How Your Company's Human Resources Department Helps Build a Strong Brand (in 2022)

No one would have previously contacted Human Resources with their company’s brand development. However, the practice in recent years has shown that the HR department can be instrumental in creating a solid brand image for a company.

A competent HR department makes a company a desirable employer, which brings several benefits.

According to many executives the brand is related to the company's ability to hire the best talent.

Once HR gains control of the data that identifies areas where the brand needs improvement, it can prepare it to appeal not only to employees and talent, but also to other people who look to the brand's values to decide whether or not to buy products and services.

It's also critical that the brand presents itself as an option to consider when applying for a new job, as many people have reevaluated their jobs and positions in recent years after the pandemic.

Here is how Human Resources can be involved in the development of your company’s brand:

1. Define your brand in collaboration.

A company should promote collaboration across departments when developing a new brand strategy or taking its brand in a new direction.

The Human Resource department should be involved in such discussions and in the decision-making processes for a variety of reasons.

According to Gallup, only 27% of employees believe in their company's core values and 23% of them can apply those values in their daily work. If you have similar numbers, you have a lot of work ahead of you

You can start by redefining your core values by engaging your employees.

Once you have established your core values, you need to communicate them to all levels of the organization. You should develop a plan that includes all communication channels and a year-round strategy. If you can not remember the last time core values were discussed or if they suddenly appear on posters without warning, you are already overdue.

The behaviors you want to see in your employees should first be exemplified by leaders and managers through their actions that align with the core principles. Words are less powerful than actions. Words on the wall are a good start, but it's actions that really count

Finally, your Human Resource department should have a system in place to recognize actions that are consistent with the core values and encourage your employees through rewards, promotions, measurements and other methods. The values and associated behaviors become real when they are reinforced.

The brand may look like something a talented person would want to work for, depending on how it positions itself against its competitors. HR can develop a strong brand that attracts new talented workforce and public attention.

A company's brand can be strengthened and, more importantly, maintained through Human Resources. Creating a lasting and consistent brand can benefit from the right HR strategy.

2. Get your team on board to promote the company's brand.

Another strategy to spread the company's message and attract attention is to get your team to effectively promote the brand. To do this, of course, you must first ask yourself a simple question: Why does an employee need to promote the company?

The Human Resources department should enforce policies and procedures to maintain a workplace culture that shows employees that the company truly cares about them. This can include attractive compensation packages, growth opportunities, autonomy, telecommuting, a good work-life balance and other benefits.

Once the team believes in and trusts their employer, it's easier to ask them to promote the company and its products or services. Just give them a T-shirt they can wear with pride or a bag with a company logo that they can take with them.

3. Hire employees who are in line with the company's ethos and values.

There are several reasons why hiring decisions are important, one of which relates to maintaining a company brand. If you hire employees who can embody and represent your brand's ethos and values, it will be much easier to uphold those values and communicate them to customers and clients.

Hiring the right people with the best talent would be the most important asset of your company that can make your brand thrive, if they believe in it.

Your HR's onboarding program must include training that explains your company's core values at the very beginning. In addition, Human Resources should provide ongoing training that introduces models of expected employee behavior based on the core values and how they should be implemented in daily work.

Therefore, be open to them and make your team feel that they are an essential part of the family.

4. Effective employee initiatives improve brand reputation.

Satisfied employees are more likely to speak openly about their employment with a company. This can have a positive impact on a company's reputation and strengthen its brand image.

The HR department needs to implement initiatives to get all team members on board to promote the company's products or services.

A few examples of these initiatives are:

• Get feedback from your team by genuinely listening to their opinions.

• Share autonomy. Let them have a say in the decision making process.

• Share the wealth. Create a compensation plan that involves team members to earn more as the company grows.

• Allot resources to professional development so that your team becomes more competent.

5. Control the working relationship with the company.

An important role of HR experts is to manage the interaction between the workforce and the company. It is crucial to strive for good relationships between individual employees at all levels of the company, because a company that appears coherent and communicative from the outside is perceived much more positively.

In addition, HR should be aware that there are internet forums like Glassdoor where employees can voice their opinions about the company and rate their managers. It is now very easy for anyone to take a photo or a short video and immediately post it on social media, which can improve or worsen the reputation of your company. Therefore, HR should encourage the company's managers to care about the satisfaction and well-being of their teams.

While you can not stop an employee from sharing their experiences and opinions on social media, you can actively encourage happy employees to share about the company.

6. Establish a stable workplace culture.

Involve all employees in the effort to create and promote a solid workplace culture centered on people. Select employees not only for their technical skills, but also consider how well they fit with the company's ideals and soft skills with high emotional intelligence.

Encourage employees to consider how their work impacts the company, not their specific department, as they develop.

Actively involve business personnel in the hiring process to attract top applicants who will uphold the company's high standards.

7. Promote your culture.

A simple strategy to promote your culture is to create a hashtag for your employer's image.

Inform the team of the potential of this hashtag and encourage them to use it on their individual social media pages. But remember, your employees will not promote your brand if you do not offer a company and culture they can be proud of.

Provide your employees with a fun and engaging culture they can be proud of - the more engagement your team shows, the better for the brand.

It would help if you offer a workplace that no other company can attract top talent. Any company can offer a workplace, but how many do so with a desirable culture? What about work from home or hybrid office opportunities?

Human resource leaders can help develop strong brands by placing a high value on culture. Employees can help you establish your brand in this way.

If you can get your employees to enjoy their work and their workplace, the word will spread like wildfire and increase awareness of your brand.

Conclusion

Candidates today consider workplace culture when deciding which companies to invest in over the next few years of their life. If your company holds fun or intriguing events, document them appropriately in high-quality images or videos and post them on the company blog or social media platforms.

Your recruiters need to understand how your position and activities impact the company's brand. The reach of good HR work is much greater than many people realize. So be sure to use carefully curated Human Resource strategies for better and solid company branding.