Employer branding, although not a new concept, is not yet a task undertaken much in Myanmar due to the typical confusion that arises between employer branding and HR marketing. Misinformed employer branding could occasionally lead to expectation mismatches, bad hires, resource misallocations, or other financially harmful consequences. Knowing how to orchestrate and execute a proper employer brand is especially important in today’s economy due to the influx of foreign investments and international enterprises emerging in Myanmar, making it critical to have a brand that can bring in quality recruits. It is also imperative to understand the prevalent ‘myths’ about employer branding because one ill-informed piece of the overall strategy can lead to undesirable HR consequences for the company. Listed below are four prevalent misconceptions about employer branding alongside the realities to them.
Myth 1: Offering a competitive salary is what makes an employer stand out the most.
Reality 1: A competitive salary, indeed, puts an employer on the radar of potential new hires, but that doesn’t mean a handsome paycheck is the only thing that attracts candidates. More and more, job candidates are now in pursuit of jobs that can provide work-life balance, career advancement opportunities, a level of autonomy commensurate with their role, and a distinctive company culture rather than just monetary compensation.
In Myanmar, with the rise of tech-enabled enterprises, the foreign investment startup ecosystem, and a massive pool of career resources available online; many professionals are aiming to get employed with a company that can prepare them to be well-rounded individuals who have the capacity and autonomy to make their own decisions within the workplace. More and more candidates are turning to small companies where they can have more flexibility as well as the opportunity to assume various roles rather than just stick to a strictly designated one. Myanmar companies are also becoming more aware of their employees’ tendency to look at more than salary while deciding whether or not continue to stay with them, and in turn offering a more wholistic employee experience.
To compare salaries across different industries, the JobNet’s online salary survey is one of the most useful tools that can generate a 100% real time salary survey with regular updates designed to inform any employer.
Myth 2: A good branding strategy can pass as branding both the employer and the company’s products or services.
Reality 2: Employer branding and corporate branding have subtle yet important distinctions from one another. Executing a branding strategy should have a distinct plan, and that plan should be oriented toward whom the brand is intended for. Both the employer brand and corporate brand work towards elevating the general reputation of the company the business it’s running; although distinctions arise in such a way that an employer brand aspires to spread awareness about its HR opportunities, recruit personnel, and retain them for the long run. Corporate brand, on the other hand, intends to differentiate the products and services it streamlines through structured marketing, advertising and strategic partnering. When executed appropriately, they can build on each other to leverage the strengths of one to highlight the benefits of the other.
Read more about the differences between employer branding and corporate branding here.
Myth 3: Employer branding must be an expensive component of a recruitment strategy to be successful.
Fact 3: Employer branding definitely lasts for longer than simply a round of recruitment because it aims to do more than staff the company; it manages to increase awareness about the what the company offers to its job candidates, moves them to apply for a position, and continues to sustain the telling of what a company stands for in the long run. However, designing a good employer brand does not have to be cost prohibitive. As a matter of fact, employer branding is such a strategic process that careful planning and analysis reveals a few ways in which to avoid developing an overly expensive employer brand that barely serves the intended purpose.
Social media, for one, is definitely something every employer can and should leverage to attract desirable recruits. According to a career survey published last year, approximately 70 percent of employers globally use social media to locate and the suitable job, and a portion of these employers even use these social media channels to check the general social or professional standing of their current employees. With a rapidly evolving workforce, potential white collar hires in Myanmar are prolific with their ability to connect and gain information and share themselves online. The Myanmar corporate environment, likewise, is starting to become more and more tech-educated with many millennials going on Facebook to connect, stay in touch with, or get noticed by their potential employers. This is why leveraging social media is an inexpensive yet effective HR move that every employer can start thinking about today (if he or she hasn’t done so yet).
JobNet’s Job Portal is another effective channel for recruiting and employer branding due to its enormous professional community comprising hundreds of thousands of job seekers and recruiters. Both job seekers and employers can browse from a wide range of JobNet products and services tailored for them at the most reasonable pricing schemes, and companies can curate their Company Profile to project the image of the employer brand they want to show potential new recruits.
Read more about inexpensive employer branding strategies here.
Myth 4: Employer branding should always be a strict, formal, and professional process of building a company identity.
Fact 4: Neither employer branding nor corporate branding has to be a strictly formal showcase; the bottom line of branding for an employer is to get people to be interested in working for them, and branding should be done accordingly. An employer brand largely revolves around the company’s work culture and, in turn, that culture is dependent on such factors as the industry the company is operating in, the size of the business, products and services it is offering, and so forth. As businesses and entire industries develop and change, so too should an employer branding to represent being on the front edge of innovation and thought leadership through the evolution process.
Although there is not one single employer branding strategy that works for every company, it is always a good idea to learn from internationally successful companies and see if there is anything in particular that could be applied to Myanmar’s business entities. With the continued expansion of international firms into Myanmar, these large companies bring with them the dynamic Employer Brand experience that employees all over the world will admire and respect.
Read more about different employer branding themes here.
Employer branding doesn’t have to be a very painstaking task, and with the right approach and attitude can make all the difference for your company. Therefore, being able to tell what a good employer brand is all about and how to build one is a core piece of knowledge every employer should have.