I’ve mentioned it before, but I love movies and the way that regardless of what is going on in our economy, lives, politics, world, etc a good movie can totally take you out of it and introduce you into a world unknown for a period of time.  I also love the lessons that we can learn from watching them – on life, risk taking, love, friendship, forgiveness and of course recruiting & branding.

20 Years ago – An Oscar was THE goal.  It was credibility, notoriety, fame, fortune and the physical manifestation of success.  Today its is the same thing with a interesting way to select movies that half the US population never will see.

20 Years Ago – The MTV Movie Awards didn’t exist.  But in the last 19 years it has evolved into being the one place where movies that people actually watch over and over and over – regardless of their technical and acting quality can be recognized for simply being awesome.

The Oscar is like the HR’s answer to the “Best Places to Work List”

The MTV Movie award is where your friends love to work.

(Now, select the alternate ending of the blog that best meets your needs)

I’m A Company:

Having a “best places to work” icon on your career site is great and a huge feat and something every company should be extremely proud of.  But don’t expect it to sell its self any more.  People aren’t looking at that as the end all be all of great places to actually work.  Its an icon, like an Oscar, but we all know that where people fill the seats and spend the money isn’t always on the oscar contenders.   Make sure that you are selling your company for what makes it unique an some of the features that aren’t always considered on those lists.

MTV Movie awards does the basics (best female lead, best movie…blah blah) but what makes them stand out and unique is they do other categories like best kiss or best WTF moment.  And the other categories aren’t wasted on things like costume and make up design because, well, people EXPECT that to be there in movies now.  You only playing up your branding around your excellent benefits or other things that everyone else on that list can offer is actually putting you at the disadvantage.  Job Seekers are EXPECTING that – especially from a Oscar Worthy organization.

I’m A JobSeeker:

So, you are out there searching for a job.  You are like an actor that is reading over 2 scripts determining if your next best career move is the oscar worthy epic where you will have a bit part or if it is the potential summer break out hit where you will have a bit part.

Don’t feel pressure to “want” to work at the companies on the “best places to work” or where your friends love to work.  Its ok to work for the quirky off the wall place that everyone just loves to work at but doesn’t win any awards.  As you look for your next role – take a look at those lists, but also take a look at other places that you hear about, read about on social media or online or just randomly see a opening at.   Decide for yourself based on conversations with current employees, the feel you get when you walk in for your interview, the way you are treated throughout the process to make your decision and where the “best place to work for you”.

In the real world people are cautious about what and how they say things.  There is something about looking someone in the eye or hearing their voice on the phone that changes the mental decision making process between what you want to say to someone and what you actually do say.  It is in that situation that your brains decision making process kicks into overdrive and helps you make good decisions not to upset, hurt, offend, etc.

In my real world life, I get faced with a tough decision (or lets face it, an easy one) and I carefully analyze it, weigh the risks, potential outcomes of each possible option, the impact it will have on all of the parties involved and make a educated decision based on those factors.  What wins is the path that seems the most logical.  I rarely make a decision based on emotional drivers.

In social media however, most people just put it out there (me included!!!).  I don’t always think through what I do or say or the larger, longer term impact that it can have.  From a decision making factor it is like taking a few shots of tequila then exposing me to 2000+ people to say exactly what I think.  We forget that much like when we say things in our real life, we can’t really take it back.  In fact its worse in social media because the electronic record is there forever.

The complete opposite tends to hold true for most organizations that are tightly controlling their “branding” – There is so much time spend doing the analyzing of what you should/shouldn’t put out there that they often come across so vanilla that a potential employee doesn’t really know them at all.  Your corporate facebook fan page, twitter accounts, corporate blog, etc  are all an extension of your organization and what you put out there about your organization – both good and bad – needs to be analyzed just like you were saying or presenting it to someone face to face.

When you are sitting in an interview with someone or talking to people at a BBQ – what do you say then (positive) about your company?  When they are frustrated or get a call from a headhunter – what makes employees stay with you?  Its typically not what is on your traditional branding material and on the information you feed out online.

I’m not suggesting you dive overboard and go to the extreme that a lot of us do as individuals – putting things out there that you probably shouldn’t have.  But, I am encouraging brands to move in that direction and be more human.  Be more real.  Be more vulnerable. Show the quirks and the not so positive part while highlighting the rest.

In doing so, you’ll gain the people that appreciate your company for who it is and want to work their regardless.

Just like the people who stay friends with me even when I do (and say) really stupid things.

I saw another installment of the Old Navy talking manniquins today – only this time it came directly to my email as they wanted to introduce me to ‘Athleta’.  I understand the value of branding and the role it plays in making you be seen as an employer of choice and all of the other catch phrases we read about. 

If you are trying too hard to make your brand stand out and be cool or trendy vs being who you are as an organization it could be totally backfiring on you.  

The old navy ads are obviously targeting someone other than me because I actually have found them sooooooo annoying that I can no longer go in to an Old Navy because I see the fake people and think back to the dumb commercials.   

So – long story short – if you have an employment brand or are in the process of building one, make sure it stays true to who you are, markets to your target audience & most importantly – isn’t annoying.

This weekend I did a whirlwind tour of California and  managed to make it through Monterey Bay, Yosemite & San Francisco all in 2 1/2 days.

Here is a list of 10 things I learned on this trip:

1.  Avis will not let you pick up your car 12 minutes early.  You have to sit and wait.

2.  If you let a surfer on a bike in Santa Cruz pass, instead of waving you get the hang loose sign

3.  There is a limit to how much clam chowder you can eat (Trust me, I am shocked myself!)

4.  Some 16 year olds think that the new “Come on Eileen” is not a remix, rather a new song

5.  It is amazing to be in a place of nature so much bigger than yourself

6. A 7 mile hike in the woods is better than a 2 mile run on a treadmill

7.  Roundtable Pizza is still my favorite pizza of all time

8. San Francisco is way cooler than I expected

9. Relaxing & Sleeping on vacation is overrated

10.  I enjoy reading (this will come into play in a future blog posting)

While on the surface, these things may not seem to have anything in common with each other, let alone recruiting – I assue you – in my own strange way, I think they really do.  You see, for the last few years we have been bombarded with the importance of your employment brand and how valuable it is to organizations.  We have (At least I have) sat through hours of webinars, articles, presentations and discussions about why branding what the best thing ever and the million different ways that it can be done to make you the best organization out there in terms of the way potential employees view you.  Through all of it, I have actually always wondered why no one took it the step further and discussed not only how important it was to do the branding on the front end and to really live the brand but be absolutely positive that your process upholds the image and brand you want to project.  To me, it is all about the perception matching up with the reality of what is going on in your organization.

Take my list for example and you can see that there are a few spots where what you think would happen actually do.

2. If you let a surfer on a bike in Santa Cruz pass, instead of waving you get the hang loose sign

5. It is amazing to be in a place of nature so much bigger than yourself

6. A 7 mile hike in the woods is better than a 2 mile run on a treadmill

7. Roundtable Pizza is still my favorite pizza of all time

For me the perception of what the image or brand had been presented as (Yosemite is awe inspiring and amazing, Surfers are friendly and laid back) is exactly what happened when I was able to experience it for my self.

On the other hand is where your expectations are not met with the reality of the situation.

1. Avis will not let you pick up your car 12 minutes early. You have to sit and wait.

3. There is a limit to how much clam chowder you can eat

8. San Francisco is way cooler than I expected

9. Relaxing & Sleeping on vacation is overrated

10. I actually enjoy reading (this will come into play in my next blog posting)

For me – I was actually quite surprised at things on my trip – Avis whose motto is “we try harder” refused to let a number of people check in for their cars earlier than they had anticipated.  One couple next to us had to wait 2 minutes.  What exactly are they trying harder at?

San Francisco, which we went to on a total whim, was not the homeless infested, scary city you sometimes hear about here in the midwest.  In fact – I absolutely fell in love with it and plan to go back for a full weekend later this summer.

OK – so, some of you are still wondering how this relates to recruiting – basically – make sure your branding matches what is the real experience the candidates have when they come into your recruiting process.

If your branding is amazing talking about the ‘people focus’ (or what ever else you may be focused on) and someone comes through the recruiting process and finds it to be disconnected, hard to get responses, generic and impersonal, even if your company really does have a great ‘people focus’ for its employees your recruiting process doesn’t allow that to shine through and your image or brand is not meeting the expectations and is just working against you. 

On the flip side, if you have poor branding but your process is great then it gives them a great impression of you as an organization – but it really isn’t working in your favor.  Not properly branding your organization is like a company forgetting to advertise they have a product to sell.  You could be missing some great prospective employees who just honestly don’t know who you are or what to do.  In this case you are like the 16 year olds who thought “Come on Eileen” was a new song – excited to find a song they like, but clueless where it came from.

So - Brand or Process – When it comes down to it – what really matters?  Both!

The reality of the situation is that today, a company needs to have a solid employment brand that is an accurate reflection of who the company is and what they expect/want from future employees.  It should also have a process that is in line with their employment brand and who they are as an organization.  (The expectation & experience should line up – Yosemite for example)  

So, the overall moral of the story is the fact that your employment brand is important, but the process that you employ from resume submission through start date is equally as important and should be constantly reviewed and evaluated.