How Employer Branding During COVID

1. How Employer Branding During COVID – 19 helps? Employer branding isn't just for attracting and hiring new employees. It also has a substantial section on "staff experience." Do you treat your workers with respect? Do you have any feelings towards them? Employer branding is being put to the test in the midst of the pandemic, when many firms are being forced to make the difficult decision of reducing their business procedures or transitioning to a remote working style. There is already a lot of talent out there talking about how a specific company is assisting its employees in setting up their home office, or how a company is no longer offering sick leave, or how a company has relaxed its strict work hours policy. As a result, it's clear that how you assist and treat your staff during this crisis will matter and reflect a lot in the coming days. All of this potential might be realised through employee engagement. Here are two examples of companies that have just done right with their employer branding during the pandemic. Airbnb’s Communication Amidst the pandemic, Airbnb had to let go of a huge number of their employees. It is said to be one of the largest layoffs in Silicon Valley during the pandemic. But, the way the Airbnb CEO, Brian Chesky has communicated the news to its employees will surely pay off in years to come. First of all, he had been completely transparent to his people, he made a clear point on the cuts that the company was making which made it obvious to eliminate the roles and not the people. Finally, his empathetic and compassionate tone set the right tone for this extremely difficult communication. Surely, Airbnb would be looked upon as a preferred employer in the coming years. Walmart’s Communication

2. Here is another example of great employer branding from Walmart. Quite opposite to the Airbnb story, Walmart is one of those few organizations that did well during the pandemic. They had to do a mass hiring of 150,000 employees to meet up with their demand. The Walmart CEO Dough McMillon visited many of the Walmart stores talking to its frontline employees during the pandemic. If you want to improve your employer branding during the pandemic and beyond, here are some pointers for you: 1.Employee First: The first step towards building a positive employee engagement and strengthen your employer brand is to build on an ‘employee-first’ culture. Be empathetic, flexible, engaging with your employees. Understand their plight and respond with dignity and care. 2.Build a positive brand across the PESO media: PESO or paid, earned, shared, and owned media covers every aspect of branding and building brand awareness. Now is the time to build your positive brand image across the PESO media. Write a blog, share a post, put a video message. Leverage social media. PESO media helps you to connect and engage with your present and future employees positively when done right. 3.It’s time to put your leadership skill to test: During trying times like this, employees look up to their leaders for guidance and assurance. How you deal with the situation now will impact your business in the coming years. Lead them with a lot of compassion and empathy, at the same time be determined and resilient. 4.Communicate: Increase your brand loyalty by communicating with your employees. Leverage social media platforms to engage with your present employees along with your future potential employees. Proactive and frequent communication helps build trust, especially in times of such crisis. 5.Be honest and transparent: When amidst a crisis, you need to maintain transparency at all times. Be honest in all your communications. Keep it simple and straightforward so that there is no room for assumption which may lead to anxiety or panic.

3. 6.Take care of your customers too: While it is important to take care of your employees, it is equally important to keep your customers in mind too. Brands that take care of their customers have a significant impact on increasing the trust in their brand and employer branding too. As Randstad mentioned in one of their reports, the strongest brands are going to be resilient and would be able to limit the damage. If you’re neglecting your employer branding it is high time you pay attention to it. As Randstad says, “…companies that are going to ignore employer branding altogether now, and not give it any attention again until the economy and the labour market start to recover, will be the losers of tomorrow’s labour market.”