The results of your employer branding survey (Personnel Today, 17 May) demonstrate that there is a gap between strategy and implementation that must be bridged if a company is to communicate a clear and consistent employer brand.
Most HR professionals believe employer branding is important for recruiting the best candidates, yet three-quarters indicate that control of the employer brand lies outside of their remit, with most suggesting that it lies with the marketing department.
But HR departments are not powerless to control the employer brand, although the tactical implementation of external brand communications has traditionally fallen well outside the ambit of HR.
Organisations spend considerable time and effort communicating with customers and investors, but employees and candidates appear to be regarded as an afterthought.
If employer brand development is so important to HR strategists, they must harness the resources that will deliver their vision.
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This means that they must engage forcefully with other departments, such as the marketing team and people working in communications departments, to ensure that well-conceived employer brand strategies are fully realised in practice.
Jerry Collier
Director
Alexander Mann Solutions
