[03] One Vision, One Mission: The Success of Shared Goals in Employer Brand

In my last article, I highlighted the critical importance of clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs), Talent Acquisition (TA), and Employer Branding (EB) professionals. This step is essential for fostering a truly integrated collaborative approach. When aligned, these functions can maximise the potential of your employer brand, enhancing talent attraction and elevating employee engagement to new heights.

In this article, I will stress the importance of co-creating shared goals that unify HR, talent acquisition, and employer branding efforts. I will present essential actions to drive the collaboration towards success. I want to address why we have yet to create an aligned goal about employer brand among CHROs, TA, and EB.

Let’s identify this significant gap and work together to close it effectively.

Shared goals harness the collective strengths of each party’s perspectives, needs, and expertise, creating a transparent and mutual path towards success. When stakeholders buy-in from the outset, teams naturally feel more engaged and aligned.

Do CHROs, TA, and EB share common goals? Absolutely.

It is widely acknowledged that HR serves as the organisation’s primary point of contact with both employees and potential hires. As such, HR must take the lead in establishing a strong employer brand, actively working to cultivate and uphold the organisation’s reputation as an exceptional place to work.

However, I’ve noticed a significant challenge: a lack of a comprehensive understanding of defining roles and their associated metrics.

This gap hinders how their efforts influence their areas and strategically impact others—ultimately affecting the overall employer brand. Furthermore, there is often an emphasis on short-term operations, which can overshadow the development of a long-term vision. It’s like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle with only a handful of pieces and no picture for reference—you miss the bigger picture entirely.

So, why are shared goals so limited within organisations? The answer is clear: collaboration is complex!

Influencing and engaging others takes time and effort, leading many to retreat into silos, following the priorities dictated by their leaders. In our increasingly agile and adaptable work environment, the importance of collaboration cannot be overstated.

Demonstrating tangible accomplishments is essential; however, noteworthy achievements in fostering high-performance collaborative teams will capture the attention and appreciation of senior leadership. The key to success is to acknowledge these challenges head-on and foster synergy through meaningful conversations from the very start.

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Case in Point: How Co-Creation Drives Transformative Success!

As a subject matter expert (SME) in EB and TA for global organisations, I have meticulously mapped out every touchpoint that candidates and employees experience. I made informed improvements by understanding what drives their experiences and various parties' contributions.

It's essential to openly communicate the connections among the activities managed by each party, accompanied by measurable outcomes to track progress. I analysed our current state in-depth to uncover critical short-term and long-term improvement areas. I empowered each party to develop action plans and then regroup as “OneHR” to ensure cohesion.

Shared goals are fundamental to achieving maximum impact. With over 20 years of experience in talent attraction and acquisition, I have the insights to foster productive discussions that lead to a comprehensive and practical plan with CHROs and TA. Together, we drive meaningful change and elevate our talent strategy.

Throughout my career, I have seen firsthand the obstacles that arise when teams work in silos, lacking the collaboration necessary to establish shared goals. For instance, the CHRO has crafted an engaging employee story to promote our organisational culture and enhance employee engagement. However, there has yet to be an outreach to EB to adapt this narrative for external talent attraction. Similarly, TA collaborated with the business to produce compelling video content for graduate recruitment. Yet, they haven’t considered partnering with EB to ensure these materials effectively reach current employees and potential recruits for experienced positions.

This disconnect extends beyond HR; for example, the Marketing team has created customer stories featuring our employees. However, they neglected to partner with EB to explore how this content could be leveraged to attract talent and enhance employee engagement, not just focus on customer acquisition. To truly maximise our impact, we must break down these silos and strategically combine our efforts across all teams.

By fostering effective collaboration, we can ensure that every initiative aligns with our broader objectives and contributes to our collective success. Together, we can create a powerful synergy that enhances both our internal culture and our talent acquisition strategies.

Ignite Your Strategy: Present Your Plan with Bold Shared Goals!

Although HR effectively navigates the organisation’s challenges, we can significantly improve our impact by implementing insights-driven strategies and actionable plans with boldness and courage.

To act as influential talent advisors, we must adopt a proactive approach, aligning our efforts with the organisation’s business objectives. EB has collaborated with various internal teams and external vendors to elevate the employer’s reputation consistently. They are uniquely positioned to craft and deliver a comprehensive plan with their expertise in HR, talent, communications, and marketing and their remarkable agility, influence, and data-driven mindset.

This robust plan will enhance engagement at every touchpoint throughout the candidate and employee lifecycle, ensuring we make a lasting impression on all stakeholders as a great workplace!

Elevate Your Employer Brand: Infuse Vibrancy into Metrics like a Marketer!

One of the main obstacles to achieving shared goals among CHROs, TA, and EB lies in their distinct focus on metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) related to the employer brand.

CHROs prioritise employee retention, workforce diversity, capability and overall performance. In contrast, TAs aim for a robust influx of external and internal applications that successfully translate into hires. Meanwhile, EB enhances the employer's reputation for employees and potential employees, monitoring critical factors such as awards, reviews, social media followers, engagement within talent communities, and career website traffic and also fostering employee involvement in advocacy programs to showcase the authentic employer brand.

The analogy of the jigsaw puzzle is a powerful reminder of how limited perspectives can obscure the true potential of employer branding. A well-defined employer brand is essential for attracting the right talent, which leads to higher engagement, increased retention, and superior performance. It challenges and transforms outdated perceptions candidates may have about the organisation, fostering diversity in hiring and enriching the overall workforce.

A strong employer brand reaches out to talented individuals who may have previously overlooked the organisation while simultaneously boosting internal mobility, as employees are more inclined to seek career advancement within the company. Furthermore, an impactful employer brand cultivates employee advocacy, significantly enhancing engagement. This engagement is evident not only when employees share their experiences but also when others see reflections of themselves in those stories, reinforcing their reasons for joining the organisation from the outset.

Refining the metrics related to employer branding like a marketer, CHROs, TA, and EB together can create a well-rounded understanding of these values. Together, they can cultivate a cohesive employer brand that drives success for the entire organisation.

Mastering the Handshake: Align Stakeholders with Shared Goals like a Management Consultant!

Have you ever wondered why the final presentation meeting on management consultants' recommendations went off without a hitch?

The answer lies in their meticulous preparation. They ensured a seamless presentation by aligning all key stakeholders and refining their proposals in advance. This meeting wasn't just a formality but the culmination of strategic collaboration and planning.

Employer branding is essential in shaping the experiences of candidates and employees alike.

Prioritising alignment among all stakeholders is not merely beneficial but critical for fostering effective collaboration and achieving shared goals. Our strategies must resonate with everyone involved to ensure success. Throughout my career, I attended important presentations on talent attraction strategies, employer branding, and recruitment marketing. Regrettably, it lacked the necessary alignment with the respective businesses, CHRO, TAs and HR teams. This gap led to confusion and misunderstandings, resulting in dissatisfaction across HR and other stakeholders concerning employer branding, recruitment marketing, and talent acquisition efforts.

I strongly emphasise alignment and open communication to formulate shared goals among all parties from the very beginning. Doing so can transform our approach and drive meaningful results together.

Rise and Thrive: Charting Your Path to Success!

Embracing the perspectives of management consultants and marketers may seem unconventional for CHROs, TAs, and EB, but this mindset shift is essential for driving meaningful transformation.

Setting ambitious, shared goals is crucial; without it, we risk stagnating our employer brand and missing out on significant organisational impact. Taking strategic risks is vital—after all, the notion that "no risk, no gain" is universal in our pursuits. Let’s boldly evaluate our objectives and expand our perspectives to grasp how employer branding truly influences the entire organisation.

While defining the roles and responsibilities of CHROs, TAs, and EB professionals is essential, it is equally imperative to collaborate in establishing shared goals aligned with the current priorities of each party.

To summarise, here are four impactful strategies to drive collaboration within your organisation whilst creating shared goals:

1. Communicate Shared Goals, Not Just Create Them
   Take the initiative to organise strategic workshops engaging CHROs, TA, and EB teams. Collaboratively defining shared goals fosters unity and ensures each goal is linked to measurable outcomes. Highlighting how these objectives align with the organisation's broader mission in talent nurtures a robust collective sense of purpose.
2. Embrace a Comprehensive View of the Entire Candidate and Employee Lifecycle
   Conduct a thorough analysis of the candidate and employee journey touchpoints to uncover overlaps and strategic alignment opportunities among CHROs, TA, and EB functions. Keep all teams informed about these touchpoints to maintain a cohesive approach, eliminate redundancy, and enhance overall efficiency.
3. Establish Cross-Functional Metrics and KPIs
   Introduce unified KPIs that encapsulate shared priorities. By merging employee engagement metrics from CHRO, talent acquisition efficiency from TA, and employer brand reputation from EB, you create a powerful framework to gauge success. This alignment ensures that every team recognises how their contributions drive the organisation’s overall goals.
4. Foster Open Communication and Regular Check-Ins on Shared Goals
   Schedule regular cross-functional meetings that allow CHROs, TA, and EB teams to engage in meaningful conversations about progress, challenges, and necessary adjustments. Cultivating a culture of openness and collaboration creates a safe space for sharing new insights and innovative ideas—crucial ingredients for achieving collective success.
   

In my upcoming article, I will explore the everyday challenges EB faces across various industries and offer actionable insights on how CHROs and TAs can effectively help tackle these issues.

Takeaways

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