The existing employees are brand ambassadors of the organisation, and this is what decides the rate of return on investment.
India, in Ms. Wadhwa's opinion, is a highly competitive recruitment market due to the shortage of skilled workforce. A well-defined employer brand communicates the USP of a company and helps differentiate it from its competitors. It helps in attracting talented, like-minded people, who identify with the company's vision and business principles. The culture and values of the company are resonated in the employer brand and it is the first step in alignment of the organisational and individual goals. HR marketing should communicate the employer brand externally and internally, and provide an answer as to why a candidate should join a particular company over the others.
Ms. Wadhwa assesses that a candidate's individual experience, people experience and employer experience forms the core components of an employer brand. The employer brand should be reflected in the candidate's experience. This includes all processes, from the first time a candidate is reached out to and met with, right uptil the time he joins the company. Also, once a candidate joins the company, the systems and processes in an organisation should match expectations, created and promised to be fulfilled, during his/her journey. The existing employees are brand ambassadors of the organisation, and unless they live and communicate the organisation's values and principles, investment in external branding will be wasted.
Ms. Wadhwa explains, "Our people are our biggest assets and differentiators. They are the key reason why our clients choose us over others. We focus heavily on retaining talent. Unlike most other companies that focus on the reasons people leave, we analyse and understand why people love to stay with Sapient."
At Sapient, the focus clearly is on underscoring the company's position as a top ranked place to work, and emphasising the encouragement of career growth. The People Success team further reinforces the distinguishing aspects of the company's culture. Ms. Wadhwa explains this point, "Sapient Brand Team, our in-house agency, focuses on our recruitment needs. Each department works with the team to present an explicit project brief for every business vertical. The Brand team then develops several different concepts that integrate the themes of growth and opportunity. We shortlist the appropriate themes and develop a multi-channel campaign, which includes online advertising as well as internal referral programmes."
The people's catchphrase at Sapient is 'Our people are our partners of success'. A critical aspect of the people philosophy is to enable them to "choose", an initiative that starts at the time of induction itself. This philosophy helps them attract high quality talent that is ready to align to a common objective.
Some of the other unique branding initiatives at Sapient are:
1. Everybody Thinks Sapient road shows, which help people across the company understand and live the brand
2. Sapient Start, a week long on-boarding training session for new hires which focuses on the brand and its value proposition
3. People Voice campaign, which recognises people and builds role models within the company. This has been used extensively as a means of external communication with campuses and through the website. The chosen brand champions are forthcoming and happy to endorse Sapient for the prospective hires
Sapient has been consistently ranked among the top 10 in the "Best Companies to Work For" survey held by Business Today-Mercer. Awards such as these validate the employer brand internally as well as externally.
Ms. Wadhwa clarifies that the brand message remains the same across target groups, except for some minor tweaks. The key takeaway is that Sapient offers limitless growth opportunities. Says Ms. Wadhwa, "We believe this message rings true, especially in an environment where people are looking for more than just another job."
Ms. Wadhwa brings the discussion to a close by remarking on how today's complex and competitive global business environment will demand increased value addition. There will be demand for people with not only technical skills but specialisation in multi-disciplinary practices. Skill sets of efficiency and scale will be in demand. HR will increasingly emphasise on leadership development.
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