Is your Employer Brand working hard enough?
You know your organisation is a great place to work: great people, flexible work options, values and culture to foster personal and professional growth, inclusivity, mental health and wellbeing…..
But you’re just not filling the available roles.
Perhaps it’s time to check in with your employer brand.
More than perks on paper, your employer brand is how you are perceived as an employer by your former, current, and future employees. Similar to commercial brand marketing that seeks to engage current and prospective customers and positively shape their appreciation of you and their desire to buy from you, employer branding is about positively positioning your talent offer to current and future employees so that you can attract the very best, more easily. It also describes your promise (or employee value proposition) to employees in exchange for their experience, talents, contacts, or skills.
In today’s increasingly competitive job market, a positive employer brand is critical. You need talented, leadership-minded workers to drive your business forward, and the best way to find them is to let them know that your company is a great place to work. Everything from the salary and benefit packages you offer to advancement opportunities, flexibility, the culture of an organisation and the treatment of its employees can greatly impact the impression you’re trying to make on potential candidates.
It’s all about experiences
Your employer brand is primarily tied to the experiences of your workers and what they have to say about your organisation. Social media posts, job reviews and testimonials, direct network conversations, and face-to-face referrals are all ways your current, former, and even prospective employees can impact your company’s reputation. This can work to your advantage when those workers turn out to be cheerleaders. But if your employee or candidate experience doesn’t mirror what you’re communicating via your brand, it can work against you, too.
No matter who owns the duties of developing and growing your employer brand, it’s imperative to remember that employees are doing most of this branding work for you. If your company work environment and culture aren’t healthy, your job is to work on that first. If you already have a great company culture, then you’re in a good spot to amplify it.
So, how do you ensure your employer brand (assuming a healthy workplace culture) is working hard for you?
To increase the number of quality, enthusiastic applicants vying for positions at your company, employees at all levels, including CEO, leadership, marketing team, and recruiters can all help develop and grow your employer brand. Whether you have a big budget or small, whether you’re a large company or a start-up, there are plenty of strategies you can use to think like a marketer, build deep and meaningful relationships with your staff, and boost your employer brand.
Your employer brand strategy
Your employer brand strategy process should include:
- Start with an audit. Like all branding tasks, it’s a good idea to start with an audit. You probably already know exactly where your product or service stands in the marketplace, but you may not be as aware of how your company is viewed in the market or how it’s perceived by your current employees. Conduct research both internally and externally with applicant surveys, internet and social media searches, and/or firms that conduct reputation monitoring. See what’s working at your company so you can keep doing it, and what areas need improvement — both when it comes to company operations and morale, but specifically with the talent acquisition process in order to discover ways to improve it.
- Craft your EVP. It can help to revisit your organisation’s core business, vision, mission, values, and culture and get your people involved. Understand what your company objectives are, and what sort of talent is needed to accomplish those objectives. Your EVP should clearly communicate the values of your corporate brand, while reflecting what’s special about working at your organisation. It should align with your customer brand, but also speak directly to your employees.
- Include your messaging in job descriptions. This is often the first contact candidates have with your company, so they’re a perfect way to promote your employer brand. Think about how you can bring your organisation’s personality to life to attract the right candidates.
- Find your advocates. Current employees are your unofficial recruiters and marketers, so the first step of a good employer brand strategy is to help employees use LinkedIn and other social media networks to represent themselves and spread the word about your company in a way that feels authentic to them. Including training on how to build a personal brand can help as it’s also showing a commitment to supporting personal development.
- Marketing. Just like your brand marketing efforts, your employer brand requires just as much exposure. Consider adding pages and content to your website for prospective employees to read stories of current employees, learn more about your values, what it’s like to work at your organisation and apply for available roles. Then use your social media channels to share this content and the content created by your employees.
- Cultivate a strong on-boarding experience. Instilling a positive company brand image starts with a good on-boarding process. It’s critical you get employees engaged and excited about their roles, and their teams, from the start. By arming your new employees with the instructions and tools necessary to excel in their roles, you’re ensuring a smooth transition, lower turnover rates, and more productive teams.
- Offer learning and development opportunities. One of the top reasons people leave organisations is a lack of opportunity for growth. So by providing employees with opportunities to pursue new skills for personal goals, you’re demonstrating your company’s emphasis on continuous learning and improvement and consequently becoming more attractive to new talent.
- A strong diversity and inclusion initiative. Not only is this a given for more innovative ideas, a stronger workplace culture, and better customer service, it’s also critical for cultivating a positive employer brand by ensuring you’re extending your brand’s reach to new groups of people.
You have an employer brand whether you’ve put effort behind it or not — so why not put effort in to ensure it’s a brand you can be proud of? The most important part of an employer brand strategy is remembering that your greatest investment and asset is your people; so ensure a human centred approach with your strategy and the right candidates will start flowing in.
Did you know we can assist with promoting your employer brand and positioning your organisation as an employer of choice? Contact us to find out more or visit our Featured Employer packages here.