Employer Branding…A Gastronomic Opportunity!

I love to eat out. I arrive. I order a glass of wine, relax and start to read the menu. Just as I have made a choice and feel ready to order, the waiter arrives with the specials board. I usually find that everything on special sounds so good! Don’t you?

Job-hunting and electing to apply for a position at an “Employers of Choice” is no different. Candidates go online and read through the extensive “menu” of employment opportunities. A “special” few employers stand out. They are businesses with a strong social conscience both in terms of their relationships with their employees and what they are doing within the communities that surround them.

Minchington (2005) in Wikipedia.com defines Employer Branding as “the image of your organisation as a ‘great place to work’ in the mind of current employees and key stakeholders in the external market (active and passive candidates, clients, customers and other key stakeholders). The art and science of employer branding is therefore concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention of initiatives targeted at enhancing your company's employer brand."

So what are South African employers doing to enhance their brands? What are they doing to attract the right applicants in the recruitment process? Where do they meet graduates? Whilst many employers are doing a lot to promote their product, be it physical or somewhat esoteric, most of them ride on this reputation to be their employer brand. Candidates are thinking “just because we like your product doesn’t necessarily mean we like your business management style.” That’s not to say you are doing anything wrong or unethical but rather that the style of management employed in your business may not be right for a desirable candidate.

So what can you do to communicate a favourable employer brand?


I don’t have all the answers on the way that this can be done but I can start to scratch the surface. I believe a tangible starting point is engaging in employee development opportunities. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your business invest in its people? 
• What sort of training do you offer? 
• Is it on-going? 
• Is it technical or personal? 
• Do your employees value you more as an employer because of the development opportunities that form part of their package? 
• Do your candidates and potential employees know about these initiatives and seek you out as an “employer of choice”?
• Do you feel are you attracting the right talent?

HR.BLR.com highlights the importance of being able to answer these questions in a positive manner in order to attract top talent. They say business should:

1. Focus on independent goals and in doing so employers can extract the greatest value from the efforts of employees
2. Employers and managers should strive to bring out the best in their employees. Employers will benefits from adopting a collaborative and cooperative approach to decision making.
3. Good work-life balance results in energetic employees.  Employers should therefore give their employees the opportunity to refresh and renew. 

In summary there are substantial benefits that come from investing in people development. Organisations can look forward to attracting top talent, higher levels of performance from existing staff, greater workforce stability, and the level of continuity that assures preservation of the knowledge base, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and stronger profits.

Where can you start?


S-Connect offers an opportunity to network with University and college students and outside of their formal curriculum during Work-Readiness training sessions. Sponsoring this training gives employers an opportunity to have branded recruitment material available and integrated into training sessions. Students are able to access all information relevant to your organisation and begin the application process during the training session. Representatives from your company may be present before and after the training, or during breaks to engage with students and answer questions.

Not for you? 

Check out our Graduate Development program opportunity. Our structures programs are development in consultation with stakeholders at all levels in your business. We are focused on understanding your organisations values and culture and work towards developing a program in line with these.

By showing your commitment to development right from the start, before the recruitment process even begins, you are able to attract top talent that are hungry for growth and seek out employers who will feed this hunger! In an exceptionally competitive recruitment environment where future leaders are still “reading the menu” you have the opportunity to be on the specials board!