ArmInfo. For Ameriabank, employer branding is a strategic asset. This was stated by Anna Vardanyants, Head of Human Resources at Ameriabank, in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the HR Marketing & Employer Branding International Conference.
According to her, Ameriabank has had an interesting and illustrative journey, allowing her to discuss not only its successes but also the mistakes to avoid to avoid future failures. Vardanyants emphasized that a strong employer brand is formed from within - through corporate culture, values, leadership style, and the daily experiences of employees - and ultimately becomes a long-term and sustainable competitive advantage.
She identified building a strong reputation as one of the key factors for success. "Over the years, we've consistently worked to build our reputation in the marketplace to today have a strong and recognizable employer brand," Vardanyan noted. In this context, she added, it's crucial for HR to be able to set healthy employee expectations and meet them.
"All promises we make to employees must align with the reality within the company. The key to success is creating the right environment: a strong team, strong managers and leaders, mentors who help young professionals develop, a competitive strategy, and real growth opportunities. This experience gradually develops into an internal culture and is then transferred to the market," she explained.
Speaking about the specifics of employer brand development, Vardanyants emphasized that it is an interdisciplinary field that requires the involvement of all parties. "Today, being a good specialist in one field is not enough. You need to think broader and acquire additional skills. For example, it is important for marketers to understand finance and strategy in order to transform their decisions into measurable business results," she explained.
Vardanyants, touching on a number of initiatives implemented by the bank to attract target candidates, cited one of its flagship projects, Ameria Serund, which is now in its 21st year, as an example. She also announced the launch of a new program, TECH Generation, aimed at launching careers in the technology sector, not only for young people but also for those ready to start a new career path from scratch. Participants will undergo three to five months of retraining in in-demand technical specialties, gain practical experience with the support of leading specialists and mentors, and the best ones will receive job offers.
Speaking about the conference itself, Vardanyants emphasized its importance as a professional platform for sharing experiences, studying other companies' practices, and tracking key industry trends.
She also noted the long-standing partnership with the event organizer, Skill Event Marketing. "We are inspired by the team's consistent development of the employer brand concept, creating professional platforms and formats that help employees and potential candidates better understand company culture and make informed decisions. For employers, this, in turn, simplifies the onboarding process for new employees," Vardanyants said.
Sergey Usnunts, founder of Skill Event Marketing and chief producer of Career City Fest, noted that to build a strong employer brand, it's not enough to be a good marketer, PR specialist, or HR professional. "It's important for all departments of the company to work closely together and understand each other's roles," he emphasized.
Usnunts noted that the conference was attended by leaders in HR, marketing, and business, including those from abroad. He added that special attention was being paid to local case studies. "Although successful Armenian examples are not yet numerous, it is important that they exist. Our goal is to create platforms for their presentation so that other companies would perceive employer branding as a strategy and implement it, inspired by these cases," he said.
It is worth noting that this conference was held in Yerevan for the first time. Its goal was to study the mechanisms for developing an employer brand and transforming it into a strategic business asset. The event featured practical experiences from various organizations, speakers from Armenia and abroad, and thematic panel discussions. Anna Vardanyan also delivered a presentation on "Employer Branding as a Strategic Asset," in which she emphasized the importance of a systematic and long-term approach to developing this area.
