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Employer Branding

By LARA MOROKO and MARK D. UNCLES

Companies have long divided consumers into segments. They should do the same with potential -- and current -- workers.

Ask most people about "branding," and they'll usually start talking about products and services. But in recent years, companies have begun branding themselves as employers, too, betting that if they can convey to the world why their workplace is appealing and unique, they will have an
easier time attracting good workers.

In fact, for many companies, employer branding has become a critical management tool, as the emergence of China, India and Brazil as economic powers and aging work forces in the U.S., European Union and Japan have increased the competition for skilled workers. More recently, the current economic slowdown -- and the pressure to cut costs and increase productivity -- has made the need to get the best people in the right jobs even more crucial.

But how should a company brand itself as an employer? Click on the title above to read more.

Video Streaming: Show them the real you, a worthwhile investment.

More and more HR recruiters are using video technology to solve the challenge of nurse vacancies. According to a Wharton School of Business National Research survey, there is a 51% greater understanding of any subject presented through video. The survey also states that prospects are 72% more likely to purchase a product or service when video is used. This translates directly to job candidates' positive response when introduced to the facility through a virtual tour. The video allows them to become familiar with the personalities of staff members, take a peek at the surrounding city, and hear a list of benefits that can be played back as many times as needed.
The advantages of video technology are numerous. First, you have the ability to portray your organization exactly as you want job seekers to experience it. It won't infringe on their time because they choose the time and place to watch it. And, unlike many other media, you can expect nearly 100% viewership. For more information, click link below. http://www.nasrecruitment.com/HomeArticles/videostreaming.html

Urgency for Diversity Very Real: Retain a workforce that mirrors the people you serve.

Now, more than ever, it's critical for every business to address the issue of diversity. This is especially true for healthcare organizations. Without a diverse workforce, the development of strong care provider-patient relationships, which are so crucial for successful treatment, can be difficult if not impossible.On the other hand, when patients' cultural values, language barriers, socioeconomic statuses, and disabilities are a match with their care providers', the chance for recovery is greatly impacted and improved. Click link below to read further.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/Microsites/Healthcare/Articles/featureH8.html

Microinequities and Diversity: It's the little things.

Did you know you send between 2,000 and 4,000 micro-messages a day? Some are positive, like a nod or a smile when you pass a co-worker in the hallway, and some are negative, like pecking away at your Blackberry while someone’s talking to you or looking at your watch during a presentation. Negative micro-messages—or microinequities—have the power to sabotage diversity efforts, poison organization culture, and hamper recruitment and retention. To learn more on this subject, click link below.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/MicroSites/diversity/articles/archiveD7.html

Career Event Best Practices

Career Fairs are a common practice in building candidate pipelines, and a great opportunity for face-to-face contact with interested, active job seekers. Many hiring organizations attend career fairs regularly; however, career fairs have recently ranked at the bottom of the source value index, according to the Direct Employers Survey by Booz Allen Hamilton. If you are attending career fairs you will want to make sure that the event is worth your time and money. For all the best practices, click link below.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/TalentTips/NASinsights/Career_Event_Best_Practices.pdf

Focus Groups: 7 steps to defining your unique employment brand.

To determine the parameters of a distinctive employment brand, it’s necessary to undergo a comprehensive evaluation process. This will include analyzing previous results, setting goals, defining a possible employment brand, substantiating the employment brand proposition, and, possibly, conducting a focus group. Click link below for more information.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/MicroSites/employmentbranding/articles/archiveEB2.html

Conflict Resolution: Let the challenges be the catalyst for positive change.

A survey developed by Office-Team, the world's largest specialized temporary staffing service for administrative professionals, indicated that 19% of an executive's time - almost one day each workweek - is spent dealing with office politics. Fortunately, that large chunk of time devoted to disputes and confusion over unclear messages can often present an opportunity for improvement. Click link below to learn more.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/MicroSites/Healthcare/Articles/featureH4b.html

Campaign Planning

You deserve results.
The big picture. It can be critical in creating a long-lasting effect in the marketplace. NAS offers you an integrated team of account and creative professionals working together to assure that all aspects of your ongoing campaign will achieve maximum results. We do it from start to finish and beyond. For more information, click link below.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/solutions/campaignPlanning.html

Media Recommendations & Placement

With your employment brand in place, it's crucial to reach the right audience. That's where our media expertise comes into play.
NAS starts with an industry-leading research team. We'll provide research reports that keep you on top of the latest trends, findings, demographics and issues in media placement. We also keep track of a wide variety of media through our office network, with the ability to provide proven, real-world measures of media effectiveness based on past experience. For more solutions, click link below.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/solutions/mediaRecommendationsPlacement.html

The Nursing Shortage

The growing nursing shortage presents the most significant problem for health care executives today. An adequate supply of RNs is vital in ensuring access to and quality of health care now and to the delivery of patient cares in the future. Click link below to read more.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/talenttips/NASinsights/TheNursingShortage.pdf

Internet Recruiting

The Internet has influenced the American way of life. Over the past decade the Internet has changed the way we communicate, search for information and conduct business. Most Americans cannot imagine a world without email, breaking news at their fingertips or online shopping. According to the latest Pew Internet research, about 72% of American adults are online. That translates to over 145 million people. This is a wide audience, and the Internet has proven to be an integral part of employee recruitment because there is no faster, simpler, or more cost effective way to reach thousands of qualified candidates. In fact, 44% of online Americans are looking for information about a job. The Internet allows employers to reach these candidates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Click link below to learn more.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/talenttips/NASinsights/InternetRecruitingReport06.pdf

The Seven Deadly Sins of Diversity Recruitment

It's one thing to recognize that adding diversity to your workforce can add value to your business. But it's another thing altogether to make it happen. No matter the size of your organization, or what industry you’re in, on your journey to building a more diverse workforce, there’s a chance you’ll run into a few potholes along the way. To read more, click on the link below.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/MicroSites/Diversity/articles/featureD3.html

Career Website Transformation

Monday, Oct 6, 2008, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET
In a land of “take a number” and wait healthcare scenarios, it’s easy to see why hiring compassionate and highly-competent medical professionals is job number one for the talent acquisition team. In this webcast, led by Trudy Knoepke-Campbell, Director of National Recruitment and Doug Berg, Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, Jobs2Web, Inc., we’ll hear how they worked to transform a career site into an online recruiting engine. Click link below for more information.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/HomeArticles/HCI_Webcast_Oct08.html

Going Green

Going green not only helps the environment, but it may also benefit companies in recruiting new employees. Eco-friendly businesses will most likely have an advantage over their competition when it comes to hiring the intelligent young people in today’s market. A survey completed by Harris Poll discovered 33 percent of Americans would rather work for a green company compared to a business that does not try to encourage socially and environmentally friendly methods. The survey also found that 52 percent of employed adults believe their companies should do more to help the environment. According to employment experts, high oil prices, instability in the Middle East, and the threat of global warming have made the environment the cause celebre of the new millennium, particularly among younger generations X and Y. As employers struggle to fill positions amid rock-bottom unemployment, companies that can offer current and prospective employees environmentally friendly programs, such as telecommuting, car pooling and public transportation subsidies, will have an advantage over companies that ignore the environment.

Healthcare Workforce Outlook to 2016

The health care and social assistance services industry is projected to be one of the fastest growing industries with 19 million jobs projected for 2016. Read this white paper to see which segments of the healthcare industry will be in great demand so you can be strategically ahead in your staffing needs. Want more information, click link below.
http://www.nasezmail.com/Newsletters/OnDemand/2008/September/page01.aspx

Jobs2Web and NAS Partnership

NAS recently partnered with Jobs2Web, a premier provider of interactive recruitment strategies for forward-thinking companies. The partnership will not only enhance the NAS evolution of Web 2.0 services, but it will also provide a level of service beyond compare in transforming career websites into powerful interactive recruitment tools. Click link below to view entire article.
http://www.nasezmail.com/Newsletters/OnDemand/2008/September/page03.aspx

Ask the Expert: Courting Future Graduates

Q: Our institution is interested in developing long-term relationships with nursing students so they remember us when they graduate. The major barrier is our recruitment staff's limited time. Can NAS help?
A: NAS can create a courtship recruiting program that will allow your facility to expand recruiting efforts to a variety of media channels. While your HR staff concentrates on the daily workload, we'll handle targeting the candidates for those hard-to-fill positions, as well as positions best-suited for new graduates.

Q: Our Employee Referral Program isn't working anymore. We're considering, at least temporarily, canceling the ERP and implementing a courtship recruiting program in its place. Is this a good move?
A: A courtship recruiting program is not a replacement for your Employee Referral Program. Instead of canceling your ERP, let NAS revitalize it for you. We'll design a new theme and a new look that will energize your employees and elicit fresh responses. We can even provide your facility with an online version. Keep in mind that an ERP is a great feature to your Employee Retention Program. If it is well-developed and efficiently delivered, your ROI can fully cover the cost of developing and implementing a separate program of courtship recruiting.

Contact NAS today to get started!

When the Grass ISN'T Greener - Recruiting "Boomerang" Candidates

When a star employee resigns—for whatever reason—are you handing them an Exit Interview Survey, reclaiming their ID Badge and watching them walk through the door? Or are you treating them as a potential future candidate? Today, many more talented ex-employees are finding their way back, thanks to a new way of looking at those who leave. The trend is called “Boomerang” recruiting.
“Boomerang” recruiting keeps the door open for talented ex-employees by keeping them “in the loop” so you can re-recruit them when the time is right. And, organizations across the nation—whether they have the budgets to keep in touch via alumni websites, or rely on postcards and personal phone calls—are finding the return on investment impressive. For more insight, click link below.
http://www.nasrecruitment.com/MicroSites/Healthcare/Articles/featureH1.html

Employer Brand Institute Global Reach Survey

The development of an employment brand is the key to attracting and retaining talented employees. Organizations are realizing that people, not products, deliver most brand promises and that it can help define an organization’s employment value proposition in the marketplace.
The Employer Brand Institute is conducting an Employer Branding Global Research Survey to gauge how employment branding is valued throughout the industry. This information has the potential to provide key insights into industry trends and benchmarking of current issues against the collected data.
To obtain a copy of the results, you will need to participate in the survey.
Please Consult with NAS if you have questions regarding this survey, or for information on how you can improve your employment branding efforts.