The Benefits of Personal Branding and Employment Branding for Talent Management and Career Management

By Nancy Branton, M. A., Founder/Owner People Potential Group, Inc. Nancy is one of the event organisers and a host at "A Brand You World - Global Telesummit".

While working in human resources, I heard managers say: “He doesn’t fit in well here,” “What can I do to get more qualified employees?” and “How can I get employees to stay here longer?”  Now, as an independent career coach I hear clients say:  “I don’t like working for this company;”  “I don’t like the management style where I work;” and “My work lacks meaning and I want to find more purposeful work.”  Personal branding and employment branding can address these concerns.

Many companies have discovered the competitive edge of employment branding.  Candidates who know a lot about a company’s values, culture, jobs, work expectations, and typical staff can determine to a large extent whether or not it’s a good fit before they put the effort into applying for a specific job.  And, that saves both the candidate and the company time and money in the selection process.  Furthermore, it can prevent a poor hiring decision and the costs associated with it, e.g., onboarding, on-the-job training, performance coaching, discipline, discharge, and possible lawsuit. At the same time it prevents the candidate from the negative consequences of a poor fit or discharge, e.g., stress, bad references, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and more.

The other side of the equation is personal branding for candidates and employees. Candidates who work with a career coach to discover their personal brand become clear on their values, signature strengths, areas of weakness, and distinguishing attributes.  They are able to discern what companies to work for and which jobs to look for.  Employees who work in a company need personal branding, too.   Personal branding helps employees to target their immediate development needs, design a career plan, pursue leadership development (if appropriate), and determine if it’s the right company for them.

For best hiring results, the candidates’ personal brand needs to match the employers’ brand.  The likelihood of this matching greatly increases when candidates know and communicate their personal brand to the employer and employers know and communicate their brand to the candidates.  It’s at the intersection of personal branding and employment branding that the best hires are made for lasting results!