priyanka1987
New member
Of well-kept brands but unkept promises
Till Tuesday, Ankur was happily employed. On Wednesday, he saw an inviting page one advertisement from a multi-national corporation with a vacancy for his expertise. A huge outdoor hoarding of the same MNC caught his eye on way to work.
In office, a Google search on the MNC threw up many links: Top of the Pile was its CEO announcing a billion dollar investment in India operations and hiring 500 people in Bangalore and Gurgaon. The solitary voice of caution was that of a colleague, “the MNC is too big, a mess inside”. He put that down to jealousy, applied and got through.
The first Induction day, he walked out with a hamper full of goodies. Twenty first day he walked out forever, without an offer in hand and despite having a family to support. So, what did this company, a giant amongst brands, one of the top 10 listed companies on Wall Street do to him?
ET's Pink Slip awards for creative excellence in recruitment advertising reminded me of the incident I quoted above. As an old newshound who switched to Corporate Communications less than ten years back, I am compelled to ask the Brand veterans – if the recruitment advertising builds an employers’ brand then who is responsible for fulfilling the Brand promises projected in this advertising?
Dear all, I write this piece as a letter to readers because I expect to draw you into a conversation, about your new job experiences and how you think the hiccups you faced can be resolved. Here’s what I think quite often: the path to a new job is paved with new money and that really is what cushions the fall as well. At these times, the scene in the professional rearview mirror seemed better than the ones ahead. For this torture - the Brand becomes the culprit, more relevant to my profession – it becomes the victim!
Endlessly, the communications function debates how to reach out to internal and external customers. To my mind, the brand promise to the external customer is kept by efficient delivery. Let’s take an FMCG product: The factory and quality control is responsible for the quality promise; the packaging department is responsible for the hygienic and freshness promise; the customer service department is responsible for shortest possible service turnaround time promise.
Promises to the external customer are kept by a smooth set of processes and systems, all the more critical to a new recruit. But, are keeping brand promises to the internal customer really any department’s baby today? Specifically, in recruitment advertising, the customer is – new recruit/the targeted recruit, right? Then, my question is who is responsible for delivering the brand promise so dramatized in the recruitment advertisement.
To my mind, HR department in a company is responsible for the brand promises made to new recruits. If it slips up, poor induction becomes the biggest threat to the brand. It’s like the suitor spurning a new bride on the first night and then it is an uphill task to bring the relationship back on track!
Regards,
Priyanka
Till Tuesday, Ankur was happily employed. On Wednesday, he saw an inviting page one advertisement from a multi-national corporation with a vacancy for his expertise. A huge outdoor hoarding of the same MNC caught his eye on way to work.
In office, a Google search on the MNC threw up many links: Top of the Pile was its CEO announcing a billion dollar investment in India operations and hiring 500 people in Bangalore and Gurgaon. The solitary voice of caution was that of a colleague, “the MNC is too big, a mess inside”. He put that down to jealousy, applied and got through.
The first Induction day, he walked out with a hamper full of goodies. Twenty first day he walked out forever, without an offer in hand and despite having a family to support. So, what did this company, a giant amongst brands, one of the top 10 listed companies on Wall Street do to him?
ET's Pink Slip awards for creative excellence in recruitment advertising reminded me of the incident I quoted above. As an old newshound who switched to Corporate Communications less than ten years back, I am compelled to ask the Brand veterans – if the recruitment advertising builds an employers’ brand then who is responsible for fulfilling the Brand promises projected in this advertising?
Dear all, I write this piece as a letter to readers because I expect to draw you into a conversation, about your new job experiences and how you think the hiccups you faced can be resolved. Here’s what I think quite often: the path to a new job is paved with new money and that really is what cushions the fall as well. At these times, the scene in the professional rearview mirror seemed better than the ones ahead. For this torture - the Brand becomes the culprit, more relevant to my profession – it becomes the victim!
Endlessly, the communications function debates how to reach out to internal and external customers. To my mind, the brand promise to the external customer is kept by efficient delivery. Let’s take an FMCG product: The factory and quality control is responsible for the quality promise; the packaging department is responsible for the hygienic and freshness promise; the customer service department is responsible for shortest possible service turnaround time promise.
Promises to the external customer are kept by a smooth set of processes and systems, all the more critical to a new recruit. But, are keeping brand promises to the internal customer really any department’s baby today? Specifically, in recruitment advertising, the customer is – new recruit/the targeted recruit, right? Then, my question is who is responsible for delivering the brand promise so dramatized in the recruitment advertisement.
To my mind, HR department in a company is responsible for the brand promises made to new recruits. If it slips up, poor induction becomes the biggest threat to the brand. It’s like the suitor spurning a new bride on the first night and then it is an uphill task to bring the relationship back on track!
Regards,
Priyanka