Communicators and marketers know brands must impress customers and employees. “The reputation of your employer is worth its weight in gold, but only if it turns out to truly reflect what it is actually like to work there,” says Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick. A new report from Weber Shandwick, though, says globally most brands are failing to align their public image with employees’ experiences at the company (see table at right). The opportunity, of course, is that most employees fall in the middle.While moving these employees to the “aligned” group is difficult, the rewards are significant, the report says, including better recruitment, stronger employee advocacy, greater retention and increased productivity. The report says top employer brands lead with purpose and values internally and externally; establish values through values-based leadership; and ensure employees know its values. The bottom chart shows that top employer brands encourage employees to use social media to share content about their work lives, yet also are more likely to monitor social communications.
