Indian eCommerce behemoths are going gaga about their ‘Employer-branding’ initiatives, but employees are still not convinced

Competition is fierce and companies are going all to create their "Employer-Brands" to woo talented professionals to join them and then continue to work for them. But how effective have they been? TimesJobs conducted a survey to find out.

As per the survey, while 74% of the surveyed employers think their employer’s branding strategy has been successful, 67% employees feel otherwise.

TimesJobs had conducted a TJinsite Survey on Employer-Branding Perceptions, which threw up good news as well as bad news in terms of how companies are adopting employer branding as the war for talent continues to heat up.

The good news: 64% of surveyed organizations claim to have a clear and well-designed employer-branding strategy in place and 74% say they are happy with their strategies.

The bad news: 67% of the surveyed employees do not think their employer has a winning employer-branding strategy in place. Most employees find their company's current strategies unconvincing. Only 23% rated the strategies as convincing while 10% label their company's strategy as poor, reports TimesJobs.

So, while employers are upbeat about their employer-branding strategies and are even acknowledging success, there is a significant gap between what they think and what employees feel about their employers’ brand.

In fact, only 42% of the surveyed employees said they would recommend their company to a friend, reveals the TimesJobs report.

So where are the gaps?

TimesJobs' study shows that while current branding strategies appeal to experienced professionals but entry and mid-level candidates are not quite happy with them.

"The workplace paradigm is changing, the millennial generation thrives in a hyper-connected 24X7 world, where information and opinions blend into a single news stream to create employee perceptions. To build powerful employer-brands requires consistent communication of the Employer Value Proposition. Companies have to work with greater speed and transparency, which is only possible with wide scale adoption of an open culture and a flat hierarchy. “explains Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com

Successful? Or not?
• 74 % organizations rate their employer branding as successful while 67% of the employees think otherwise
• 55% of startups & SMEs term their employer-branding strategy as successful while only 36% employees from such firms feels so.
• 45% large organizations believe they have winning employer-branding strategy in place while 64% employees from large organizations feel so.

The media channel
• 68% organizations use social media to connect with employees but only 56% employees think they are effective.
• On the other hand, while 32% employers focus on career portals and company rating/peer review websites as ways to improve their employer-brand, 44% of the employees find these a direct & effective media.

The money challenge
•While 70% organizations state clearly that budget is not a constraint to their employer-branding initiatives, still, 62% cemployees feel budgets are the challenge their organizations face to put up a successful branding plan in place.

At a time most India Inc. employers are struggling to attract the right talent, having a powerful employer-brand is of critical value and utmost importance. Consequently, there is a greater need to understand and analyze the gap in perception of employer and employees. This TJinsite survey was conducted across 560 organizations and 800 employees in India. The complete TJinsite Report is freely available for download on the TimesJobs.com website - http://content.timesjobs.com/employer-branding-time-to-bridge-the-gap/