Companies spend thousands of pounds on creating improving and continued awareness of their brands and this is very understandable. They also spend money utilizing social media platforms even creating on-line communities to build awareness and improve perception of their brands (not to mention listening in to protect their brand). However do they ever think about their brand in terms of the labour market and not just the consumer/B2B market?
Twitter is the platform of choice for companies ‘working’ on their brand if you like and so it should be, it has many advantages and benefits to offer them as a platform. Twitter is also the platform of choice for many individuals who are employees or potential employees and so Twitter can be a very effective platform to spread their opinion and experiences and recommendations.
My observations have highlighted to me that those employees not’ taken care of’ by their company ( a brand) often express their views/mis-treatment via their Twitter accounts. Those potential employees/candidates who have suffered ‘bad’ experiences via interview procedures etc with companies (so brands) also tend to express their views/experiences via their Twitter accounts and given the viral nature ofTwitter word spreads very quickly and whilst this is beneficial when the ‘chat’ is positive, it is not so beneficial when the chat is negative.
I more than anyone realise and accept there are people who feel ‘hard done by’ but may not really be hard done by, but,those that are and have been hard done by can utilize Twitter effectively to spread the word about a brand they want to recommend you stay away from! So if you are a potential employee looking for work, Twitter can often be the place to seek recommendation and advice about a potential employer.
The consequences of this ‘word’ for a brand can be devastating.
They say the most valuable asset of any business is its people and if the skills a company seek are in high demand but short supply then any negative labour market branding can put the company at a huge competitive disadvantage. The labour market brand should be and must be considered by companies when looking to create positive awareness and protection of their brand. If labour market brand is positive then the best calibre of candidate will flock to their doors and seek employment with them, to have the better skilled more experienced candidate can only work to their advantage and give them ‘the egde’ in their own consumer markets.
While we accept they (brands) cannot keep every one happy they must not forget those employees/candidates are also consumers and advocates and with a viral tool to hand like Twitter their voice is not only widely heard but these days listened too more than ever before!
Labour market brand is as important today as the concept of consumer branding and should be recogonised more speedily than social media ever was!
