Comments on: When Employee Branding Hurts

By: yinka olaito

yinka olaito — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:22:43 +0000

Thanks for this great piece. Without proper employee branding, the corporate startegy will be damaged.

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Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:24:26 +0000

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By: CV Harquail

CV Harquail — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:18:12 +0000

Libby, long time in getting back to you, b/c I ended up writing a post (up soon) to clarify employer vs employee branding..
I wanted to pick up on the idea of the brand ambassador beyond the departure… assuming that the departure was just, procedurally, and positive emotionally, there’s a good chance that an enthusiastic employee becomes an enthusiastic alumnus. Thinking about IttyBitty’s situation, I got back down to the coffee mugs and the ‘branding’ of the outplacement situation. I believe that it was by chance/default/lack of attention that the outplacement site used the employer branded stuff. But it made me wonder– what would an employee branded outplacement center look like? What would the mugs say? What would the layoff script be? Intriguing to consider…..

By: CV Harquail

CV Harquail — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:59:40 +0000

Chris, Robin and Libby, THanks so much for your comments. I want to respond fully but I’m in the woods and my laptop battery is dying, so I will have to come back to this tomorrow. And, yes, this does give me time to mull over what you’ve raised . More soon.

By: Libby Sartain

Libby Sartain — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:59:21 +0000

After I hit send, I noticed I misspelled my own name…not good personal branding.

By: Libby Sartaom

Libby Sartaom — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:55:09 +0000

CV,
I am not sure I agree with how the topic “Employee Branding” is characterized in this post. I don’t think many employers try to brand their employees, but rather, to deliver a branded work experience where the employees ultimately become brand ambassadors. Employers, in this day in age, should not attempt to brand their employees, but should brand the experience of working at the company at every touch point from a time hears about the employer as a place to work through the departure.

In my book (literally), it is “Employer Branding”. Employer branding is how a business builds and packages its identity, origins and values, and what it promises to deliver to emotionally connect employees so that they, in turn, deliver what the business promises to customers.

That includes understanding the brand promise made to employees which rarely would include a promise of lifetime employment. It is understood that business conditions may change, jobs may be eliminated. The goal is to have a brand ambassador beyond the departure.

That said, it seems that IttyBittyCrazy’s employer tried to create a branded departure process. They didn’t consider that the last thing Itty wanted, was to be reminded of where she worked.

In my 30 years of HR work, I have handled it several ways; completely in-house, completely outsourced, and a hybrid. Most departing employees were appreciative of the effort, but some were understandably bitter. It depended on their relationship with the employer prior to the layoff.

By: CV Harquail

CV Harquail — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:21:56 +0000

Aimee, thanks so much for your comment. You’ve got me thinking about how that story could have gone…not only what kind of transition platform but also what kinds of tools and swag might have made parting easier. Maybe a mug that says “Proud you were a part of Initech. Thanks for all you contributed!” What do you think? < grin >

By: Aimee Day

Aimee Day — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:13:13 +0000

I love this article! It’s so important to preserve that goodwill when employees exit. The traditional outplacement services described above aren’t always the best option, and their not the only option available to employers! Let’s hope businesses start to explore alternative transition platforms so that all exiting employees have a tool that suits their needs and preserves their goodwill!