Zero Cost Employer Branding

How every hiring manager can use the big 5 employee moments of truth to strengthen your employer brand

For over 20 years we have known about customer moments of truth. These occur when a customer has an interaction with your brand that has high emotive value. For example: a customer making a complaint. How it is handled can build lifelong loyalty or it can destroy trust and have them complaining to 20 people about your brand. It’s time employers got educated about employee moments of truth. These occur when an employee has an interaction with high emotive value. It can be positive or negative – either way it leaves a lasting impression. These highly charged moments stay with employees, these moments colour their perception of your employer brand forever.

Hiring managers need to be prepared for the big five moments of truth in the employment life cycle in order to handle them with finesse. You’ll be the leader they’ll want to follow. It’s a powerful contribution to an employer brand that attracts high quality staff. Zero cost and so easy you can start today.

So what are the big five employee moments of truth?

Interview. The interview process for your future employee needs to be a great experience. In today’s candidate short market applicants shop for jobs and need to be sold on the benefit of one opportunity in direct comparison to multiple options. The interview should provide a clear understanding of what they will be doing on a day-to-day basis, the people they will work alongside and the growth opportunities it will provide for them. It should leave them with a vivid picture of what life will be like should they choose you to be their leader –make every candidate feel valued during every touch point in the recruiting process.

Offer. The employment offer should be competitive and compelling. To be compelling it isn’t just about the remuneration. Work-life balance, the opportunity to do meaningful work that makes an important contribution to the organisations overall goals and the chance develop new skills are compelling reasons to say yes. Generation Y’s want to learn and baby boomers want a chance to share their knowledge and skills, tap into these needs.

Onboarding. Attachment to the organization during the first 90 days is critical to ensure engagement and retention. Make sure there is a program that extends beyond orientation and includes relevant training, multiple touch points, exposure to senior management, consistent communication, and the opportunity to offer opinions about what could be improved upon. In any new role there is an enormous amount of new data to take in. Make sure you tailor the learning process to the learning style of your new employee. Simply asking ‘what would you like to learn first?’ from a menu of ‘must knows’ and ‘how would you like to learn it?’ is an easy way to ensure you are helping them absorb new information in the fastest possible way. New employees should be welcomed to events and feeling like part of the team before they even start.

Performance Management. The annual review will not suffice. Regular feedback and acknowledgement are hallmarks of great leaders. Employees need clarity around their goals and easy to access evidence to assess if they are meeting performance standards. Along with management feedback support them to gather their own feedback on their performance from multiple sources. Employees also want to understand what is expected beyond their present capacity; what will be required to move into the next opportunity. Support the feedback needs of generation Y and the giving back needs of baby boomers by implementing a coaching or mentoring program. Employees should be paired with someone who has a vested interest in their success. Pairing candidates from different generations or across segments of the business is a great way to bridge gaps and build understanding throughout the workplace. Differentiate your employer brand with executives by offering external coaching to support their first three months.

Exiting. The first day and last day of a job are the ones that stay with us the longest. Celebrating the contribution of exiting staff – every time – is an opportunity to galvanise respect and loyalty. Take time tell the story of this person’s unique contribution. Find out what they are most proud of and highlight it to their peers. Give their peers a chance to express their appreciation too. You will be promoting trust in you as a leader to current, future and past staff. How well your culture supports healthy relationships at this phase of the employment lifecycle is a measure of the loyalty that you will gain in all relationships. Don’t risk the poor message a poorly organised farewell sends.

Being prepared for the big five moments of truth in the employment life cycle doesn’t need budget allocation or a committee to roll it out. It’s a painless and cost-effective way to create a powerful contribution to your employer brand. So easy, you can start today.

Isabelle coaches CEO’s and high performing executives. She trains leaders to coach around Australia, in New Zealand, Singapore and China. Isabelle is the founder of Mackerel Sky – Leadership Matters. She runs leadership programs for business and associations to build capacity and retain top talent. Call 1300 898 321 from anywhere in Australia or +61 (0) 408 008 454. www.mackerelsky.com.au