There has been a lot of discussion around company branding in recent times. Experts and professionals have talked about company’s brand image in the market and industry which has been established to contribute significantly towards revenue generation, employment opportunities, reaching out to customers, attracting fresh consumer base, attracting candidate profiles and so on. But there is another element that has gained momentum in recent times which is known as the talent branding. This becomes significant when a company enters the recruitment phase. Talent branding essentially refers to the opinions and viewpoints of current and previous employees of an organization. The most common source of information for this segment is the online forums and portals wherein individuals share their experience at the time of employment with a particular brand. Even the candidates who have appeared for interview and selection process for a company are important source of talent branding. While it is a cumulative effort of the organization towards building up of talent brand, the HR and the marketing segment have the major responsibility towards this initiative. The importance of talent branding is as follows: –
- Today every company is looking out for top notch professionals who can add to the skill set enhancement of the organization. With technology rapidly evolving at a very fast pace, the need for experienced professionals for operational and production processes become very important. But in most cases it is found that these top notch professionals are passive candidates who are not looking out for employment opportunities proactively. If a company has a strong talent branding back up then it is possible to engage these professionals in the selection process.
- Talent branding is a major contributor towards retention of the existing workforce. When the new recruitments are made, the individuals perform a certain level of research on the company through online forums. The talent branding helps in creating a positive image in front of the candidate. So after the selection process, such individuals have better chances of staying with the company than others. It helps in reducing any potential mismatch on expectation from the employer as well as the employee end.
- Talent branding has been known to generate better referrals from the employees and external sources. The normal psychology is that when employees are happy to work in an environment that is motivating and productive at the same time, they spread the word in their network. Mostly the social media platforms are the popular places where they share their experience. This brings in relevant profiles at the time of recruitment which is in line with the company culture. Talent branding adds to the cause in a productive way.
- Lastly, it is a mechanism that helps in controlling the reputation of the brand in a more structured manner. It is obvious that a company cannot have 100% positive reviews. The terminated employees tend to post negative feedback about the brand. If the company has strong talent branding mechanism, this situation can be handled with ease.
