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courage under fire
hile employer branding may not seem like a high priority to some, now is exactly the moment when organisations must take care to respect, protect and even elevate their reputation to internal and external people and clients. This was the consensus during the HR Indaba Conversation, Championing the employer brand in times of crisis, which was sponsored by Mercer.
– their health, wealth and careers – are the organisations that tend to maintain their employer brand,” she said.
Key stakeholders Employees are key stakeholders in organisations, and it is very important to maintain engagement when there is a crisis to ensure that organisations are truly hearing employees’ voices and taking their views into account, Keletjo said.
Senior associate Keletjo Chiloane presented a 2019 Mercer study in which 73 percent of executives had predicted a disruption within three years. She explained that in the past 18 months organisations have responded differently to the pandemic. Some have succeeded in ensuring that their employer brand has not been damaged but on the other hand, “some companies have really struggled with the way they engage with their employees, and how they put out communication into the markets and industries in which they operate”.
“The second important thing is to redesign the employee value proposition (EVP). A lot of elements help to form EVPs; one is building a purpose driven organisation where we make sure that employees also buy into the values of the organisation,” she said.
Keletjo reiterated that the issue around employer brand is not just tagged to the pandemic, no matter how topical that is. There aremany other influences and actions that create an employer brand, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Celiwe Ross, human capital director at Old Mutual Limited, believes brand has a lot to do with marketing, but that’s because they are the custodians of customer value proposition.
She noted that how employers respond in times of crisis is what will be remembered by employees both from a talent retention and attraction perspective. “At Mercer we speak about winning with empathy and we have noticed that organisations that take into consideration the wellbeing of their employees
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“The last is preventing unwanted employee turnover. We all know the costs of high turnover and that is something HR professionals would want to avoid and reduce so that we do not have a situation where we are bleeding talent,” Keletjo added.
“HR professionals are the custodians of employee value proposition and the two have to work together for them to make sense. Having spent time reflecting on the topic and thinking about our own employer brand and the things that are top of mind at Old Mutual, it’s clear employer brand is directly linked with reputation, with people’s perception of what the company does. It's the way current and future employees perceive you as a place of work,” she added. Celiwe says to do this successfully they believe that they need to target employees across the value chain.
“Mindset is one of the most important aspects during a crisis. Most individuals are living in a bubble and they are not realistic. Changing our mindset helps us to embrace what is happening/going through and also makes us be mindful.” - Jerodine Makwakwa, psychometrist at Sibanye Stillwater
“Those are new hires, from junior to mid and senior employees and those that are about to retire, because they continue to have a voice even when their careers with us are over,” she said. Covid-19 has brought the world of life and work together into one dimension. And it has shown us that the onus is on us as organisations to provide a place where these two worlds can thrive.
“The pandemic showed us that it is human to show vulnerabilities, which was not the norm prior to Covid-19.” - Carla Daniels, consulting lead, Mercer
“How do I as an employee make an impact not only on my organisation and colleagues but also to my community and society?” Celiwe asked. “Lastly
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