The Next Normal of Employer Brand 2

The Next Normal Of Employer Brand

Welcome to this new weekly video series on “The Next Normal” of employer brand, by Bryan Adams and Dave Hazlehurst of employer brand agency, Ph. Creative. We’ll be sharing some cool content that we as an agency are interested in, and also some content that you lot as a community are driving. We hope you find our views and take on the industry just as interesting - and unusual - as we do.

In episode two, Dave and Bryan catch up on…

1. Controlling The Controllables

There might be some risk litigation and turbulence on how to handle your employer brand right now, but there’s a golden opportunity to bring people closer together than ever before. At Ph, we can relate, we’re much further apart but we’ve never felt closer together, this distinction is something to highlight and capitalize on.

It’s time to reinforce what you stand for as an organization, to demonstrate empathy and compassion, and collect these stories to use later down the line or at least use internally to educate, motivate and celebrate pulling through this time together.

Everyone sells the dream. But we’re in adversity and right now there's a real opportunity to show that story and how employers are coming through it, it’s a positive step.

Organizations who are particularly vulnerable or have numerous jobs that are at risk should realise, some people would stay with them through thick and thin rather than these big financially strong organizations who are treating their people poorly, like keeping them in the dark and not sharing things.

  “Employer branding isn’t the why or what, it’s the how, it’s how you make people feel.” - Bryan Adams 

It’s a common phrase, “distance doesn’t separate people, silence does”, physically we’re more apart but more connected and moving into the new and next normal we should be sharper and clearer with communications.

Read Bryan’s full article here on, Never Waste A Crisis: Why COVID-19 Is A Golden Opportunity To Galvanize Your Culture.

2. The Silver-Lining 

Even with the best intentions as we move forward- don’t assume how people are feeling. Look to make decisions after we know what the new landscape looks like. The next steps should be more listening, especially to employees and associates.

The empathy and understanding of how people are feeling is important; by speaking to people, you feel it and it’s never been a more socially acceptable time to be vulnerable. Remember this is a disruptive time and vulnerability is welcomed.

Set your expectations and aspirations of where you want to be and the company. From a position of weakness, you have clarity on where you want to go. There’s an opportunity to get the disproportionate volume and calibre of talent with the organizations being more authentic.

Some ask, is it ethical to talent pool in a time like this? As long as you're open to people from the start with the truth, you’ll find those that are open to exploring new avenues.

3. Love The Struggle

Now is a brilliant time to recognize the employees, what they’re doing and the experience they’re creating.

There’s an opportunity not to just think of what they’re producing, saying and doing, but a great time to learn and research characteristics of who you are as an organization and who your people are. Is it an appropriate time to conduct research? We always say, with every interaction there’s an opportunity to learn.

It’s critical to see how your employees are coping, remote working is here to stay but what does that look like for the future of your organization? Just asking for their input will be super interesting.

There will be lots of companies who are flexible and agile enough to listen to the needs of their people to form a ‘welcome back to work pack' tailored to them and probably long-term not just now for the short-term.

See Bryan’s article on, The Invisible, Intangible Business Superpower That Almost Never Gets Used To Differentiate, here.

4. Improving The Experience 

Does your organization have the time to get ready for the next normal and be prepared? To improve the experience and be better than before.

A practical thing to do right now is change job descriptions, review interview questions and refresh them. Many organizations have let go of hundreds and thousands of people, it’s difficult to do under any circumstances and especially with empathy to keep the brand intact. 

Going forward companies will be hiring back in such a short space of time, soon- hopefully, and it’ll be a big challenge. There are things to consider, have you got the people, the process and tech to do it all at scale?

Just because there will be a plethora of jobs on the market, maximum employment doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to hire these people, companies will need to factor in there’ll be a greater proportion of organizations fighting for talent at the same time and those prepared who have strategies and tactics will win.

“2020 is the year of the employer brand, and we might not recognise that until the year 2021”. - Bryan Adams

Organizations who move with agility, speed and adapt while factoring in the changes in the marketplace and their employees' experience, we’re going to see a gulf ​open up because of the decisions being made now.

Check out Bryan’s article on, 5 Strategies Smart Companies Should Employ During A Hiring Freeze, here.

Watch the full episode below, and don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter to receive notifications on our live monthly discussion.

Learn how to attract and retain talent with our Employer Brand Sprint Course.

Cited Sources in Video:

• The Chinese character for crisis is danger and opportunity
• Josh Bersin - Remote Working is Here to Stay