Conversation about how to develop a personal brand and employer branding. In this debate I had the opportunity to talk with Victor Candel (head of Selection of Grupo Silvestre), Pedro Lozano, (co-founder of Imascono and Chromville and president of AJE Aragón) and Juan Martínez de Salinas about personal branding and employer branding.
I wanted to share in this post the ideas and reflections that arose in this debate, I hope you find them interesting.
What is personal branding? What is employer branding?
Víctor comments on personal branding that it is a skill that anyone today has to develop. Personal branding is about getting people to know you for what you do and who you are. Employer branding, on the other hand, is more focused on how the brand that the company has is associated with what type of place it is to work, it identifies the image that the company has as an “employer”.
Personal branding is not built, it is developed, Victor Candel
Pedro says that both personal branding and employer branding are linked to values, they are those values with which others will identify you. Regarding employer branding, Pedro points out that the evolution is towards closer brands, with which we can empathize and with which we identify.
Naturalness is the key to personal branding, Pedro Lozano
What are the bases for developing a personal brand?
For Víctor, one of the keys to personal branding is to value yourself. Regarding employer branding, companies must be careful to put themselves in value, but without pretending something that is not real, there can be no discrepancy or try to develop the external brand if the “internal brand” has not been taken care of first.
Pedro comments that we all have a talent and we must discover it to see where we want to position ourselves and what we want to transmit.
What would you say to people who think that it is not necessary to develop a personal brand online?
Victor comments that, from his point of view as a recruiter, in the last 4/5 years, when he has to select people for positions in companies, he basically does it with information through networks. If you are not in networks, a future employer will not find you. Many times there are fears to make ourselves “visible” in the virtual world, but we must recognize that it opens doors and that it is where many opportunities and contacts for new projects can arise.
Focus on your own, on building a team that shares values and on developing the corporate culture, focusing on people, Pedro Lozano
Pedro comments that more than a digital transformation we are facing a social transformation and in the end human beings must adapt to this change, but everything is aimed at the online world and in an increasingly competitive globalized market, being present on networks is a differential value. It also says a lot about the person who has developed their personal brand, as it shows that they have cared about taking care of it and promoting it.
Is it compatible to develop a strong personal brand and work in a private company?
As Victor comments, we are going there, it is the trend and companies that realize this will have the possibility of keeping the best. Pedro also agrees that this is the direction and that the visibility of companies depends on the visibility of their employees.
Nowadays it is increasingly common to work on projects and there is a tendency to have people with a powerful personal brand in teams. In many cases, collaborations are carried out and sometimes having a physical structure with people hired on staff is not easy. Visionaries say that professions are going to change, and in the future these collaborations will be the order of the day, the commitment of these people will be based on respect for the personal brands of individuals, although today some companies are still “afraid” of that personal brand of their collaborators or try to control it. but they must also adapt to this phenomenon.
It is important to link personal branding and employer branding with values, Victor Candel
For me, the brand (both the personal brand, which is individual, and the employer brand) is what others say about you when you are not present, and it has to do with the impact and memory of what you do and the perception that others have of it. It is usually linked to the values that sustain what you do, (not so much or not only what you say), because when there is no coherence between what you think, what you do and what you say, what prevails most is always what you do, therefore, take care of what you do because that memory is what forms your personal brand as an individual or as a company.
And you, what do you think about how to develop a personal brand and employer branding?
What ideas would you like to add to these reflections?
Remember that sharing our ideas and opinions makes us open up to new perspectives and develop our talent.
