HDA

About Employer Branding

People who feel proud to work for a business are motivated people who work well. And in turn, that makes the business more successful – and makes them feel even prouder to work there, with positive impact on employer reputation. It’s the kind of employer branding any firm would want – and why most companies should strive to make sure their workforces feel fully committed to the business. But how, exactly, do you measure their level of contentment and involvement and the effect on your employer branding? The answer is an employee engagement survey.

Employee engagement surveys can examine all aspects of a member of staff’s feelings about the place they work, their job, their responsibilities and their managers. Employee engagement surveys will tell a company how satisfied their staff are to be there – giving a good idea of the underlying well-being of the business and having a real impact on the company’s employer branding and reputation.

Many major companies regard an employee engagement survey as a crucial plank in their HR armoury, conducting them on a regular basis across either a sample section of their staff or across the whole workforce. The results provide important information about how well the business is doing from an internal perspective and providing vital pointers about areas for improvement.

Conducting an employee engagement survey is an important yet delicate business, often asking people to reveal sensitive information about a subject very close to their hearts. It’s imperative, therefore, that it is handled by employee engagement survey experts such as those at HDA, who fully understand the sensitivities involved.

Employee engagement survey experts work closely with a business to determine exactly in which areas information is required. This could perhaps be in the quality of line management, or to determine how people feel about their own career paths and personal development plans.

Often, an employee engagement survey is anonymous, allowing people to speak out without fear of reprisal and producing clear, honest results. Once the employee engagement survey has been conducted, the employee engagement survey specialists can then help the company to analyse the results and draw up action plans to address any concerns raised. The key to success is for organisations to work with an employee engagement survey provider which is strongly outcomes focused.

For companies with a dynamic and effective employee engagement survey programme, one result is an improvement in employer branding.

Every company, if it is to thrive, must recruit talented people, and then retain them in the face of strong competition from other businesses. Strong employer branding tells potential recruits that the business is deeply committed to its employees and treats them well, and quality recruits will always seek information on employer reputation when deciding where to apply.

Once safely through the door, talented individuals will again look to the connections between the employer brand of their firm as they perceived it before they joined, versus what they now experience as new members of staff, to reassure them that they are spending their time and efforts in the right place – the regular use of employee engagement surveys will reinforce this. They are also likely to talk about their employer brand with pride to people outside the company, further building employer reputation.

Employer Branding Services

Good employer branding is also an asset when it comes to competitiveness. Quality employer branding gives potential customers an extremely positive view of your company, boosting the company’s reputation and providing benefits when it comes to sales.

Employer branding experts such as HDA talk of the ‘wellness’ of an organisation – the level of which is easily determined with the right employee engagement surveys. ‘Well’ staff are happy and productive; absenteeism is low and efficiency is high, and the employer brand and employer reputation. Employee engagement surveys can play a big role in success.

So as business efficiency tools go, it’s easy to see that a strong employer branding approach and employee engagement surveys – when properly developed and used – can provide a competitive edge even in the most challenging of marketplaces.