Innovative Employer Branding: Lessons from Sri Lanka's Best Companies

In today's competitive business world, companies face significant challenges in attracting and retaining the best talent. As markets evolve and competition increases, the need for skilled human resources becomes paramount for business success and sustainability. To address this issue, leading companies in Sri Lanka have developed strong employer branding strategies to differentiate themselves from the competition and attract prospective employees. This blog examines the innovative employer branding strategies of Unilever Sri Lanka Limited, Brandix Lanka Limited and Virtusa and shows how they are creating compelling work environments that appeal to prospective employees.

Unilever Sri Lanka Limited focuses on "Development Value" and emphasizes international employment opportunities, employee recognition and career growth through various global programs and training initiatives. Brandix Lanka Limited leverages its unique corporate culture and social values ​​to create an open, transparent and friendly work environment. Virtusa, with its global reach and advanced technologies, offers a variety of learning and development programs to promote professional growth and support.

These strategies demonstrate how Sri Lanka's leading companies are developing distinctive employer brands to attract and develop talent, ensuring their continued success in the ever-changing business world.

Unilever's employer branding strategy 

Unilever Sri Lanka Limited has structured its employer branding strategy around international job opportunities and employee development. They refer to this as "developmental value". The strategy emphasizes experiences that affirm employee recognition, self-esteem, and career growth through Unilever's Academy, global programs, overseas internships, and development opportunities. Also, it encourages cross-functional training and professional development, giving employees opportunities to work in virtual teams across different countries. Unilever's 75-year history and unwavering consistency are considered important factors in attracting new employees. The company often compares the learning opportunities to those of a university. Unilever supports employees at every career level and encourages leadership development and career succession.

(Figure 1. Award winning team - Source 1)

(Figure 2. The Award - Source 1)

Branding Blower by Brandix

Brandix Lanka Limited strongly believes in their culture to make their company a great place to work. Brandix's culture is casual, friendly, open and transparent. It helps in attracting new employees along with achieving advancement of employees at work and elsewhere. Brands brand themselves with 'social values' (Berthan et al., 2005). Brandix, in addition to social values, also focuses on 'developmental values' (Berthon et al., 2005). On-the-job training, participation in local and overseas programs, coaching and mentoring sessions, performance improvement programs for skill development, peer reviews and 360-degree feedback, counseling for employee development, recognition programs and leadership training programs etc., will advance the company's growth values. Brandix does not consider compensation package as a core branding strategy and does not place much emphasis on interest values ​​and utility values ​​in attracting potential employees. Therefore, Brandix implements their unique corporate culture under 'Social Values' as a key business enabler and highlights 'Development Values' to a certain extent.

Branding implementation by Virtusa

Virtusa is a private limited company with global reach and cutting-edge technologies. In this, Virtusa, with its global presence, offers learning and development programs, international internships, video conferencing and international internship opportunities. It enables Virtusa employees (Virtusan) to expand their horizons and create an environment of professional development and professional support. Virtusa follows growth values ​​and social values, focusing on the company's global career paths and professional support. Through this, it tries to attract employees by offering them different and unique growth opportunities. These efforts will better reveal differences between different organizations. Companies like Unilever and Virtusa, with growth values ​​at the forefront, offer employees prime opportunities to give international exposure, thereby becoming key parts of their business strategies.

(Figure 3. Advertisement of the Award winning - Source 3)

Conclusion

In summary, the employer business strategies of Unilever Sri Lanka Limited, Brandix Lanka Limited and Virtusa highlight how Sri Lanka's leading companies are innovatively attracting and retaining talent. By emphasizing growth opportunities, fostering unique organizational cultures, and offering a global presence, these companies create attractive environments that attract potential employees. As the business landscape continues to evolve, such strategies will be critical to sustained success and staying competitive in the marketplace.

Reference

1. Unilever PLC (2023) Unilever Sri Lanka, one of Asia’s Best Employer Brands 2022, Unilever. Available at: https://www.unilever.com.lk/news/press-releases/2022/unilever-sri-lanka-one-of-asias-best-employer-brands-2022/ (Accessed: 04 August 2024). 
2. Brandix crowned Asia’s ‘best brand’ & ‘best employer brand’ (2011) Daily FT. Available at: https://www.ft.lk/article/41093/Brandix-crowned-Asia-s--Best-Brand-----Best-Employer-Brand (Accessed: 04 August 2024).
3. X.com (no date) X (formerly Twitter). Available at: https://x.com/VirtusaCorp/status/1316071702091059200 (Accessed: 04 August 2024).