help employees find fulfillment no matter the job title and in creating a positive work environment and a healthy organizational culture.

When we talk about employee experience, we are mainly talking about the level of fulfillment they feel as a result of the work they do and the feedback they get. When employees feel they are contributing to the growth of the organization, they feel they are doing something positive for their career, and as a result, their efficiency increases.

Many organizations want their employees to feel satisfied and fulfilled and want them to portray a healthy image of the organization. While many have employed strategies to refine the process of hiring and onboarding employees, many have neglected to support their employees after layoffs with outplacement services.

Outplacement Services
Outplacement is a service provided by organizations where they support and help their employees throughout their career, even after they are laid off. Outplacements help employees transition to a new job role by giving them the advice and support they need in preparing for a new role in a new organization. It is a rapidly growing component of agreements offered by the top organizations in the world. These organizations provide individuals with a personal career coach, a resume writer, and technology to help them find the perfect match for their job search efforts.

The news of mass layoffs and displaced employees taints the image of an organization. This affects brand perception among customers as well as employees. By offering outplacements, the organization is not only doing the right thing for their employees but is also investing in protecting its brand image in front of all its stakeholders.

When HR goes beyond their function and engages with the employees even after they are laid off, they are working towards protecting the employer brand and customer brands while avoiding legal costs and losses associated with employee lawsuits. In the future, when these organizations are looking to hire new talent to fill open positions, they will be able to pick the best employees available as everyone will be anxious to work in an organization that takes care of its employees even when they are restructuring.

Source: LinkedIn HRhythm - IIM Kashipur

Dear Suraj Rawat,

Occasionally, seminars are conducted on topics like "HR Role in Branding." This is a good topic for discussion, and the panelists who speak at this seminar talk about the dynamic role HR can play in branding. However, most of the time, the panelists never provide actual examples of what they did to promote the company's brand, organization's brand, or the HR Department's brand. The attendees of the seminar get elated as the seminar takes them to the world of fancy. After taking this flight to fantasy, they get caught in the routine hustle-bustle of their job.

Branding is essentially a domain of marketing. Marketing professionals promote the brand of a product or service. In a few organizations, exclusive brand managers are also appointed. However, branding requires budgetary allocation. Building a brand is not like building castles in the air as the latter does not require funds.

Therefore, the question arises, if HR wants to build the brand of their company, then do they have budgetary allocation? In a large number of companies, be they public limited or private limited, HRs do not have much say in regular budgeting activities. They just have to put up with what their bosses allocate. Against this backdrop, asking for a budget for HR branding is a far cry.

In this age of the internet, all the information is readily available at the fingertips. Yet, if the need is felt to raise a query on the public forum to know about the basic concepts, then it speaks volumes about those who raise the query. Those who grapple with the fundamentals of searching for information, should they be worrying about the concepts of the very advanced stage of HR?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Company's branding starts with retention strategies, campus interviews, lateral interview processes, and employee engagement activities. The way you handle people inside and outside the organization impacts your brand. Every employee is a brand ambassador of an organization, but this role is even more critical for HR professionals within the organization.