On Twitter for Employment Branding - Get Back to Basics.

so... back to this idea of using twitter to recruit and hire. there's that whole thing about finding candidates... but the other part of using twitter for recruiting, maybe even the bigger part of it, is focused on employment branding. but what does that really mean - employment branding? time to put our marketing hats on.
 
first, some employment branding definitions. if we look to the reverent Dr. John Sullivan, here's his take:

"Employment branding is unique in that it is the only long-term recruiting strategy. The viral-based perception management program designed to attract top-quality applicants is based on the premise that the organization is well-managed in the eyes of the target candidate population. It has many critical elements, only one of which pertains to getting the message out through awards programs, editorial content in target publications, presentations at conferences, and through viral marketing driven via the employee referral program. It is not the same as recruitment marketing, although recruitment marketing should be aligned with the employment branding effort."

that's a mouthful - much more than 140 characters, that's for sure. and for this twitter conference on thursday that i'm chatting at, it's likely going to be non-recruiting and non-HR folks that i'll be speaking to... so when i think about the notion of organizations using twitter for employment branding - whether a mom-and-pop shop or a fortune 500 - really what this boils down to at a basic level is simply projecting and marketing your organization as being a great place to work so that would-be candidates seek you out. simple enough.

first, the big disclaimer! you've gotta have the goods to sell when it comes to why your employer is a great place to work. maybe that goes without saying. but, if the culture is toxic and the environment is crap at your organization, then employment branding whether done old school or new school with web 2.0 methods like twitter will not save your recruiting life. you've gotta stop reading this and go back and fix the issues. maybe a little later you can then think about employment branding.

for more traditional employment branding, pre web 2.0, there are lists upon lists of great places to work - Fortune magazine has a list. local magazines have lists. coincidentally, my pal Kris Dunn's organization, DAXKO, where he's the VP of People, just received accolades from Fortune Magazine as being one of seven great small businesses to work for - another list from Fortune focused more on small companies though. that's a totally cool recognition for them to be able to sport. but... what if you can't make one of these lists? what if you don't have the marketing or PR folks to help get you on the list? or what if your employee program budgets are dwindling and you're more boot strap but you know you're still a great place to work?

talent management and recruiting thought leaders cite tactics like... workplace rankings and awards. world-class employee referral program. editorial placements. benchmark studies. having a WOW website. being written up in academic case studies. all really good stuff... but a lot of that can fall to the way-side as an HR or recruiting pro if you've got all that day-to-day stuff you've gotta execute. companies who do all of that stuff well likely have strong marketing and PR peeps behind the scenes to help. but herein lies why and how the web and social media is one of the great equalizers. david can now go up against goliath.

there are tons of resources out there on what it means to have an employment brand, who does it well... (for starters, go here and here and here.) read up, and just keep in mind that the basics of employment branding don't change with twitter. if you take all the components of what it takes to build and market an employment brand, all those things that make your organization a great place to work - those are all the different things you could conceivably tweet about. take Kris and DAXKO as an example - they could easily take much of what Fortune highlights as making them special and use that as fodder for their twitter feed. imagine tweets that highlight...

• no one has private offices
• a work/play lounge is offered, complete with a Nintendo Wii and a 52-inch plasma TV
• all new employees get 15 paid vacation days
• all staff receive free YMCA membership
• staff receive $1,500 annually each to spend on professional enrichment
• after every seven years of service, staff are entitled to a four-week sabbatical

all compelling stuff, right? and imagine pushing that out there via twitter for public consumption. (and yes, they are already on twitter. check them out here, @DAXKO.) keep in mind though, you've gotta have the goods to back up the kool-aid you're trying to offer - just like DAXKO does - when it comes to why your company is a great place to work.

so i guess in the end? it's somewhat back to basics on employment branding, folks... it's just that this time, twitter is just another tool for your arsenal for getting the word out. wow. i think i have my brain wrapped around half of my talk for thursday now!