Report Tile

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Report Tile
Employment Branding
UNITED STATES OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
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Presented to the IPMA-HR Federal
SectionMid-Level HR Practitioners' Course
October 25, 2006
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What comes to mind when you see the following?
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What feelings does this emblem invoke?
Feelings of

• Happiness
• Family fun
• Excitement
• Family values

Where dreams come true
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This recognition and its related feelings are the
result of successful branding

• Branding is a key means of differentiating your
  product or service from others in the marketplace
• The brand often is what drives customers to buy
• Branding starts with a sense of customer
  awareness and, if done well, leads to customer
  loyalty, and even to customer insistence on your
  particular product or service

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Branding ultimately is about emotional connection

• What will your brand offer prospective buyers
• How will they feel with your product or service
• What will be the value to your customer
• What does your brand promise to your customer

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You can also brand your image as an employer
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What if, at the mention of your agency

• Current and future employees could envision the
  positive aspects of working for you, versus
  someone else

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How can you gain an advantage in your recruitment
and retention efforts?

• Youve heard about the retirement wave
• You need to attract, hire, and retain the best
  and brightest applicants for your agency, and not
  simply fill seats
• You are competing with all Federal and
  non-Federal employers
• You must increase applicant awareness of WHO YOU
  ARE, WHAT YOU STAND FOR, and WHAT THEY WILL GAIN
  by working for you

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Employment branding is a key recruitment tool for
Federal agencies

• Employment branding
• Establishes an emotional connection between your
  product or service (a meaningful career) and your
  customer (potential employees)
• Persuades job seekers to want to work for you
• Is successful when it leads those job seekers to
  become applicants
• Successful applicants become employees

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Employment branding is a key retention tool for
Federal agencies

• Successful employment branding
• Identifies and leverages your organizations
  strengths
• Promises value and benefits that are different
  and better than other employers
• Energizes and inspires your workforce
• You can retain good employees by staying true to
  your brand promise

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Your employment brand is really your promise to
employees

• WHAT promise can you makeand keepto your
  employees?
• WHO are you as an employer?
• HOW can your brand lead someone from being a job
  seeker to being an employee?

• HOW do you want to be perceived?
• WHY should someone work for you and not another
  agency?
• WHAT text and images will support and convey your
  promise to customers and stakeholders?

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Branding is more than just

• Logos
• Images
• Pictures
• Icons
• Marketing
• Slogans
• However, these are part of the brands identity
  and serve to support and enforce the brand

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Agency Branding vs. Employment Branding

• Most agencies have an overall brand message and
  supporting graphics, which help the public and
  stakeholders identify them and their services

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Your agencys overall brand creates its first
impression

• Think of agency branding as a verbal and graphic
  expression of your corporate image,
  transmittingthe essence of your organization to
  outsiders both quickly and thoroughly
• The graphics, taglines, logos and pictures are
  the tangible part of your brand
• The essence of your organization is the
  intangible partsomething that customers and
  potential customers come to know and feel based
  on your brand

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Employment Branding

• a targeted, long-term strategy to manage the
  awareness and perceptions of employees, potential
  employees, and related stakeholders with regard
  to a particular firm. The strategy can be tuned
  to drive recruitment, retention, and productivity
  management efforts. It works by consistently
  putting forth an image surrounding management and
  business practices that make your organization an
  attractive, good place to work.
• - Dr. John Sullivan
• A Federal employment brand should be built upon
  the agencys overall brand
• Your goal is to be perceived as an Employer of
  Choice to current and future employees

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What did you do at your job today?

• OPM Recruitment Showcase
• OPM has produced ads running in various areas of
  the country highlighting the exciting careers
  available in the Federal Government
• The ads encourage Americans to step forward and
  serve their nation in the Federal civilian
  workforce
• See www.USAJOBS.gov/impact

• Maxine Brown

• Earl H. Stockdale

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Case Study

• At the U.S. General Services Administration, we
• Help federal agencies better serve the public by
  offering, at best value, superior workplaces,
  expert solutions, acquisition services and
  management policies
• Are the governments landlord, meeting office
  and other space requirements of the federal
  workforce
• Are the premier federal acquisition and
  procurement force offering equipment, supplies,
  telecommunications, and integrated information
  technology solutions to customer agencies

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Case Study

• Cutting edge careers Gone is the stereotype of
  the dull gray government job. At GSA, we are on
  the cutting edge in an ever-growing number of
  fields, from IT to architecture, e-commerce to
  alternative-fuel vehicles
• World class opportunities Enjoy empowering and
  rewarding work. Check out GSAjobs to see what
  works for you at GSA

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Case Study
U.S. Postal Service

• The U.S. Postal Service . . .
• Delivers to every household and business in the
  United States
• Handles 46 of the worlds card and letter mail
• Has 750,000 personnel
• Has 38,000 retail outlets
• Operates the largest vehicle fleet in the world
  
  

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Case Study
The USPS Management Intern Program (MIP)
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Describing the benefits
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Guiding job seekers to become applicants
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Steps to successful employment branding

• Determine
• Who are your target applicants
• What is the essencethe heart and soulof your
  agency
• What promise will you offer as an employer
• How can you attract and lead job seekers to
  ultimately become employees
• What symbols and language will support your
  employment brands identity and differentiate you
  from others

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Characteristics of an effective employment
branding strategy

• Clearly communicates what your agency is all
  about and offers compelling reasons to work there
• Has a catchy slogan that is short, convincing and
  has high impact
• Offers a message that is believable, sincere, and
  isn't a slick PR piece that says "phony
• Is "current but timeless" and excites across
  generations and job functions

From www.drjohnsullivan.com
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Consider career patterns of prospective
applicants and associated work attractors

• Todays talent seeks employer-employee
  relationships that vary across many dimensions
  and are not limited to traditional career
  patterns. Agencies should
• Incorporate career patterns into workforce
  planning and other strategic human capital
  management efforts
• Build work environments that appeal to broad sets
  of potential workers spanning the range of career
  patterns
• Highlight flexibilities in your recruitment and
  branding initiatives

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How OPM Can Help

• OPMs Center for Talent Services (CTS) has worked
  with many agencies to help them identify who they
  are and what they offer that is UNIQUE to their
  agency
• Weve successfully designed, implemented and
  managed large-scale recruitment and branding
  campaigns for such agencies as GSA, DHS, USPS,
  and USDA/APHIS
• We have experienced HR consultants ready to help
  you develop and implement your branding strategy

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Contacts
Melissa Krost, Solutions Manager Recruitment and
Branding Human Resources Consulting Program (404)
832-0109 Melissa.Krost_at_opm.gov Kim Bauhs, Acting
Assistant Director Human Resources Consulting
Program [phone] Kim.Bauhs_at_opm.gov
Workforce Solutions
by Government, for Government