CIPD updates employer branding guidelines for recession

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has launched new guidelines on employer branding - entitled ‘Employer Branding - Maintaining Momentum in a Recession' - to reflect the challenges that employers are facing in the recession.

The content - which was generated via round-table discussions with practitioners, consultants and academics - is designed to provide "practical pointers to help navigate employer branding in the current context."  Among those consulted on the supplier side were Hodes' Helen Rosethorn, Penna's Heather Staff and independent Paul Walker (who also wrote the CIPD's original EB guidelines).

Author (and CIPD research manager) Rebecca Clake is urging organisations to focus on the long-term and not merely to think in terms of short-term cost-cutting that will have a negative impact on both engagement and motivation.  This means employers learning to do more with less, and putting an end to ‘employer branding-lite' as a quick fix for meeting organisational challenges.

"Employer branding shouldn't be simply about damage limitation in challenging times," she says.  "It's useful to consider how the current economic situation can help drive culture change and new ways of working in your organisation.  There is a real opportunity now, as we prepare for the good times, for employer branding to help create the organisation we need for the future.  Seeing beyond survival in the current to thriving in the future is crucial.

"Employer branding approaches that take into account the importance of maintaining a positive presence in the recruitment market - but also the need to maintain employee engagement and to nurture talent inside the organisation - are vital."

(CIPD members can download the new information via www.cipd.co.uk/guides.)