The "Employer Brand" – is it a helpful concept ? 

The term "Employer Branding" is widely used but can be somewhat misleading as it may imply that the "Employer Brand" is separate and distinct from the "Customer Brand", the "Shareholder Brand", and however many other stakeholder brands one cares to define.

Green Lion believe that there is just one brand around which there are a number of "spaces": 

At different times any one individual can occupy one or more of these spaces. For example, an individual may have been a customer of "The Brand" before they considered applying for a job at that company. Their experience as a customer will obviously inform their perceptions of the company as a potential employer – and, critically, their experience as a candidate will impact on their perceptions as a customer in the future.

Consequently, rather than thinking about “Employer Branding” we believe that it is more helpful to think about creating a single brand which sends a series of consistent and mutually reinforcing messages to each of these spaces, mindful of the fact that the same person could be occupying more than one space at any one time.

Any Employee Proposition identified by a company must, therefore, meet this basic objective.