An employer brand can be considered a sub-branch of the entire corporate brand, with the former focusing inward on employees and the latter outward on customers. Branding a company’s employer and corporate values helps distinguish it from its market competitors and solidify the company’s status as a trustworthy name in both the employee market and the products/services market.
Branding is a vital aspect of any company and in Myanmar, employers still often make use of generic branding strategies that seemingly cater to both employer brand and corporate brand. Despite there being numerous processes that serve both brand and corporate purposes, there are some major distinctions that can affect the success of a business in any environment. In addition, the influx of foreign investments over the last decade has made the job market at lot more competitive, making the process of building a distinct employer brand all the more important. What comes below is a simplified differentiation of employer branding and corporate branding to guide all business owners and executives in Myanmar. Using a unique brand strategy is a proven way companies can stand out from the competition.
Value Proposition
An employer brand and a corporate brand differs mainly in terms of the value proposition they create. An employer showcases its brand through the job opportunities and the work environment it offers to the employees while the overall corporate brand focuses on the products and services they bring to market.
Understanding the value proposition is very important because it is something unique that differentiates a person or a business from the competition. Corporate and Employer value propositions essential to be showcased can be better understood with the use of Value Proposition Canvas, a tool to help the companies build a framework for both of the branding processes. Companies in Myanmar should think of brand value proposition as a key tool or framework that can seamlessly introduce a product or service in an easy to understand manner, win the buy-in of the market, and achieve the purpose of generating attention and ultimately sales. Myanmar employers can consider integrating the overall corporate brand values to the employer brand as well, that is extending the message about the corporate culture to the employer, too.
Stakeholders
An employer brand appeals to its applicant pool, thus the candidates and the employees as well while a corporate generally appeals mainly to its customers.
Stakeholder management and relationship is important for both employer branding and corporate branding. As a matter of fact, companies that attract many stakeholders through a strong brand are the ones that stand out in the industry as go-to employers for job seekers. In Myanmar however, there are certain stakeholder management imbalances evident in many companies. For example, employers in Myanmar focus more on recruitment marketing and promotion to forge a good relationship between the prospective or future employees but they often miss out on forging the same positive relationship with the current employees who are also important stakeholders for the company.
Goals and Values
Employer branding works towards three primary goals: attracting, recruiting, and eventually, retaining talent. Myanmar companies generally can improve their branding strategies by defining the end goals of each of these outcomes. As Myanmar is now exposed to international enterprises and foreign business landscape more than ever; it becomes easier for Myanmar companies to emulate such successful international companies based here and model after their branding practices to create their own stand-out brand. On average, Myanmar is a society that cares more about family values, proximity to loved ones, and development of personal attributes than materialistic possessions, making salary a secondary consideration for employees while making a decision to work for a company. This is even more crucial due to the fact that Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country; with its fair share of cultural sensitivity, preferences, and reservations, etc. that are exceedingly important in personal and professional conduct. Accordingly, some workplace practices and cultural inclinations that employers find normal in westernized countries may be inappropriate or frowned upon by Myanmar locals and vice versa. It is important to keep these traits in mind when developing your employer brand strategy in order to be more relevant and in line with your target audience.