Employer branding is a constant and continuous strategy that every employer tries to achieve. But employer branding, like any other business process, needs a plan based on the resources available and the goals employers have in mind for their company. There is no singular agreement on which theme or technique of employer branding works best for a particular company; different business sizes determine success in their own way via market share numbers and overall brand recognition, which is why every employer should analyse their own specific company, its market, as well as its staffing requirements to make relevant decisions about structuring an employer brand catered specifically to their company.
1) Employer Branding for SMEs
Small and medium enterprises constitute a majority of Myanmar’s business landscape. In fact, 99.4% of all businesses in Myanmar are listed as SMEs and they account for a significant proportion of employment opportunities in the country, making it critical for recruiting entities to create a distinguished employer brand to stand out from thousands of others trying to garner the attention of Myanmar’s workforce population. Due to limited time and/or resources, employer branding for SMEs can appear to be quite generic but there should be a few things to note while designing a popular employer brand that can conveniently attract the potential employees without exhausting much of the company’s resources. Employer branding practices across various Myanmar SMEs will vary greatly, but mentioned below is an overview of how SMEs in Myanmar promote their brand for the hiring purpose.
One budget-friendly and therefore common employer branding move that many SME employers make is creating a profile on Myanmar’s top recruiting platforms and HR outsourcing agencies and reaching out to their potential candidates through these intermediaries. LinkedIn, Facebook, and even freelancing platforms like ChateSat are among the most applicable digital branding tools for SME employers. Full suite recruiting and employer branding partners like JobNet are also an affordable and viable solution for employers who want to showcase their brands and win quality recruits from a massive pool of qualified applicants. Employers in this category also can evaluate employer branding metrics that allow them to identify whether their employer branding efforts have been paying off or not, such as analyzing retention and turnover figures. These important business statistics help measure if you have an employer brand that not only manages to recruit but also to sustain the employees.
Key Takeaway
Business Type: SME
Employer Branding Theme: Professional branding and recruitment outsourcing platforms
2) Employer Branding for Startups
The startup ecosystem is on the rise in Myanmar with hundreds of new tech-based companies providing innovative solutions to empower the community and address pressing issues on a national scale. Startups are beginning to take up more and more of Myanmar’s business landscape because Myanmar had been long closed off to modern technology and international awareness, so the rapid growth of technology in almost all industrial sectors paired with the influx of foreign direct investment at the same time is accelerating the growth of modern business solutions. Being branded as a startup in terms of being a potential employer could be tricky partly because one, many startups command very low public awareness especially those in the nascent stage and two, startups are not able to offer extraordinarily competitive salaries, and getting employees to work for them for a less attractive package could be a deal breaker for many jobseekers.
Many startups still in their pre-seed, seed, or early growth stage are limited on the budget they can allocate for advertising and marketing their own products and services so employer branding costs are one kind of expense they choose not to spend lavishly on. For startups still striving to achieve fundamental sales and brand awareness goals, it can be seen as reasonable not to use a lot of money to grab the attention of job seekers because there are many other ways to brand startups as potential employers without running out of budget. Social media marketing for example is one ideal approach to get people to notice your startup as an employer. You can choose to use Facebook’s services to boost ads for about your job openings at a very reasonable cost but you can also accelerate your brand recognition and employer status through organic posts and authentic brand to consumer engagement. You can even leverage your own social media profiles and those of your friends and family to get access to potential hires without incurring a penny of cost.
Key Takeaway
Business Type: Startups
Employer Branding Theme: Social Media
3) Employer Branding for Large Enterprises
Myanmar’s biggest banks, financial firms, non-financial institutions, construction companies, and other business leaders also happen to be the most notable employers that almost seem like they don’t have to specifically create an employer branding to attract the workers because people already are vying to secure a spot in one of such companies. However, the purpose of employer branding goes far beyond merely convincing people to work for an employer: employer branding actually aims toward recruiting the right people at the right time at the right place. Having many people taking an interest in a position you’re offering does not necessarily imply that your employer brand is working well. This is one HR mistake that many high-profile recruiters make - being content and sufficient by the mere fact that many people apply for a job they’re offering. It becomes a question of quantity and quality for the organization.
Large enterprises in Myanmar usually design their employer branding campaigns around CSR campaigns and other non-profit events that play well in the news and tug on the heartstrings of others. Because large enterprises usually commit to sponsoring charitable causes mostly within educational and environmental areas, they are easily connected to and known by many other businesses and NGOs alike. CSRs are not just an opportunity to support the worthy causes and create a lasting impact, they are also a way to show the public what the company stands for; what its values are and how the corporate vision aligns with general society. This entices many people to take an interest in the company’s business operations and eventually can turn into thinking about the opportunity to work at the company itself. Engaging in CSR events can be an expensive corporate move monetarily but it really becomes worth it because of the intangible network the company can get exposed to and a number of advantages that the company can leverage from that network and to grow its business; which money cannot buy.
Key Takeaway
Business Type: Large enterprises
Employer Branding Theme: CSR