Managing the BBC’s employer brand has been vital in the creation of “a BBC in the north”, while at the same time helping to negate the “Russell Brand effect”.
Madeleine Abdoh, head of employee brand at the corporation, said that the BBC’s restructure – which is seeing large-scale movement of jobs out of London and into other places, including Manchester and Edinburgh – was crucial to creating “hubs of specialism” where workers were clear about their role within the wider organisation. “We don’t want people to feel they are losing out – we want them to feel they are gaining by moving to these specialist hubs,” she said.
In light of the negative press that has dogged the BBC this year, Abdoh also believed a strong “brand identity” could help to negate the “Russell Brand” effect: “It’s all about a consistency of look and feel, in order to proactively manage and have a voice amid all the press coverage out there.” And about the entertainer himself, she stated: “We offer great opportunities to people like Russell Brand. They just have to pay us back with the right attitude and output.”
Speaking at the CIPD’s second employer brand conference last week, Abdoh explained that the BBC’s employment offering now faced stiff competition from new sectors, citing as a prime example the recent departure by Peter Barron, editor of Newsnight, to join Google.