How happy employees are the best brand advocates of a company

The definition of the ideal workplace has changed along with how we describe a happy employee. Standards have been set, bars have been raised, and companies are focused on defining a unique culture and investing in initiatives that drive employee satisfaction. Leading companies do not want to be compared negatively to their competitors, and press articles are full of employer branding stories extolling the virtues of flexi-time, day care centres, stocked cafeterias and leave benefits. But, do these offerings end up increasing employee happiness? And why do companies care so much?

For starters, strong employer brands help companies achieve significant cost savings, whether it is through attracting the best type of people, retaining high performers and driving workplace engagement. As the Dale Carnegie Employee Engagement report states, pride in the organisation is one of the three main drivers of employee engagement (the other two being belief in senior leadership and the relationship with the immediate supervisor). This organisational pride is generated primarily through the efforts of the human resource function to create and sustain a good employer brand.

One of the key channels used to project employer branding is social media where content can range from highlighting employees' personal achievements, information on people friendly policies and pictures showcasing the human side of business along with unique engagement initiatives and amenities. Evidence of a satisfied workforce is one of the first things that impress potential candidates; plus getting showcased on a corporate forum is a key non-monetary way to motivate existing employees. Moreover, platforms like Glassdoor offer practical ways for candidates to get a holistic picture of their future employer and take informed career decisions.

Another popular method for building an employer brand is to pursue and win national and international awards for creating admirable workplaces. These are "push" methods for cultivating a meaningful employer brand. While very effective, there are very meaningful "pull" methods, where positive word of mouth does your work for you. In today's hyper-connected world, having happy employees be your brand ambassadors should be the ultimate aim of every HR department.

It is now easier than ever for people to connect on social platforms like LinkedIn where they can find out inside details on companies, corporate culture, benefits, etc. It has become much harder to hide internal scandals, bad practices or fraud. This increasing transparency is leading to progressive practices and policies with employee satisfaction at the core. Just as happy customers drive repeat business and higher margins, a happy workforce leads to lower recruitment costs for companies and higher retention. HR professionals can follow sales principles here to create employee testimonials and case studies of growth paths to inspire new joinees and attract the best talent. In the marketplace, the statement of an employee about a brand tends to hold more weight than a statement coming from the company's PR machine. While one or two employees' negative word of mouth might not be a cause for concern, it is imperative to ensure that the cause for dissatisfaction is not systemic.

Finally, companies must make sure that the employee's expectations that are set during the employer branding efforts are met or exceeded once they join the company. The employee experience must live up to the communication or brands risk facing a loss of face. Just remember, your employer brand is not what you say it is; it is what employees and candidates tell each other it is. HR professionals should leverage social listening tools along with their marketing teams to keep a tab on what is being said about the company. It serves as useful feedback to institute changes or new offerings in their employee value proposition.

The HR department might set the guidelines for the company culture, but it is the employees who bring it to life. Talent that is engaged in what they do and motivated to perform their best go above and beyond the basic deliverables to become genuine brand ambassadors and frontrunners of the company's success. The culture created by a high performing team outlives the individuals to become part of brand history. This is exactly the sort of long term externalities that happy employees lead to and that companies aspire to.The writer is Chairperson & Managing Director, Dale Carnegie Training India