Q Why should a company spend its time on employer branding?
A Employer branding goes beyond advertising. It is about understanding what the consumer wants and how a company can answer the consumer needs in a way that differentiates Unilever from other brands.
It's not about communication. Firstly, we address employee value proposition questions such as: Why should I buy the brand? Why should I buy Unilever as a potential employer? What am I going to get out of it?
In my job, I try to understand what people want, need and what their drivers around work are. Through HR processes, we answer these needs and deliver solutions, experiences and stretch assignments that keep people engaged in their jobs.
For instance, youths tell us now that they want to be leaders in three to five years from when they join the company. From a company's perspective, we examine what it means to be called a leader. Is it a leader of a company or is it a leader of a smaller team? Then we look at how we can provide youths with that leadership experience that they want, or they would leave the company and seek that experience elsewhere.
Q What strategies does Unilever put in place to ensure that it delivers the leadership experience that young talent want?
A At Unilever, we are constantly improving our leadership processes - such as the way they design jobs. We look at the job basics like whether the role stretches an employee enough, or is the job so big that people get tired of it? We look at how we make people stretch as employees but also let them achieve a work-life balance.
To do this, we would first examine what the needs of the company are. What is the strategy as a business and what kind of talent do we need to achieve the strategy? Only then do we put the HR processes in place to deliver the talent that we need.
Performance management: Performance management involves having constant quality conversations with employees so they are clear on business or personal development objectives - such as where an employee wants to be in two years. Performance management is not something that is delivered by HR, but by line managers. The manager is tasked to hone and manage their talent through ways such as coaching, teaching and mentoring.
HR planning: HR planning is about being clear on whether we have enough people on the pipeline. Who is going to be the next leader of the organisation and how can we help them get the experience they need? HR planning identifies the talent and creates specific assignments and a clear career path for employees to get to the destination.
Engagement: Engagement looks at how the company can engage people in the vision or a higher purpose of the business. Employees don't want to work in an environment where they have to make decisions against their values. So we have to ensure that our business principles which are aligned to the value of the employees.
Q If line managers are tasked to deliver the employee brand experience, how does HR ensure that line managers perform that task successfully?
A We have to make sure our leaders understand the importance of people management because managing a team is one of the biggest roles in line management. We emphasize that an executive cannot leave his or her job until they have grown someone who is prepared to take their role.
Our senior leaders also have people management objectives and KPIs, whether it be meeting diversity needs or leading high potentials in their teams. Meeting these objectives would affect their overall performance assessment.
Q How does this help the Unilever as an employer brand?
A Once companies have a system in place where line managers are tasked to mentor and grow their staff, employees will become company ambassadors in their everyday life. And when talk about their great experience in the company - that's more powerful than any advertising campaign.
Vital Stats
Stephane Le Camus is the global HR branding director for Unilever based in London. Prior to joiningUnilever's Global HR in 2002, he spent 12 years as a brand consultant working with clients such as LVMH, Unilever and British American Tobacco.
